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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
Beyond all expectations
This book is different than most you will read. It's unique in its tale of the girl who adores a boy, spends her days with him and hopes and prays that one day she will be bound to him. But this is no normal village she lives in. The day she bleeds for the first time, is the day her world changes and everything she ever wanted is gone. You see, she lives as one of the anointed, and what she wants is irrelevant. Punished and purified for her transgression s against their God, she is forced to marry the Prophet, the father of the boy she loves. On her wedding night she realises she can't live with a lifetime of rape and despair so she runs leaving it all behind. 12 years she lives amongst the sinners, struggling to remain pure, until the boy she love, now a man , comes back into her life and her life as torn apart again.
It's a hard story to read and many will struggle with it. I find it real and gritty, beautiful and harsh. I find it a perfect tale of life and the horrors that lurk behind closed doors, or an entire village.
Definitely a five star read and one of my favorite reads this year.
This book is different than most you will read. It's unique in its tale of the girl who adores a boy, spends her days with him and hopes and prays that one day she will be bound to him. But this is no normal village she lives in. The day she bleeds for the first time, is the day her world changes and everything she ever wanted is gone. You see, she lives as one of the anointed, and what she wants is irrelevant. Punished and purified for her transgression s against their God, she is forced to marry the Prophet, the father of the boy she loves. On her wedding night she realises she can't live with a lifetime of rape and despair so she runs leaving it all behind. 12 years she lives amongst the sinners, struggling to remain pure, until the boy she love, now a man , comes back into her life and her life as torn apart again.
It's a hard story to read and many will struggle with it. I find it real and gritty, beautiful and harsh. I find it a perfect tale of life and the horrors that lurk behind closed doors, or an entire village.
Definitely a five star read and one of my favorite reads this year.
Surprised
This book has been on my list to read for awhile now and I'm glad I finally decided to read it. It is the first book that I have ever read by this author and after reading it I now want to check out other books by her. While this book does have some dark subjects it didn't go into so much detail that it made me cringe. I've read books that were much more disturbing. It made me feel lots of different emotions and I did struggle with some of the characters beliefs. I really did enjoy this book because it was different than any other book that I've ever read and even though the characters to go through a lot of stuff it does have a happy ending.
This book has been on my list to read for awhile now and I'm glad I finally decided to read it. It is the first book that I have ever read by this author and after reading it I now want to check out other books by her. While this book does have some dark subjects it didn't go into so much detail that it made me cringe. I've read books that were much more disturbing. It made me feel lots of different emotions and I did struggle with some of the characters beliefs. I really did enjoy this book because it was different than any other book that I've ever read and even though the characters to go through a lot of stuff it does have a happy ending.
**ARC provided in exchange for an honest review**
4.5 stars
"The world outside the protection of the Anointed Land is full of evil and sinners."
I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I decided to read this book. This is my first book by Charity B., and the blurb and cover were just too enticing to pass. I have read books about cults/sects before, and I am just drawn to the whole dark and taboo sides of those type of stories. Because these cults are somewhat unknown to us, the author can pretty much do anything with the story, and go as dark and crazy as she wants. What I love most about these type of stories is the unpredictability and the plot twists. I just love not being able to anticipate what will happen next, it keeps me on the edge of my seat. I am very impressed by Charity's writing/world-building skills. Anointed felt like a complete story, and I just loved how everything progressed, even though there were many messed up dark things happening. This book had me on an emotional roller coaster, and I just couldn't contain my tears a couple of times.
"When I'm with him this way, I don't feel like myself. I become another person, in another life, one that's free to love. I know this is a sin, but...I want to sin with him."
Less than half of the book is focusing on the characters when they are in their teens (13/15 years old), and this shows us the friendship between Zebadiah and Laurel Ann. I think this part of the story was important to get a feel of how everything worked in the cult and how the relationships were. It also helps the reader connect with the characters. When Laurel Ann is excommunicated, she feels like her life is over. She doesn't want to live with sinners, however after twelve years she finds a balance between her beliefs and living in the normal world. Zeb goes from a nice boy to a hardened prophet, and Laurel Ann isn't the same girl either. I absolutely loved the organic character development in this book, it felt very real. This is a complex but easy to follow story, and the only reason I didn't give this 5 stars was because I felt like the last part of the story was a bit rushed. Anointed is a great read for my fellow Dark Romance lovers. If you love a story with plot twists and a lot of crazy things happening, then I highly recommend you to read this book. I can't wait to read this author's other books.
4.5 stars
"The world outside the protection of the Anointed Land is full of evil and sinners."
I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I decided to read this book. This is my first book by Charity B., and the blurb and cover were just too enticing to pass. I have read books about cults/sects before, and I am just drawn to the whole dark and taboo sides of those type of stories. Because these cults are somewhat unknown to us, the author can pretty much do anything with the story, and go as dark and crazy as she wants. What I love most about these type of stories is the unpredictability and the plot twists. I just love not being able to anticipate what will happen next, it keeps me on the edge of my seat. I am very impressed by Charity's writing/world-building skills. Anointed felt like a complete story, and I just loved how everything progressed, even though there were many messed up dark things happening. This book had me on an emotional roller coaster, and I just couldn't contain my tears a couple of times.
"When I'm with him this way, I don't feel like myself. I become another person, in another life, one that's free to love. I know this is a sin, but...I want to sin with him."
Less than half of the book is focusing on the characters when they are in their teens (13/15 years old), and this shows us the friendship between Zebadiah and Laurel Ann. I think this part of the story was important to get a feel of how everything worked in the cult and how the relationships were. It also helps the reader connect with the characters. When Laurel Ann is excommunicated, she feels like her life is over. She doesn't want to live with sinners, however after twelve years she finds a balance between her beliefs and living in the normal world. Zeb goes from a nice boy to a hardened prophet, and Laurel Ann isn't the same girl either. I absolutely loved the organic character development in this book, it felt very real. This is a complex but easy to follow story, and the only reason I didn't give this 5 stars was because I felt like the last part of the story was a bit rushed. Anointed is a great read for my fellow Dark Romance lovers. If you love a story with plot twists and a lot of crazy things happening, then I highly recommend you to read this book. I can't wait to read this author's other books.
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Wow! Perfection. I felt every emotion and struggle of the characters. And the angst!!! I thought they’d never be together.
The writing is very good but the content just wasn't for me. I feel readers should know up front there is a lot of graphic child abuse in the book. I just couldn't stand to read it so I skimmed much of the book. The love story of Zeb and Laurel was sweet but not enjoyable due to all of the angst. I did love Kaila!!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Religious bigotry
my emotions through this book: Irritation, annoyance, frustration, irritation, and more frustration.
and then the last few chapters my only thought was "FINALLY".
I guess the saddest part of this book is the realisation that such sick cults do actually exist somewhere...
I liked the good display of the different thoughts and believes and doubts of the characters about their religion
and I'm glad about the ending, because anything else would have upsetted and sickend me.
and then the last few chapters my only thought was "FINALLY".
I guess the saddest part of this book is the realisation that such sick cults do actually exist somewhere...
I liked the good display of the different thoughts and believes and doubts of the characters about their religion
and I'm glad about the ending, because anything else would have upsetted and sickend me.
I’ll be honest, I expected a lot worse from this book after reading some of the authors other books.
Of course there were themes and scenes that were hard and uncomfortable to read and on more than a few occasions, I wanted to punch more than one of the characters and do worse to some of the others but I’ve read other books with themes similar to this.
I actually found the Hangmen books a lot harder to read so I was pleasantly surprised by this book.
To me, there are a couple of open/loose ends that I hope lead to other stories on the back of this one but I enjoyed this story the most out of the others I’ve read from Charity.
Of course there were themes and scenes that were hard and uncomfortable to read and on more than a few occasions, I wanted to punch more than one of the characters and do worse to some of the others but I’ve read other books with themes similar to this.
I actually found the Hangmen books a lot harder to read so I was pleasantly surprised by this book.
To me, there are a couple of open/loose ends that I hope lead to other stories on the back of this one but I enjoyed this story the most out of the others I’ve read from Charity.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Torture
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
4.5 stars
I’ve read two of Charity’s other books that I really enjoyed and I’m SO disappointed it took me so long to pick this one up! This is by far my favourite book that I’ve read of theirs so far and I can’t wait to continue to read more. Very much a page turner of a book
I’ve read two of Charity’s other books that I really enjoyed and I’m SO disappointed it took me so long to pick this one up! This is by far my favourite book that I’ve read of theirs so far and I can’t wait to continue to read more. Very much a page turner of a book