April 29, 2011

REVIEW: KINDRED BY TAMMAR STEIN



Hardcover: 272 pages
Genre: Young Adult
Published February 8th 2011 by Knopf Books for Young Readers

Miriam is an unassuming college freshman stuck on campus after her spring break plans fall through. She's not a religious girl--when pressed she admits reluctantly to believing in a higher power. Truth be told, she's about as comfortable speaking about her faith as she is about her love life, which is to say, not at all.

Then the archangel Raphael pays Miriam a visit, and she finds herself on a desperate mission to save two of her contemporaries. To top it all off, her twin brother, Mo, has also had a visitation, but from the opposite end of the good-evil spectrum, which leaves Miriam to wonder--has she been blessed and her brother cursed or vice versa? And what is the real purpose behind her mission?


Honestly, I have to say that my biggest issue with this book is that not enough happened. There wasn't enough action - neither physically nor emotionally.

The story concept is fantastic. I love books about angels so I thought that this one would be extra special. Our main character is young girl named Miriam who has a visit from an angel, along with a mission to save someone. At the same time, her twin brother, Moses, has a visit from Satan, with a mission to hurt someone (although, of course, Moses doesn't see it that way). I love the idea of angels/demons fighting over these two twins; I think it is unique and exciting.

But in the entire novel, there are only two missions for Miriam to complete, and the first one happens within the first few chapters of the book. Because of this, I felt like the storyline was too slow-going and I found myself wanting to skip ahead to see when the next fast-paced action would occur.

Unfortunately, I also didn't enjoy the romance between Miriam and one of the other characters (I won't tell who). I just felt, again, like it was moving to slow and because of this, I never felt the spark between the two of them. It was a relationship that was just...there. It wasn't exciting or romantic.

If there is a sequel to this book - which I believe there might be just because of the way it is written - my advice to you would be to wait for the sequel and then read both books together. I think that a more satisfying ending might be just the thing to bring this novel up a notch.

3 out of 5 stars.

1 comment:

  1. Interesting concept. Not sure I'd like the slow pace. Thanks for the review.

    ReplyDelete

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