Book Review: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

Book: 181

Rating: 5/5

This book is unlike any other I've read, and so incredibly timeless. It's a combination of slave memoir, fantasy, historical fiction, and magical realism (it's actually heralded as the first science fiction book written by a Black woman). I can't remember which friend recommended I read this book but I am SO glad they did! This definitely makes my top books of 2020 and *probably* top 10 of all time.

In 1976 California, Dana (a Black woman) just celebrated her 26th birthday, when she suddenly and inexplicably goes back in time to a pre-Civil War Maryland plantation. She ends up saving a young white boy, Rufus, drowning in a pond, and when she is faced with his father's barrel of his shotgun she is wrenched back to her present day. Dana soon realizes the pattern of her time travel, how she is tied to Rufus, and what she has to do.

I loved this book. It's timeless, eye opening, and one where I couldn't stop turning the pages but also wanted to savour every word. It's an incredible metaphor for thinking about 'how far we've come' or 'how progressive we are', but in an instant can be snapped back to behaviours in a time period we thought we've left behind.

You're going to see a lot more of Octavia Butler on my 2021 to-be-read pile!