Reviews

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

heathernependa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“Like all good works of fiction, it lies like the truth.”

This made my skin crawl. I think it should be required reading. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Slavery, Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Racism, Racial slurs, and Suicide

selenafoxglove's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

korekaleidoscope's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

starsiren's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

5.0

rollman's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

lilasky's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

amandadee's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

bluejaybooks's review against another edition

5.0

Have to admit that at first I was afraid to read this book. But it's the only Octavia Butler book my library had in audio format, so I decided to give it a try.

I wish that I had read this book in one of my classes instead of reading To Kill a Mockingbird and Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry around three times each for around three different classes. I can see how there would have been some great discussions that came out of this book.

But then, having part of the story set in the antebellum south and another portion in the 1970s, it skips over the Jim Crow era, which those other two books were about. But I still think that this book could have also lead to discussions about that era as some part of the book mentions residual racism still present in the 1970s, even after Jim Crow.

I also don't think we read a book set in the antebellum south at all that dealt with slavery (except for stories about Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth), and I feel like that in and of itself is a missed opportunity. The closest we got was an extra credit assignment my US history teacher arranged my senior year of high school to go see Twelve Years a Slave because he felt that the standard curriculum didn't adequately address the horror that was slavery but merely stated the facts in an emotionally detached manor.

In any case, this book is a classic for sure :)

lou_lelou's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

hasanah's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0