Review: Kindred

Title: Kindred

Author: Tammar Stein

Publisher: Knopf Books

Release Date: February 8th 2011

Source: Friend

My Rating: 3/5

(Goodreads) Summary:

The first time I meet an angel, it is Raphael and I am eighteen.
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?
 
My Thoughts:
 
I found the summary of this book to be slightly misleading. First of all, Miriam drops out of college within the first fifty pages. Second, it says she is not religious yet she refers to God constantly throughout the book. Finally, the book really isn't about angels. Sure Miriam gets a visit from them once or twice, but that's it.
 
The plot mainly focuses on Miriam working as a reporter in a new town, finding love, and trying to save a young boy who she believes will end up in jail. For the most part the plot was original but boring. Miriam was sick with a bowel problem for the majority of the book and it was kind of gross to read about. She talked about it a lot and I didn't find a point to it. I feel the book would have been better if she didn't worry about losing weight and rushing to the bathroom all the time.
 
I really liked Miriam's love interest Emmett. He was a tough looking bald tattoo artist who was really sweet and understanding. The connection he had with Miriam was perfectly realistic and really fun to read about. I also enjoyed reading about Mo, Miriam's brother. He had that devilish side of him but the reader can't help but love him anyway. I wish they could have been a bigger part of the book.
 
Miriam's "mission" to save Jason was uninteresting. She was basically freaking out because he had a journal in which he drew and wrote bad things. All that Miriam did was ask everybody information on him and visit his house to yell at him. It wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be.
 
Overall the writing style was smooth, the ending was perfect, it was just boring and not what I had anticipated. I recommend this to anyone who likes contemporary fiction and religious books.