Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
informative
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have to give this one a very teeter-y 3.7. It's an interesting story and Cline manages to hit those themes of raging girlhood and intensely dependent female friendships perfectly but fuuuck, the pacing was sooooo slow. Normally I can get through a book this length in four-five days, but this took me nearly twice that.
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was just terrible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Toxic friendship
Evie, Evie, Evie. You are the selfish egomaniac of adolescence caught up in the chapters of this book. The flash-forward bits of narration that give readers a window into the adult Evie looking back at her missteps and still waxing poetic about her time living in a cult are jarring. This whole book is an electric jolt and intimate look at the free-love philosophy of certain 60s philosophers and takes us on a turn down a dark, dark road. The way Cline uses language is transporting and masterful. I look forward to her next book!
Ah, the American 1960s. A time of cultural upheaval, religious unrest, and the looming threat of war and violence on our youth. The end of the decade bled righteously into the next with a pang of violence on our own soil: The Manson Family Murders and the wake left behind by one man's influence over a group of lost souls searching for meaning in the universe. What began as a farming commune on a ranch in California ended with the "family" murdering ~7.5 individuals including actress Sharon Tate and her unborn child. The infamous Charles Manson took advantage of his followers' faith and drug-addled paranoia to convinced them that there was a burgeoning race war that society would not be able to survive, and that this act of violence would usher in the purification of the world. Wrapped in his lies and charismatic demeanor, Manson left his mark on followers like Susan Atkins and contemporaries like musician Dennis Wilson in blood, white supremacy, and promise of apocalypse.
Unfortunately, this book is not about any of these individuals, nor any of these events. This is a book about Evie Boyd, a terribly insecure teenage girl who attempts to find close friends in the devotees of a similar, ranch-style cult centered around some guy named Russell. This is a book about disciple Suzanne and musician Mitch Lewis. This is, one might say, a bizarre historical fanfiction set in the middle of a generic-brand Manson cult.
Cline has gleefully torn apart a very real world of abuse, racism, hatred, and murder and put the pieces back together in a way that feels trite. Gone are any references to the cult leader's true influence or bizarre ideas and gone, too, are whatever details that could potentially make Evie or her beloved Suzanne truly unsympathetic characters. Suzanne's actions are explained as heat of the moment decisions, often exacerbated by the drugs she takes or the sex she is having. Neither girl ever weighs in on a potential race war, neither girl has any concept of the current political or class divide, the upcoming war and the draft is mentioned a grand total of one (1) time, and nobody in the story seems to acknowledge that the times, they are a-changing.
So, why is this book set in the late 1960s?
For the Manson Family (er... Russell Family?) references, of course!
The "Ranch" is used as a backdrop for a generally generic coming-of-age story. What does it mean to grow up as a girl? How do you reconcile new friends with old friends? Can adolescence exist without an act of personal violence against one's caretakers? All of these questions and more are posed and then promptly waffled on with no clear answer for nearly all of the book amidst 300+ pages of the most inane prose that hardly contributes to understanding. Cline seems more interested in using her SAT vocabulary words than crafting an authentic voice for her 14-year-old narrator.
Amidst the never-ending purple prose, Cline sets out also to prove that she has very little faith in her reader to put together the point. The first third of the book is Evie telling the reader how lonely and sad and wishful for attention she was at that age, desperate for anyone to look at her. All she wants is love, and attention, and she is sad, and needs love, because her parents give her none, and she is lonely- because surely the only reason one would fall in with a "cult" is because they need attention. Her co-dependency on Suzanne then comes as no surprise and is actually an extraordinarily well-composed part of the novel; the need she has for Suzanne and for her approval is almost palpable in her description of her, indicative of a young woman who is experiencing her first love. Evie's obsession with Suzanne feels as though it should open to a nuanced discussion of queer relationships and how an emotionally charged, co-dependent relationship between two girls can beget disaster if not somehow mitigated, as with any gender... but it doesn't. Any inherent queerness in the text can be written off as coincidence or platonic feelings of obsession, and Cline once again falls laughably into centrism and fails to make any kind of a point by leaving it ambiguous.
Surely you have noticed by now that I have not mentioned the cult. This is actually because the cult does not even need to exist to make this story happen. There is nothing unique about the presence of Russell or the Ranch or the other girls that could not be switched out for any other backdrop, time, or place, and still say the same thing. Despite it being an excellent hook, I fail to see any real reason it was set in this not-Manson cult in the first place. Characters are flat, forgettable, and either contribute to Evie's misery or euphoria. This is probably the most disappointing part of this read, as I was very excited to get a fictional and psychological take on one of the most infamous cults in history.
