Overall, this is a pretty solid book. We follow the author through their complicated childhood and strict religious upbringing. It’s similar to “Educated” in that the family lives by their own rules, separate from society. The descriptions of nature and the idyllic parts of a childhood spent outside are gripping. Oh and don’t worry, there’s your good old classic crazy-strict religious group! If you’ve ever wanted to live off the grid (or at least want to know what it is like), read this.

However, this book is full of trauma. Emotional and physical abuse, creepy older guys, you name it. This memoir didn’t quite have the same electric energy of “Educated” or “The Glass Castle”. Although I don’t want to discount the author’s struggles, it just felt like something was missing. We read these memoirs to peak into other’s lives, to act as rubberneckers at their pain and to experience a sense of empathy. I just didn’t feel connected to the author here.

My biggest critique is the book jumped timelines frequently and often left me confused. I had to re-read sections multiple times just to understand what time period and who was being discussed. It definitely took me out of the book and made me reach for a glass of wine instead.

When I saw Rodenberg's memoir publicized on NetGalley, I was caught by two features: its connection to Minnesota (the state I called "home" for most of my life) and its promise to detail life in a selective religious commun(e)ity from the viewpoint of a child. The book delivers on both levels, although its structure and details may create momentary befuddlement for the reader (more on that in a moment).

The author describes how her childhood is radically changed when her parents decide to move to northern Minnesota, several hundred miles away from their home in Kentucky. Her grandparents are protectively concerned, but offer support throughout the young family's transition. She writes with candor and provides the unique perspective of life through a child's eyes. Living in community (of whatever kind) is a challenging proposition, but especially when living in the closest of proximities with those who share a religious life together.

The spiritual life she describes is directed by a strong male authority figure (complemented by the expectation that the "man of the family" will provide similar leadership in his own family unit). Surprisingly, the author seems to have emerged from such a rigorous childhood without bitterness. In the midst of what seems like spiritual and emotional confinement, she relates moments of liberation where humane light shines forth. After a period of home schooling, she is allowed to attend a local public elementary, where her artistic capacities are recognized and encouraged. In a religious sect that didn't permit celebrations like birthdays and holidays, there are moments where her mother privately surprises her daughters with loving gifts.

The book, though, is about much more than a child growing up in a fundamentalist religious sect. It is a multigenerational memoir, in which the value of extended family is described. It is, of course, still a personal memoir, and Rodenberg discloses with sometimes painful honesty the highs and lows of her (to this point) life's journey.

While the author's multigenerational memoir helps to provide the reader helpful context, there are times when the alternating chapter pattern between generations offers too many names and details. The power of her personal story's narrative is at times compromised by the flood of family details. I wonder how my appreciation of her work might be enhanced if it were simply her memoir, with brief (not chapter-long) family references.

The author's concluding paragraph reminds the reader that hers is a story still being written. And perhaps that is the book's most notable feature: the recognition that for all of us, our life's story continues to be written and any attempt we make at memoir is but a snapshot, a picture in a moment of time. The rest of the story, for all of us, is still being written.

(Disclosure: I received this NetGalley ebook without charge and received no compensation; the only expectation is to provide this honest review).

I really enjoyed reading about Shawna's life experiences. I was confused because the beginning was Shawna taking around a tv crew to show them how it is to live in the Appalachians, but that quickly stopped and it was just stories of her life. There was no conclusion or ending to the tv crew story. I was definitely entertained and feel for Shawna for the things she has gone through in her life. I know that lifestyle and her experiences have made her a great mother and wife. This story can break your heart and warm your heart at the same time.

The memoir of a woman who grew up in the Appalachian mountains, this is a powerful story of survival. Shawna moves with her family regularly as her parents renew their connections with The Body - a religious cult - and then leave it again to find work. The cycle repeats several times. Always dirt poor, often on the receiving end of harsh punishment, Shawna must navigate her path in a world that seems to constantly change, and one that offers very little opportunity for history not to continually repeat itself.

We are given lots of information about the previous generations of Shawna's family, explanations of how and why they all came to be where they are now, and the lives that they are living.

The book was definitely an eye opener, and I was impressed with Shawna's spirit.

I found the book very choppy though, as the timeline wandered back and forth, and it was hard to follow with relative's story we were reading about and their connections to Shawna. It came over as far more disjointed than it needed to have been.

I’ve recently been reading books and watching documentaries about cults, so I was glad to be able to read Kin by Shawna Kay Rodenburg. For fans of The Glass Castle or Educated, Shawna Kay deftly navigates sharing about her family and life in a way that draws the reader in but avoids demonizing.

I imagine this would also make for a powerful audiobook experience.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing a copy of this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

I wanted to love this book. I love a good memoir, especially one that includes religious cults. The story was there, but I think the author had difficulty putting it into a cohesive tale that flowed effortlessly for the reader. I loved hearing about Shawna’s experience, but Shorty’s endless Vietnam letters I could’ve done without. I also wanted to know how Shawna’s experience in The Body and eastern KY helped her survive life in Virginia and as a married adult and mother. Again, the story is there but the execution was lacking for me.

KIN: A Memoir
Shawna Kay Rodenberg BLoomsbury Publishing:2021



Here is something! A sweet tale about a family of believers. The KIN.. The Folks. The Family. Flesh of my flesh. Blood. Blood Kin. Who are your people? Where your people from?

