The Kindred by Alechia Dow // Book Review

This was the first book I read by Alechia Dow and I don’t think it will be my last. I was so enamored by this story and it really blew me away! Thanks Get Underlined for the gifted copy of the book.

Here’s more about The Kindred

To save a galactic kingdom from revolution, Kindred mind-pairings were created to ensure each and every person would be seen and heard, no matter how rich or poor…

Joy Abara knows her place. A commoner from the lowly planet Hali, she lives a simple life—apart from the notoriety that being Kindred to the nobility’s most infamous playboy brings.

Duke Felix Hamdi has a plan. He will exasperate his noble family to the point that they agree to let him choose his own future and finally meet his Kindred face-to-face.

Then the royal family is assassinated, putting Felix next in line for the throne…and accused of the murders. Someone will stop at nothing until he’s dead, which means they’ll target Joy, too. Meeting in person for the first time as they steal a spacecraft and flee amid chaos might not be ideal…and neither is crash-landing on the strange backward planet called Earth. But hiding might just be the perfect way to discover the true strength of the Kindred bond and expose a scandal—and a love—that may decide the future of a galaxy.

Find it on Amazon | Find it on Bookshop.org

My thoughts

Give me a story with an interesting science fiction world and you’ve got me hooked. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect with this one, but then it just kept getting better and better.

The most interesting part for me was the Kindred program; being assigned a kindred at birth regardless of class or sex and have that person be their best friend, lover, sibling, whatever for the entirety of their lives. It becomes a huge component to the rest of the book and really blew my mind to see how deep the bond between Joy and Felix were. It’s interesting because humans have to create those bonds through time and effort of finding someone that can connect with you on that level. These folks are provided a kindred and I love seeing how it’s more than just a friendship to Felix and Joy.

And these two couldn’t be any more different. Felix is a royal who couldn’t care about his position or power. He spends his days going around with a band, drinking and partying without a worry in the world. Joy is the complete opposite who feels a sense of duty to her planet to marry someone she’s not entirely sure she likes. I mean, I wouldn’t like someone if the first thing they commented on was my weight. Ooph, her betrothed was so irritating throughout the story and just really proved how good Alechia Dow is with writing these characters.

The biggest component of this book was the romance. I didn’t expect it to be such a massive part of the book, but I loved watching Felix and Joy quietly pine for each other only to find out the truth in the end. I loved watching their love grow from then on despite the differences in class and their obligations.

Reading these two go through Earth was hilarious. I loved how creatively Alechia Dow tried to explain how the world was like in the small part of Florida and how to explain that to someone who doesn’t share anything remotely similar to us. There were definitely cute moments like when they all watched Black Panther together and it made me happy to see Joy find a love for chocolate-covered raisins. I also loved how open and welcoming Rashid was to Joy and Felix knowing nothing about them and how caring and understanding they were towards him. The book has so many beautiful displays of empathy and kindness that really wowed me.

While I really liked this one, I was still a bit wary with the pace in the beginning. There was a lot of info-dumping, but with good reason because with the focus on Felix and Joy’s time on Earth, meeting people, and figuring out how to clear their names, it makes sense to approach the beginning this way. I do love that the pace fixes itself and you get a pretty great story in the end.

I honestly think this book was a show of how great a writer Alechia Dow is. I’m seriously impressed and I definitely want to read her first book and any other books she writes in the future.