📝 What is Kindred about?:
In this groundbreaking time-travel narrative, Dana, a Black woman from 1976 California, is thrust back to antebellum Maryland, where she must ensure the survival of Rufus, the ancestor who ensures her existence. As Dana grapples with the brutalities of slavery and fights to maintain her agency, the novel powerfully examines the enduring legacies of racism, sexism, and white supremacy across centuries.
📚 Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy
🎧 Format: E-Book
💞 Feels: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Still processing this book. It was HEAVY. I took a break after reading the first few chapters. Read three more books, while I prepared myself to go back and read this book.
Here is what I wrote in my notes before I paused:
I’m intrigued by the mystery of the time travel, and the protagonists connection to the past that she keeps being pulled toward. The prologue definitely upped the stakes of what danger is to come. Which is making me a little reluctant for the turmoil.
Alecia, after reading the first few chapters of Kindred
I didn’t have any expectations or preconceived notions about an “Octavia Butler” book, so I was shocked by the prologue (such an understatement!). I’m glad Kindred was my first Octavia Butler book…but maybe my opinion will change as I read more of her books. I will definitely be reading this one again.
I liked how each trip that Dana went through was separated into sections within the book. And each section described what trial she would be facing upon arrival in the past. The character growth was heartbreaking, in different ways, for every character introduced. After all of these problematic faves I’ve been reading about in Romantasy – I was stupidly thinking Rufus was on a redemption arc. I was so wrong. He deserved what he got. And I’m so glad Dana was able to save herself.
I know they say DEI is dead and I’m not planning on going back to corporate life EVER AGAIN, but if I ever do and a co-worker asks for a diversity book (like many did in 2020…) – this is gonna be at the top of the list. Maybe, it’ll open some eyes, and they’ll stop asking their BIPOC coworkers to teach them how to be more human. Okay stepping down from my soap box.
✅ Spinoff novella nomination: n/a
What are you reading? Let me know in the comments.