Literally Leander discussion

Our book for September was The Kindred by Alechia Dow. Please be aware that there may be spoilers within the thread!

This month, our discussion prompts were written by a staff member. You may choose not to use them, and that's totally okay! We're excited to see anything you may have to say about this book!

1. The Kindred takes place in the same world as Dow’s previous novel, The Sound of Stars. Have you read The Sound of Stars, and if so, what did you think about how the two books were tied together? If you haven’t read the previous book, do you want to?

2. In The Kindred, all people in the Monchuri system are paired with another in a different socio-economic class in order to ensure that each person is heard. What did you think of this system? What are some of the pros and cons?

3. Discuss the relationship between Felix and Joy. How do you think that their bond as Kindred shaped one another? How does the bond affect their relationship?

4. Imagine that you were like Rashid, welcoming aliens to Earth. How would you describe our world?

5. Do you think Felix and Joy will make a good king and queen? How do you think they will lead the Monchuri system?

Unfortunately, I found this book to be a little forgettable. I think the author uses a fictional planet and alien race to draw parallels to modern day society, specifically the division in socio-economic class and ethnicity. My overall takeaway from this book was that it was an interesting concept that just lacked the spark to make it really shine.

1. The Kindred takes place in the same world as Dow’s previous novel, The Sound of Stars. Have you read The Sound of Stars, and if so, what did you think about how the two books were tied together? If you haven’t read the previous book, do you want to?
I have not read The Sound of Stars, and it's not really one on my TBR, either. From what I could tell, The Kindred takes place before the events in TSOS, so maybe there's a little bit of worldbuilding taking place here that might be noticed by those that have read the previous book.

2. In The Kindred, all people in the Monchuri system are paired with another in a different socio-economic class in order to ensure that each person is heard. What did you think of this system? What are some of the pros and cons?
Honestly, this paired system was what made the book interesting. Of course, we see that it's not really doing what it says it does; those who are royalty are still paired with those "befitting" of their station, which sort of defeats the point. Joy is even given specific shots to keep Felix from feeling her negative feelings. The little snippets with the newscasters reveals that it's public knowledge that Joy is lower on the food chain than what they would expect for someone of Felix's status... but for the system to work as it's suggested to, it would be better for the wealthiest to be paired with the poorest. I felt that in this fictional government, the Kindred program is just a way to say "see, we're trying" without really putting in the effort, since everyone is typically safe in their own socio-economic bubbles. And I think this is kind of the point of the novel.

If done correctly, a program like this would have the potential of helping with a lot of social problems. Starvation wouldn't be an issue if the wealthy felt the pain of hunger, for example.