Alechia Dow

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.

The Kindred

Thequeen

Campbell Berry

This book was fine. I thought the aspect of having a Kindred was very unique and I liked the plot at first. The things I didn’t like were the two main characters and their relationship and I hated the ending.

Zoe Smolen

This book was just okay for me. It felt more like a contemporary YA wrapped up in a sci-fi package than a sci-fi novel, as most of the book takes place on earth. There's lot of good commentary about earth, but there's almost so much that it gets lots in the book. 

I think this would be a great pick for someone looking to explore sci-fi and ease into it.

“Utterly swoony…an endearing reminder that true love can change the world” —J. Elle, New York Times bestselling author of Wings of Ebony 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.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc and arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: The Kindred

Author: Alechia Dow

Book Series: Standalone

Diversity: Ff romance mentioned, Pan BIPOC inspired MC, Black plus size ace MC, Gay character, Mm romance mentioned, Māori side character

Rating: 3.5/5

Recommended For...: young adult readers, sci-fi, romance

Genre: YA sci-fi romance

Publication Date: January 4, 2022

Publisher: Inkyard Press

Pages: 394

Recommended Age: 16+ (Anxiety, Underage Alcohol consumption, Weight, Disordered Eating, Religion, Violence, Gore, Death, Parent death, Pandemic, Police brutality, Racism, School shootings, Language, Romance, Grief, Sexual content, Skin lightening)

Explanation of CWs: Anxiety is shown slightly in the book. Within the context of US laws, there is underage alcohol consumption shown. Weight and disordered eating are discussed at length. Religion is mentioned sporadically throughout the book. Violence and gore and death are shown in the book. Parent death is mentioned in the book. The pandemic, police brutality, and school shootings get mentioned one or twice in the book. Racism and skin lightening are shown and mentioned in the book. Grief is shown and discussed in the book. There are a couple of instances of cursing. There is a friends to lovers romance and some sexual content.

Synopsis: 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.

Review: For the most part I enjoyed the book. It was a sweet friends to lovers romance sci-fi book and I loved that this book and Dow's other book contained Easter eggs of a possible 3rd story with the alien traveling band. The character development was well done and the world building was good. The book was also well plotted.

However, there were some issues with the book. The back and forth time period was a bit disjointing and it didn't add much to the story for me. I think telling keys parts of the past could have been done better than flashbacks of random time periods. The structure of the book is not well done and it's easy to get confused in the text. The book is also weirdly paced. It's fast in some parts but slow the rest of the book.

Verdict: It's good!