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4.32 AVERAGE
4.32 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have read other books where Natalie has narrated and when I found out she was also an author I was so excited to read this! Doing the audiobook with her narrating was so cool!
I loved this book so much and it was so easy to love the FMC Val and to just want to be there for her while she came to the realization that she didn't want to be in the church anymore. Riley helped her with that and I loved the found family in this.
“It feels like a damn miracle every time someone like you, or me, can see through the fog of our childhood and reach for the sun.”
I loved this book so much and it was so easy to love the FMC Val and to just want to be there for her while she came to the realization that she didn't want to be in the church anymore. Riley helped her with that and I loved the found family in this.
“It feels like a damn miracle every time someone like you, or me, can see through the fog of our childhood and reach for the sun.”
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really like the author's work as a narrator, and I definitely wanted to support them by buying the book, which I did. However, as a queer person still unpacking religious trauma, I just can't read it. I tried, and then I had to set it aside, and every time I think about going back to it, it makes me queasy. There's relatable, and then there's too relatable. Maybe in the future when I'm not feeling quite so raw, I can give this another try.
Rose: I really felt the oppression on the cult.
Thorn: I really hoped to see more of Val in her new life.
Thorn: I really hoped to see more of Val in her new life.
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
I feel so conflicted about how to rate this so I think I will not. The story is so important to tell, and I could feel the pain/struggle of the main character, especially around her family. These are hard topics and judging the execution of a story that is clearly personal and painful feels hard. I felt that a lot of the main characters inner dialogue was very heavy handed and that the timing/progression of her deprogramming felt very quick and confusing. She was using very in depth terminology for racial, disability and queer justice that seemed out of place and anachronistic with even the characters process. The love story is sweet though.
my favorite audiobook narrator writing her own book! 🥰
(and yes, she does the audiobook for this)
(and yes, she does the audiobook for this)