Reviews

Selecting this book was an intentional departure from my usual psychological thriller/murder mystery genre leanings. I like the narrator’s voice, and I’m now more well informed of LDS and Firsts’ histories. Otherwise, it’ll take far more scandal to intrigue me into reading similar books in the future.

peytonsimmons's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

_sleslie's review against another edition

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5.0

I absolutely LOVED this book. I'm not an English major or professional book reviewer, so don't expect anything fancy from me. What I loved was how the two different, yet similar, stories avoided each other until the last couple of chapters of the book. By that point I was so anxious to see what was going to happen! I love all the different themes in this book. Polygamy is the obvious one, then homosexuality, women's rights... so many heated topics in one place. This book was an adventure for me and an eye opener to the world of polygamists.

jamiehandy's review against another edition

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2.0

I always enjoy historical fiction and have always loved learning about polygamy -- this one is a lot of fiction, but I must say the mystery was very intriguing and kept my attention. I will quote from someone else's review because I think he hit the nail on the head.

"Whatever value the book might have provided for me was dramatically lowered by frequent obscene language and too much sexual description. There are much better sources for learning about the challenges of polygamy in a "safer" way"

For that reason, I would recommend other books before this one.

skuih's review against another edition

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dark informative inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

labunnywtf's review against another edition

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3.0

I love cults. They're funny.

12/20 - This was really disappointing. The best parts were from Ann Eliza Young's POV. The modern day stuff, while adorably told from Jordan's POV, were throw-away, and I could've done without.

Really just...extremely boring.

sevenacross's review against another edition

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5.0

Loved, loved, loved this book! Any fan of Big Love or Under the Banner of Heaven should definitely check out the 19th Wife. It took me a couple of chapters to get into it, but once I got there, I was hooked!

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