Kindred by Octavia Butler

When I first started reading Kindred I had no idea what it was going to be about. I knew an African American wrote it and that the novel is a science fiction/fantasy book. That was about it. The first few pages were shocking. It caught my attention in a jiffy. The action the took place is what surprised me because she lost her arm within that first few pages. It definitely kept me reading along and wanting to know more about why she lost her arm. It took me a little while to figure out that after that event happened she took a step back and started from the beginning to explain how she got into this situation in the first place. She pulled a Quentin Tarantino. Personally I like it when authors do that in books because it is a good way to catch the reader's attention. I don't like when it happens all the time, but otherwise I love it. I could not stop reading the book when I picked it up. While I worked on Sunday I was reading the book on my breaks and every chance I had I was reading that book. I got at least half of the book done before I got off of work. When I got home I started to read again, even though I know I should have done other homework. I finished the book before class and I couldn't find myself to write about it the day after. I felt like I needed to wait in order to write about it, to let it sink in. The way she approaches the history of slavery is amazing. Though I learned about the Underground Railroad and slavery in the United States in middle school, I feel like I understand what happened back then better, for some reason. I always knew what happened to them was horrible and ruthless, but now that I had a taste of what they went through it helps me realize how serious things were. Unfortunately, slavery is still happening in the United States. :( Nonetheless, Butler has opened doors in my mind that I never knew were there. I felt that Kindred was a big step out of the normal books that I usually read. I really enjoyed the book and I think I might explore more books the Octavia Butler has to offer, that is if I don't get stuck in Ilona Andrews world.