Kin: A Story About Found Famiy and Fate

 

Author:  Tayari Jones

Genre: BIPOC lit, Literary fiction, historical fiction, Queer lit 

Publisher: Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor

Format: Ebook (NetGalley Copy)

Release Date: Feburary 24th, 2026

TW: murder, racism (anti-Black), antisemitism, physical abuse, sexual assault, homophobia, deceptions of pre-Roe v Wade abortion (which I hope we don't go back to), child abuse (switches and beatings) 

I encourage you to engage with a Black reviewer, as I am white, and might miss some nuance. 

A book about what family truly is, sexuality and queerness, and navigating everything in the face of racism and class privilege. 

Kin is about two girls (and later women) Annie and  Vernice (or Niecy), who've been together since they were born. Growing up in a small town (Honeysuckle Louisiana) both girls have gone through tragedy; Niecy's father murdered her mother and then killed himself, when she was a newborn and Annie's mother walked out on her as a child.   When she finds out her mother might be alive, Annie leaves before graduating high school to find her. Vernice leaves for Spellman College, drawn into a whole new world. Trials and tribulations meet both of them, and they both endure and draw together, each pulling on their bond at different times to keep from drowning.

The POV's do a big job in keeping the story flowing. Annie and Vernice really do change during the novel, and this change is reflected in the way that the language changes as they grow apart. This really highlights the characters. I particularity appreciate Niecy's journey to reconcile her girl-loving tendencies in a heteronormative society. I also loved and related to Annie as someone who blew up her life to search for a mother that left her, that yearning resonated and had me sobbing at the resolution. 

There were moments of throat crushing horror as well, and I really felt the terror of the characters in that moment. The side characters are as rich as the mains, and all had their own stories.  

This book is complex, like Black womanhood itself, and filled with love and pain. The ending made me cry. I am glad that it wasn't fully wrapped up at the end. Like life, it is bittersweet and harrowing. 

Thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor and NetGalley for the ARC!

Final Rating: 4 stars 

Drink Paring: Rose black tea, sweet and sharp