Shawna Kay Rodenberg was raised in a cult-The Body Farms organized in Minnesota by Sam Fife who was not immortal after all. But you hear that and oh the words- CULT!Immortal! !. It turns out, however that the author and her sister, Misti, were raised by parents who loved her. They wanted the best they knew how. And they tried very hard. The father built a little house. The mother bought them new clothes, not seconds or cast offs. They had freedom, those two little girls. When circumstances took the family back to Kentucky where they had come from, they continued to wrap themselves all in a bubble of caring. If everybody you know believes "it”, isn’t it likely that “it” is true? Kin folk make appearances-some malevolent, others supportive. A bad, bad man, a red mule, a fearless girl. A goat named Nancy. Then come others from the outside the bubble-teachers and tutors. Mrs Murtaugh, a benevolent emissary from an almost secular world brings in goodness. You believe the kin but you listen to the others. There is a lot of means, and a lot of goodness, and disappointment and hope. This is a story of living life underserved belief.

What is the problem about belief? Catholics have a prayer for belief. It is an Act of Faith-“Lord, I believe wish to believe in Thee…." For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who do not believe, then no proof is possible.
If you believe the Bible is your Guide for Life it makes your Life truthful. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalms 119:105) I wonder how many reader jump when they see Bible or WORD in one paragraph. And move away quickly. Why are Those Paths of Righteousness to be avoided in this very secular world?

This is a book to be read out loud. You have to catch the rhythms. It is sitting around the table in the twilight telling stories and fading into the past and sticking a toe in the future and just telling the stories. You may not know the characters but if you have a family you sure do know kin. These are people who believed in the Government and went to war. Or believed in the Preacher and did not get a vaccination. Oh Hope- was it worth it?

I so feared that this would be another in the Poverty Porn genre. It is not. It is far from it. “Don’t dwell,” says Grandma. “Don’t dwell" but we are blessed that she did.
The author writes a deep Heart’s desire: “that Kin will open the floodgates for dozens, even hundreds of. Memoirs from rural-born women who have spent years of their lives in churches and kitchens…” I hope so too.

Fascinating look at a lifestyle I knew very little about. Love, loss, and real life story of a young girl from the Appalachian area. I was drawn in from the first chapter. Her writing draws you in and the details allow you to place yourself in the scenes. Shawna thank you for sharing your story with such passion, even the hardest parts. I hope your sharing will help others to see their stories matter.

I love reading memoirs, and Kin was no exception. It gave me a wonderful picture into the life of Shawna Kay and her family. I could feel her deep loyalty to her family yet her desire for a different life. My one critique would be that it is not told in chronological order, and that was a bit confusing at times.

Raymond Carver said he never talked down to his characters, because they were his people. Rodenberg manages the difficult task of treating her characters with dignity and respect, while infusing her narrative with the deepest and best sort of humor. I've been waiting for this book for a long time, and hope it gets the recognition it deserves for examining this distinct American culture in a way that 'Hillbilly Elegy' failed to do.

My mom is from Appalachia, so I really enjoy reading about the area. The author has done a fantastic job here. I very much enjoyed the read.

I received this copy from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

A family portrayal of emotional and physical abuse in the backdrop of a religious cult. Although told from the perspective of the woman who lived it, the stories seemed somewhat random and I couldn’t connect with the characters. I had hoped for another book like Educated or The Sound of Gravel and, unfortunately, this one fell flat.

I requested this book on the premise I felt it was going to be similar to Educated and I’ve been wanting someone similar since reading that.
It sort of was. This family is very dis functional and the father joins a cult called, The Body. Shawna is rebellious and is in constant turmoil because she wants nothing more than to leave.
It did get a little confusing at times because it follows multiple family members and some questions I never got answers to. Overall, it was an ok book.

Thanks to NetGalley for my advanced ebook copy.

Reminiscent of Educated, Shawna Kay Rodenburg's memoir portrays a dysfunctional family that's full of poverty, religion, trauma and drama. In telling her story from the viewpoint of multiple generations and their journey from the coal mines of Appalachia to an off-the-grid religious community in Minnesota, we learn of her survival and enduring familial love despite the harsh discipline she suffered (that today we call child abuse) to sexual abuse (at the age of 8) by predatory adults in the religious community as well as older boys in her schools.

This book will stay with me a long time. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

When you grow up in dysfunction there’s stages. When you are very young you don’t realize not everyone lives like that, when you get to school you try to be perfect so no one knows and when you get older you seek out books like this to let you know there are others out there like you.
Kin is a book about generational trauma. It’s not an overly sad book but it has moments of abuse of children. The author does a great job exploring her family history of how she got to where she is. I wondered if she had ADHD from some of her behaviors or if that was just boredom from being brilliant in a religiously stifling environment. I also thought she had sensory processing issues because of her reactions to foods and textures it was that just her response to trauma.
This was interesting. It was lacking in connection and answers in some parts- I found myself scrambling and going back in pages to see if I could figure out what was missing. But this was an interesting account of the authors life and family.

This memoir was difficult to follow sometimes. The author, in trying to get everyone’s story in, switches from one character to another. Maybe in the final version where are clearly different chapters the story would be easier to follow. I found the story fascinating and the author clearly shows the generational impact of abuse. It is a story of the struggles of overcoming abuse and survival.

The author's story is very interesting and I enjoyed learning about her family and the struggles of the history and peoples of Appalachia. The author's childhood in a religious community is also a compelling read. I enjoyed the first part of the book more than the latter parts, as it started to get confusing when the author switched between different characters and time periods. The ending was somewhat unsatisfying as well, as it left the reader wondering what happened to the author in the years to come. I applaud the author for her bravery in writing this book.