Official Review: The Family by Calvin Himel

[Melisa Jane]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Family" by Calvin Himel.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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The phrase “love is blind” has been used by several people to show that anybody can fall in love with anyone, regardless of their physical appearances. However, a romantic relationship between two people of the same family is one that never crosses the mind when the above phrase is mentioned. The Family: Brother and Sister Love by Calvin L. Himel is a unique novel about a romantic relationship between two step-siblings.

Roger Oliver and Susan Ann are step-siblings. Roger’s father had married Susan’s Mother immediately after the death of his mother. Susan’s father had also died. When Mr. George, Roger’s father, married Mrs. Ethel Ann, Susan’s mother, Susan was ten while Roger was only nine. The two siblings loved each other very much. They attended the same primary and secondary school, both of them pursued the law as a career at the university and graduated at the top of their classes. While at the University, Roger went straight into real-estate investment. Although they had a romantic relationship, both of them were in other relationships too. After school, their outside relationships ended. They resolved to stay together since they loved each other. Despite their enormous success, these two kids had very dark secrets. Will their parents agree to their marriage? What are these wicked secrets?

With 250 pages, this book is divided into 23 chapters. Each chapter is a continuation of the adjacent one. It is written in the third person’s point of view. Although the tenses alternate between the present and past simple tense, a larger part of the book is written in the past simple tense. The main themes in this book include love and romance, family relations, education, and conflict. Most of the characters were well-developed. For instance, both Roger and Susan have been portrayed as smart, hardworking, and charitable. With only a single twist, the plot was very predictable and, therefore, very boring.

While the only thing I liked about this book was the efficient character development, there are several things that didn’t appeal to me. To begin with, I came across over ten grammatical errors within the first fifteen pages of the book. It was, therefore, poorly edited. With multiple spelling errors, reading this book was extremely hard. I, however, consider the above dislikes “minor weaknesses” that can be easily adjusted. The worst thing about this book is that the author, through the protagonists, seems to find sexual pleasure when innocent and helpless “illegal immigrants” are tortured. The author “applauds” the protagonists when they pierce through their victims’ nipples and comments about the “large orgasms” the victims have. I found this inhumane and unpleasant, especially considering that the author failed to condemn it.

In conclusion, I rate this book 1 out of 4 stars. Since this book advocates for violence and many other inhumane acts, I don’t recommend it to anyone. Because the “illegal immigrants” who were turned into sex slaves were of Asian origin, readers from this region may feel offended.

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The Family
View: on Bookshelves

[Priyanka2304]

I was not expecting a low rating at first from the title of the book. I feel if these errors are removed, maybe this can be a fun read.

[MeganDJ]

Wow, I am appalled. Although I can believe that there are deranged people out there that could enjoy enslaved torture as a form of sexual pleasure, I would have never thought that it would have a place in a read like this, especially if perpetrators weren't somehow prosecuted for this act. Thank you for this well-written review, I will definitely be giving this one a pass.