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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
wow!! i didn’t expect to enjoy this book as much as i did. i just really love stories about complicated girls w mommy issues.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
"I needed time to freeze so I could grow a heart big enough to accept the day."
This book is a gem. A story of heartbreak and hope and resiliency, amidst truly horrifying circumstances. The writing was vivid and specific -- the eccentricities of some of the characters will be hard to forget (e.g. Stringy the lawn painter, Cherry and her taxidermy mice) -- but it was also quite moving. You just can't help but root for Lacey May and will her to a better life. The complicated mother-daughter relationship is the lifeline of this story, in a tragic and really original way. I thought the last 50 pages or so were especially thrilling (and satisfying!). A great read!
This book is a gem. A story of heartbreak and hope and resiliency, amidst truly horrifying circumstances. The writing was vivid and specific -- the eccentricities of some of the characters will be hard to forget (e.g. Stringy the lawn painter, Cherry and her taxidermy mice) -- but it was also quite moving. You just can't help but root for Lacey May and will her to a better life. The complicated mother-daughter relationship is the lifeline of this story, in a tragic and really original way. I thought the last 50 pages or so were especially thrilling (and satisfying!). A great read!
This book jumps right into crazy in a way that you can’t tell where it’s headed exactly. It’s a story about fanatic religion and Thea author, Chelsea Bieker, takes you down a road that illuminates the depths of brainwashing and how it can start our feeling normal but then progresses in such a way that folks are sucked in and can’t find their way out. The eternal labyrinth. Some of the imagery is beautiful and some of it is ugly and horrifying. It is an interesting twist on the American coming-of-age novel and taps into many sensitive social and economic issues that can grip onto individuals and a community.. Bieker also conveys both endearing and harsh realities of the mother-daughter bond.
Themes include faith, healing, religion, the natural world, womanhood,and feminism, and patriarchy.
Issues tackled include: region/faith, suicide, rape/incest, pedophilia, abortion, sex, drugs/alcohol, mental health.
Themes include faith, healing, religion, the natural world, womanhood,and feminism, and patriarchy.
Issues tackled include: region/faith, suicide, rape/incest, pedophilia, abortion, sex, drugs/alcohol, mental health.
“Whatever’s happened to you can either make you beautiful, or it will ruin you forever. You decide.”
A very beautifully written, sad story of abuse and neglect at the hands of a cult leader. The characters were so well done and the whole story while devastating, was compelling.
A very beautifully written, sad story of abuse and neglect at the hands of a cult leader. The characters were so well done and the whole story while devastating, was compelling.
Very nicely written. Felt like a literature assignment for school. Extremely visceral reading experience. Wayyyyyy heavy and hard to read at some parts. But it has some good characters and the messaging is important.
Godshot? More like godsent because this book was amazing.
Before the rest of my review, I have to admit that I’m the perfect audience since I'm just a simple gal that likes to read about cults.
I adore the atmosphere of this book. The writing makes me feel the drought that the town is experiencing. The mechanics of the cult (for the most part) is logical and works for me. There are also some quotable sentences that I wish that I had highlighted.
My favorite part of the book is the relationship between Lacey and her mother. The author crafts such a complex relationship, and I sympathize with Lacey’s turmoil of still loving the mom that abandoned her. With their relationship, the author also builds on the themes of motherhood and womanhood.
I also enjoyed Lacey’s point of view. Her growth as a character is quite realistic and worked for me. Yes, she is a bit naive, I think — to some degree — it could be realistic due to the community that she grew up in, since she doesn’t really have much access to outside information.
Towards the latter half, the book was addicting. I was reading it on the beach, and it was so addicting that I almost brought it into the ocean while I was swimming. And I really enjoyed the ending! It was such a realistic end for Lacey and her mom’s relationship.
Before the rest of my review, I have to admit that I’m the perfect audience since I'm just a simple gal that likes to read about cults.
I adore the atmosphere of this book. The writing makes me feel the drought that the town is experiencing. The mechanics of the cult (for the most part) is logical and works for me. There are also some quotable sentences that I wish that I had highlighted.
My favorite part of the book is the relationship between Lacey and her mother. The author crafts such a complex relationship, and I sympathize with Lacey’s turmoil of still loving the mom that abandoned her. With their relationship, the author also builds on the themes of motherhood and womanhood.
I also enjoyed Lacey’s point of view. Her growth as a character is quite realistic and worked for me. Yes, she is a bit naive, I think — to some degree — it could be realistic due to the community that she grew up in, since she doesn’t really have much access to outside information.
Towards the latter half, the book was addicting. I was reading it on the beach, and it was so addicting that I almost brought it into the ocean while I was swimming. And I really enjoyed the ending! It was such a realistic end for Lacey and her mom’s relationship.
Spoiler
And I do like how it isn’t explicit whether Lacey understands the badness of the cult or not.
This is very difficult to review or rate; while it was a well written book, it was so uncomfortable to read and so hopeless at times that it felt like the book was getting into explicit trauma porn territory.
Everyone on titok who described this as feeling like reading the screams in Ethel Cain's "Ptolemaea" was entirely correct, but having those screams comes from the fourteen year old narrator was excruciating.
Everyone on titok who described this as feeling like reading the screams in Ethel Cain's "Ptolemaea" was entirely correct, but having those screams comes from the fourteen year old narrator was excruciating.
eh it was okay! i liked some of it, i didn’t like some of it. if u like cult-esque stories you’ll probably be at least interested in this
This is a story about a religious cult. The story was unsettling and reading it did not bring me joy.