Despite this review, I have to say I really, REALLY wanted to like this book. I have heard enough raves that I felt like it could be one of my new favorites, and I always love a good, intimate character study, especially around something as psychologically terrifying as a murderous cult. Unfortunately, it really didn't deliver.
I don't think it's unsalvageable. It might be fun to recommend to someone who wants something light with thriller aspects. We all know how it ends, so it takes away some of the mystery. Overall, I didn't feel like it had anything groundbreaking to say about femininity, cults, anything.
2/5 stars, mostly out of pity, but also with acknowledgement to the writer for obviously being a very smart individual, just bad at carving out this particular novel. Despite this, I probably won't turn my nose up at the rest of her catalogue; I would be willing to bet that her fiction will improve with time.
Unfortunately, this book is not about any of these individuals, nor any of these events. This is a book about Evie Boyd, a terribly insecure teenage girl who attempts to find close friends in the devotees of a similar, ranch-style cult centered around some guy named Russell. This is a book about disciple Suzanne and musician Mitch Lewis. This is, one might say, a bizarre historical fanfiction set in the middle of a generic-brand Manson cult.
Cline has gleefully torn apart a very real world of abuse, racism, hatred, and murder and put the pieces back together in a way that feels trite. Gone are any references to the cult leader's true influence or bizarre ideas and gone, too, are whatever details that could potentially make Evie or her beloved Suzanne truly unsympathetic characters. Suzanne's actions are explained as heat of the moment decisions, often exacerbated by the drugs she takes or the sex she is having. Neither girl ever weighs in on a potential race war, neither girl has any concept of the current political or class divide, the upcoming war and the draft is mentioned a grand total of one (1) time, and nobody in the story seems to acknowledge that the times, they are a-changing.
So, why is this book set in the late 1960s?
For the Manson Family (er... Russell Family?) references, of course!
The "Ranch" is used as a backdrop for a generally generic coming-of-age story. What does it mean to grow up as a girl? How do you reconcile new friends with old friends? Can adolescence exist without an act of personal violence against one's caretakers? All of these questions and more are posed and then promptly waffled on with no clear answer for nearly all of the book amidst 300+ pages of the most inane prose that hardly contributes to understanding. Cline seems more interested in using her SAT vocabulary words than crafting an authentic voice for her 14-year-old narrator.
Amidst the never-ending purple prose, Cline sets out also to prove that she has very little faith in her reader to put together the point. The first third of the book is Evie telling the reader how lonely and sad and wishful for attention she was at that age, desperate for anyone to look at her. All she wants is love, and attention, and she is sad, and needs love, because her parents give her none, and she is lonely- because surely the only reason one would fall in with a "cult" is because they need attention. Her co-dependency on Suzanne then comes as no surprise and is actually an extraordinarily well-composed part of the novel; the need she has for Suzanne and for her approval is almost palpable in her description of her, indicative of a young woman who is experiencing her first love. Evie's obsession with Suzanne feels as though it should open to a nuanced discussion of queer relationships and how an emotionally charged, co-dependent relationship between two girls can beget disaster if not somehow mitigated, as with any gender... but it doesn't. Any inherent queerness in the text can be written off as coincidence or platonic feelings of obsession, and Cline once again falls laughably into centrism and fails to make any kind of a point by leaving it ambiguous.
Surely you have noticed by now that I have not mentioned the cult. This is actually because the cult does not even need to exist to make this story happen. There is nothing unique about the presence of Russell or the Ranch or the other girls that could not be switched out for any other backdrop, time, or place, and still say the same thing. Despite it being an excellent hook, I fail to see any real reason it was set in this not-Manson cult in the first place. Characters are flat, forgettable, and either contribute to Evie's misery or euphoria. This is probably the most disappointing part of this read, as I was very excited to get a fictional and psychological take on one of the most infamous cults in history.
Despite this review, I have to say I really, REALLY wanted to like this book. I have heard enough raves that I felt like it could be one of my new favorites, and I always love a good, intimate character study, especially around something as psychologically terrifying as a murderous cult. Unfortunately, it really didn't deliver.
I don't think it's unsalvageable. It might be fun to recommend to someone who wants something light with thriller aspects. We all know how it ends, so it takes away some of the mystery. Overall, I didn't feel like it had anything groundbreaking to say about femininity, cults, anything.
2/5 stars, mostly out of pity, but also with acknowledgement to the writer for obviously being a very smart individual, just bad at carving out this particular novel. Despite this, I probably won't turn my nose up at the rest of her catalogue; I would be willing to bet that her fiction will improve with time.