Kin

May 7

About the book

Author: Tayari Jones
Publisher: Knopf

More info:
The StoryGraph | Goodreads
Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the review.

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Bookshop.org (print or ebook) | Libro.fm (audio)

My review

As Tayari Jones’ first novel since An American Marriage won the Women’s Prize in 2019, Kin was always destined to be a bestseller. But don’t get it twisted: this book more than earns it.

The novel follows two main characters, two young Black women who began as cradle friends and grew up without mothers in Louisiana during the Civil Rights Era. Vernice’s mother died when she was a baby, and Annie’s left We follow them from childhood through young adulthood, as Vernice’s time at Spelman College and Annie’s search for her mother lead them down different paths, but their friendship remains strong.

I loved my time with this book. It’s just a good novel, plain and simple, featuring two characters who feel like they could walk off the page at any minute. (The two narrators who read the audiobook also do an incredible job bringing their voices to life.) The situations they face — as women, as Black women, as friends — are nuanced and challenging and they deal with them as well (or poorly) as any real person would. I rooted for them, I cried for them, I hoped for them, my heart broke for them.

I found this to be an even stronger book than An American Marriage, and I would be shocked not to see it nominated for the National Book Award later this year.