From the Bookshelf of Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge…

Kindred

Octavia E. Butler

Discussion: 2017 Read Harder Challenge

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 44 topics — 5,607 comments total

2017 Read Harder Challenge

This topic has been closed to new comments.

* Complete 2017 RHC Task List
By Book Riot · 1 post · 6015 views

last updated Dec 15, 2016 05:50AM

* 2017 Read Harder Challenge
By Book Riot · 1 post · 3503 views

last updated Dec 15, 2016 05:44AM

showing 10 of 25 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Jul 19, 2017 Jess rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2017, books-i-own

Deceptively simple prose, a wide and complicated spanning of human emotions, and time travel that feels almost natural. I can't believe this book was written in 1979. ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Feb 19, 2018 Melanie rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical, suspense, weird, scifi, book-club

This book... I never would have read it on my own but I’m so glad it got picked for my postal book club. It was heartbreaking and crazy and devastatingly sad and so, so intense. It was hard to put down because I wanted to know what happened next, but at the same time hard to read because what was happening was so awful and what was coming was bound to be worse. It is an important book - such perspective on what we think of as normal and human and how quickly that can change when faced with somet ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Apr 28, 2011 Shannon rated it liked it

Kindred is a rare mix of a book - historical fiction and science fiction - and was also a mix when it came to results. Given the option, I would have rated this book 2 1/2 stars. While I was interested in the concept and even the plot (3 stars), the writing was flat and uninspiring (2 stars).

Kindred follows Dana, a young African American woman living in California in 1976. Early in the book - and throughout its course - Dana is transported back to early nineteenth century Maryland. After a coupl ...more

Like · see review

Jan 21, 2019 Cari rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy-sci-fi, historical

Am going to be thinking about this one for a while.

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 15, 2021 lisa_emily rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, woc, 2021-read

Incredibly gripping and absorbing, I was surprised and irritated that it took me this long to have read it.

Like · see review

Jul 26, 2016 Julie rated it really liked it

The science fiction-ness of this book was not front and center, but that was OK. The historical fiction-ness was on point. Given the current climate of our nation, it was also extra meaningful to me. There were some pretty brutal scenes, but I'd think slave life was pretty brutal. I'm glad it wasn't too glossed-over. I also think the main character's psychological and emotional journey was pretty thought-provoking. I would almost say this should be a high-school book...maybe college...I think I ...more

Like · see review