Review: Kindred by Tammar Stein

Kindred by Tammar Stein.

Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: February 2011
List Price: $16.99
ISBN-13: 9780375858710

Review: Imagine getting a visit from an angel telling you to save someone, but to make things worse, your twin brother also gets a supernatural visit, but from the other end of the good-evil spectrum. This is only part of the crazy and confusing events that happen to Miriam in Kindred by Tammar Stein. Miriam is in college and is lost. She believes in a powerful energy but doesn't feel comfortable talking about her religion. Then one night on spring break Miriam's world is turned upside down when she gets a visit from Raphael, the angel. Kindred is a religious and fictional story filled with drama, love, and much more.

After Miriam's encounter with Raphael who told her to protect Tabitha, a stranger Miriam goes to school with, Miriam starts looking for answers. She finds Tabitha who she befriends. Miriam is told by the angel to save Tabitha before the Sabbath. Though Miriam gets to Tabitha before the Sabbath when Tabitha's dorm is blown up, Tabitha is disabled forever and Miriam ends up in big trouble for not helping Tabitha in time. So Miriam is now confused and scared and decides to become a college drop out and take a job as a reporter in Hamilton, Tennessee. With Miriam's parents worried and calling her all the time, things get even worse when Miriam gets a visit from her twin brother Mo. While with Mo she discovers that Mo got a visit too, but from the opposite direction. As in what Mo says in Kindred, "I've got friends in low places", from the song by Garth Brooks. This upsets Miriam because her brother is working for the Devil. Soon after, Miriam is getting stomach cramps that turn out to be Crohn's disease that she believes to be a punishment from God. Also, Miriam gets another angel visit giving her a new person to help who is an intern at the newspaper with some of his own problems. During the story Miriam develops a relationship with the local tattoo parlor owner Emmett. What will Miriam do to help mysterious Jason?

I wasn't really impressed with this book. One reason is that the story was quite slow at times. Also, the author always explained jokes too much when they were actually easy to understand. This frustrated me because it made the book seem longer than it actually was. I also couldn't connect with the main character who I found to complain a lot. This book was mostly a romance novel. It was funny at times but was a really serious book. Possibly one of the reasons that I did not enjoy this book as much as I'd hoped is because of the genre. Someone who likes romance novels might like it more. Overall, I would give Kindred two stars if you're not a lover of romance. But, this book could be great for someone looking for a fantasy romance novel.

Review written by Kyle (6th grade student).

We would like to thank Random House for providing a copy of Kindred for this review.

Have you read Kindred? How would you rate it?