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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
3.5 stars rounded down. There were parts of this book that punched me right in the gut, but those moments were often mired in a lot of generalized detail, If that makes sense, so that I couldn’t connect with anyone besides Lacey (and perhaps that was the point). As someone who has always had a very strained and complicated relationship with my own mother, albeit nothing like the one in this book, that ending kinda knocked me for six.
challenging
dark
emotional
This is one of the darkest books I’ve ever read. Chelsea Bowler’s prose is great, but I would not suggest it unless you are in a really healthy state of mind.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Pregnancy
Minor: Suicide
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Did I enjoy this? Simple answer, no. Absolutely not. Was it intriguing enough to finish, yes. I kept going, hoping beyond hope for some sort of decent, if not happy ending...but it just kept getting worse. The end did not make up for the rest. I need a shower now. Trigger warning: rape, rape of a minor, incest, cult stuff, drugs, etc...
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Gaslighting
Godshot by Chelsea Bieker is a cult fiction book that had a gripping excerpt; it definitely pulled me in and made me look forward to reading it. I expected this book to be weird and dark. I did not expect it to be quite SO weird and SO dark. I think most people would admit to being curious about cults and their inner workings, and I thought this could be an interesting and different kind of book on that subject.
Unfortunately, Godshot was so disturbing that I was borderline uncomfortable reading it the entire time. Bieker takes cult tropes/stereotypes and ramps them up to an even more alarming level. For example, it’s no secret that women in cults lose autonomy over their bodies and that a lot of their “glorification” within the cult often comes down to their fertility and sexuality. That, in my understanding, is a pretty common occurrence with different cults. Bieker has to take it one step further and has the women in her cult completely obsessed (read: COMPLETELY obsessed. There’s way too much fixation by the protagonist on her period, on sex, on her body and others) with getting their “first blood” (period) in order to get their “first assignment” which – without their knowledge or consent – is impregnation by boys within the church. Of course, we can’t stop there. The rapes of each girl are by boys related to her (cousin, brother, et cetera). As though women’s freedom (or lack thereof) in cults isn’t disconcerting enough, as if rape by anyone to anyone isn’t wildly horrific itself, Bieker turns up the intensity and throws in incest.
That is just one example of how she crosses the line of troubling to downright distressing (and that’s a primary plot point so it doesn’t just disappear in a chapter; it lingers and gnaws at you for the entire novel).
Additionally, nearly every character is so quirky that they’re almost all certifiably insane. There’s a lot of brainwashing in cults, but she went beyond that to writing characters that were not only unlikeable but plain bizarre with unsettling mannerisms that had nothing to do with their part in the church. Example: the main character’s grandmother is obsessed with rodent taxidermy and having her granddaughter pluck hair from her body. Like, what? And there’s an entire cast of side characters working at a phone sex line that (I think) are supposed to represent some kind of freedom (literally and sexually?) to the protagonist, but they have so many problems of their own that it was hard to find them heroic or mentally stable in any way.
I cannot recommend this book. It was gripping in the I-couldn’t-look-away sense. But it was extremely unsettling – far beyond what it needed to be to convey the obsessive, almost erotic mentality within cults. Far beyond. I almost didn’t finish it, and looking back, I probably should have just stopped. Don’t bother with this one – there are better books to read.
www.theliteratureladies.com
Unfortunately, Godshot was so disturbing that I was borderline uncomfortable reading it the entire time. Bieker takes cult tropes/stereotypes and ramps them up to an even more alarming level. For example, it’s no secret that women in cults lose autonomy over their bodies and that a lot of their “glorification” within the cult often comes down to their fertility and sexuality. That, in my understanding, is a pretty common occurrence with different cults. Bieker has to take it one step further and has the women in her cult completely obsessed (read: COMPLETELY obsessed. There’s way too much fixation by the protagonist on her period, on sex, on her body and others) with getting their “first blood” (period) in order to get their “first assignment” which – without their knowledge or consent – is impregnation by boys within the church. Of course, we can’t stop there. The rapes of each girl are by boys related to her (cousin, brother, et cetera). As though women’s freedom (or lack thereof) in cults isn’t disconcerting enough, as if rape by anyone to anyone isn’t wildly horrific itself, Bieker turns up the intensity and throws in incest.
That is just one example of how she crosses the line of troubling to downright distressing (and that’s a primary plot point so it doesn’t just disappear in a chapter; it lingers and gnaws at you for the entire novel).
Additionally, nearly every character is so quirky that they’re almost all certifiably insane. There’s a lot of brainwashing in cults, but she went beyond that to writing characters that were not only unlikeable but plain bizarre with unsettling mannerisms that had nothing to do with their part in the church. Example: the main character’s grandmother is obsessed with rodent taxidermy and having her granddaughter pluck hair from her body. Like, what? And there’s an entire cast of side characters working at a phone sex line that (I think) are supposed to represent some kind of freedom (literally and sexually?) to the protagonist, but they have so many problems of their own that it was hard to find them heroic or mentally stable in any way.
I cannot recommend this book. It was gripping in the I-couldn’t-look-away sense. But it was extremely unsettling – far beyond what it needed to be to convey the obsessive, almost erotic mentality within cults. Far beyond. I almost didn’t finish it, and looking back, I probably should have just stopped. Don’t bother with this one – there are better books to read.
www.theliteratureladies.com
This book was... Uncomfortable and disturbing on a number of levels. I don't think I can recommend it.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment
Minor: Animal death
dark
hopeful
reflective
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
dark
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape