Official Review: Kendra by Grant Kniefel

TLGabelman · Post by **TLGabelman** » 06 Apr 2015, 09:14

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Kendra" by Grant Kniefel.]

3 out of 4 stars

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Kendra by Grant Kniefel is a love story that takes place in the span of 12 hours. Meeting his group of friends for their monthly movie outing one evening Grant notices a new girl among the group. After the movie he is persuaded into helping her and offers to give her a ride home from the theatre. Grant is not necessarily thrilled by this situation. Kendra, while mildly intriguing to Grant, is becoming a bit of an inconvenience. What follows in the next 10 hours is a strange sequence of events including gun shots, cheesecake, and an endearing guitar solo.

After reading the story of Grant and Kendra it struck me that this is not a story where words were particularly important. This is a story about emotions. To be perfectly clear, this is a story about a teenage boys emotions. There is a mild amount of dialogue to keep the flow of the story but the real focus is on how Grant feels throughout. In the short 12 hour timespan of the tale Grants emotions build to a pleasing crescendo.

Kneifel effortlessly describes Grant and Kendra making them believable and easy to picture. The side characters, were not done the same justice. I totaled 15 at the movie theatre among their group. With names including NoSlow, Devin the guy who was born in a panda costume, and Dustin the wannabe pimp, a reader desires more explanation in regards to these interesting side characters than simply their names. Most of the group who meet at the theatre do not make a reappearance for the rest of the story so I question the necessity of giving them names that clearly require clarification.

Grant and Kendra get into some pretty interesting scenarios for a single evening together. Not only does their evening take place in 12 hours but the whole story is 18 pages. I’ll be honest, I wanted more. I wanted their seemingly short drive home to cover several more chapters. Each chapter covers one main event. Interspersed within these chapters are delightful sprinkles that each deserve to be savored, like nonpareils. The pace of the story, while it was a quick read, hung up in a few spots. One point of pause occurred when after the movie Grant notices the evening sunset. According to my inner timeline while following the story, this would have transpired between 8 and 8:30 pm. While plausible, it did make me backtrack slightly. Perhaps that’s my own personal peeve.

I give Kendra 3 out of 4 stars. With more detail about the side characters and some additional consideration to timeline this would easily rise to a four star. I recommend this book to anyone who likes YA fiction and wants a quick emotion filled read.

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Kendra
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Kendra123 · Post by **Kendra123** » 24 Mar 2016, 21:34

This book was written about me. I haven't brought myself to read it all. It calls me ugly, unsocial, lonely and pitiful. The kid that wrote it never spoke to me. Will finishing the "book" hurt me more?

literarycat · Post by **literarycat** » 29 Mar 2016, 17:38

It is interesting that it is only 18 pages, one would think the story would be developed more and include the side characters like you said. Thank you for sharing the review.

kniefelg · Post by **kniefelg** » 22 Jul 2016, 18:47

Kendra123 wrote:This book was written about me. I haven't brought myself to read it all. It calls me ugly, unsocial, lonely and pitiful. The kid that wrote it never spoke to me. Will finishing the "book" hurt me more?

This is incorrect. I am the author and this story was not written about any particular person. It was a figment of my imagination. Therefore it is incorrect for you to say that it is about you. I don't know who you are miss. So please don't accuse me of anything that I haven't done.

Kourtney Bradley · Post by **Kourtney Bradley** » 23 Jul 2016, 21:40

It seems to me that it would be hard for an author to tell a story in only 18 pages, but for you to say that it left you wanting more, it must be a good read! Thanks for the nice review!