The Bookish Mindset

Overview:

Title: Kindred
Author: Octavia E. Butler
Published: June 1979
Genre: Historical Fiction
Themes: Slavery, Racism, Violence

One sentence summary: Dana and Rufus’s lives are intertwined, but they’re living in different worlds and different timelines.

One sentence review: A very necessary read and one you’ll want to, but can’t, look away from.

Review:

Dana and Rufus’s lives are intertwined, but they’re living in different worlds and different timelines.

What more can I say about this book that hasn’t been said already? It’s pacy and compelling, with an interesting cast of characters. But equally, it’s horrifying and packed with violence.

It’s hard to read in places as a result of that and some of those characters become monsters, despite being products of their time. But the scariest part is that it’s rooted in truth, this isn’t imaginary, this is history. You want to look away but you can’t and you shouldn’t.

Considering it was published almost 50 years ago, it holds up well. There’s so many layers of complexities to our characters decisions and actions too, there’s a lot going on and it made for great storytelling.

Thanks to @turningpagespatty for buddy reading it with me. If you enjoyed The Reformatory then I definitely think this is a book for you too.

This is my first of Butler’s and it won’t be the last. Which should I pick up next?

If you’d like to get yourself a copy, you can support local bookshops and my work while doing so on Bookshop.org with this link here and on libro.fm here.

If you like what you’ve read and would like to access more content, we have a cosy community over on patreon and if you love a bookish giveaway and learning about all the new releases, we’d love to have you with us. You can also find more content on my Instagram here.

And don’t forget to check out my other blogs and reviews – you can find books with similar themes in the same folder link below, or click back onto blogs to see the whole offering.

Last updated 31/07/2026