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theangrystackrat's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence and Child abuse
omgbiscoffspread's review against another edition
4.0
The subject matter is undeniably horrifying. There is religious extremism, a society based on fathers raping their daughters, a lack of modern medicine leads to death in childbirth and plagues, and a very real option for one character to preserve her freedom is starvation. On the surface this seems like a book I would not enjoy. I absolutely loved it. The language is so rich, melodious, it paints such a picture of the island as almost another character. There is such symbolism, from mud to blood and sand and seafoam... I couldn't put it down, even when god-awful things were happening. I highly recommend it to the reader who can handle bleakness if the beauty of the writing makes up for it.
deedralapray's review against another edition
4.0
I picked up this ARC at TLA in April. I have one word for this one....Haunting! It's quite disturbing, but something I just couldn't put down. There hints of The Giver, but with aspects of society I could have never dreamed up. The summer of the children was intriguing. The roles of the daughters was sickening.
The writing was poetic. There were beautiful descriptions of horrific things.
The writing was poetic. There were beautiful descriptions of horrific things.
rebekahf's review
3.0
Years ago, just before the country was incinerated to wasteland, ten men and their families colonised an island off the coast. They built a radical society of ancestor worship, controlled breeding, and the strict rationing of knowledge and history. On the island, boys grow up knowing they will one day reign, while girls know they will be married and pregnant within moments of hitting womanhood.
But before that time comes, there is an island ritual that offers the children a much-longed for and beloved reprieve. Every summer they are turfed out of their homes to roam wild; they run, fight, sleep on the beach and build camps in the trees. They are free.
It is nearing the end of one of those summers and one girl sees something she was not supposed to see. It sets in motion a chain of events that could unravel the careful constructs of the entire island as one of the girls steps up to seek the truth.
Gather The Daughters is intense, horrifying, and – eventually – hard to put down. Melamed can write, but the subject matter of this novel is hard work. Incest, rape, and a rotten world for females is at its heart. The leader of the girls, Janey Solomon, is slowly starving herself to death in order to halt the inevitable beginning of puberty.
Melamed is a psychiatric nurse who specialises in working with traumatised children, and you can’t help but hope that nothing of this book is from her real world.
The story drags a little to start with. The constant mud, trauma, and blood slowly wears you down. It is told through the eyes of four different girls – each one fighting for their survival on the island. It is only that tiny glimmer of hope that something good has to come in the end that drives you on. Sadly though, that ending never really comes in the way you want it to.
Gather The Daughters is Melamed’s debut novel and she is a talented writer. With this book though, her stellar writing is sadly overshadowed by the depressing, dark, dystopian world she has created.
But before that time comes, there is an island ritual that offers the children a much-longed for and beloved reprieve. Every summer they are turfed out of their homes to roam wild; they run, fight, sleep on the beach and build camps in the trees. They are free.
It is nearing the end of one of those summers and one girl sees something she was not supposed to see. It sets in motion a chain of events that could unravel the careful constructs of the entire island as one of the girls steps up to seek the truth.
Gather The Daughters is intense, horrifying, and – eventually – hard to put down. Melamed can write, but the subject matter of this novel is hard work. Incest, rape, and a rotten world for females is at its heart. The leader of the girls, Janey Solomon, is slowly starving herself to death in order to halt the inevitable beginning of puberty.
Melamed is a psychiatric nurse who specialises in working with traumatised children, and you can’t help but hope that nothing of this book is from her real world.
The story drags a little to start with. The constant mud, trauma, and blood slowly wears you down. It is told through the eyes of four different girls – each one fighting for their survival on the island. It is only that tiny glimmer of hope that something good has to come in the end that drives you on. Sadly though, that ending never really comes in the way you want it to.
Gather The Daughters is Melamed’s debut novel and she is a talented writer. With this book though, her stellar writing is sadly overshadowed by the depressing, dark, dystopian world she has created.
literarylover37's review against another edition
3.0
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book!
So this is a tough one to review so let me take the easy route and start with a summary. The book is written 3rd person and rotates between focusing on four different girls who live in this island community. In this community, which is set at some point in the future (it's hinted that something terrible happened in the world, we're never really told what because the girl's never really know), families live in a very rigid social structure. They each worship one of the "ancestors" that started the island group, couples are not allowed to have more than 2 children, many "defective" children are born, and OH. During the summers all of the younger kids, including girls who haven't started menstruation, live outside and run wild. Once a girl starts her cycle though, that following summer is her summer of "fruition" and she travels with all of the other girls in the same position from house to house for a month meeting, seducing and in some cases being drugged into meeting prospective spouses who are 17 years and older. Girls do go to school but it's not really clear why honestly. Also once people can't work and are too "old" (about 40) they commit suicide together. SUPER!
This is not an easy read. It is well written but the topics it focuses on are hard to swallow and the feeling of dis-ease I had when reading it was compounded when my suspicions about the skeeviness of this society were confirmed. I felt like it was definitely unique though and even when the plot started to drag, I kept reading because I wanted to know what happened. I wasn't entirely satisfied with the conclusion but I'm also pretty sure I couldn't get an ending I liked to a book I didn't entirely enjoy. Good speculative dystopian fiction but should come with plenty of trigger warnings.
So this is a tough one to review so let me take the easy route and start with a summary. The book is written 3rd person and rotates between focusing on four different girls who live in this island community. In this community, which is set at some point in the future (it's hinted that something terrible happened in the world, we're never really told what because the girl's never really know), families live in a very rigid social structure. They each worship one of the "ancestors" that started the island group, couples are not allowed to have more than 2 children, many "defective" children are born, and OH
Spoiler
THE FATHERS HAVE SEX WITH THE DAUGHTERS UNTIL THEY ARE MARRIED AT 13 OR SO!!!This is not an easy read. It is well written but the topics it focuses on are hard to swallow and the feeling of dis-ease I had when reading it was compounded when my suspicions about the skeeviness of this society were confirmed. I felt like it was definitely unique though and even when the plot started to drag, I kept reading because I wanted to know what happened. I wasn't entirely satisfied with the conclusion but I'm also pretty sure I couldn't get an ending I liked to a book I didn't entirely enjoy. Good speculative dystopian fiction but should come with plenty of trigger warnings.
slpugs's review against another edition
4.0
Trigger Warnings for those interested in reading this book: child abuse, sexual abuse (often implied, not graphic), suicide, self harm (through starvation, specifically). I hope this helps <3
I found this book while googling "Books about Cults" because I'm fascinated by them. Then I found out it was post-apocalyptic and I was overjoyed because that's my favorite genre. Win win!
As many other reviewers mentioned, this book is incredibly dark. I enjoy dark fiction and thought Jennie Melamed was really successful in her delivery of difficult topics. Many injustices happen off-screen and are implied which was a good choice especially since children are involved. What I love most of all is that the victims in this story have a lot of power. For example: the perspectives shift but it is always a daughter telling the story, no men are ever given a perspective or voice. I find this to be a really important aspect because there are no attempts to justify the abuse. For this - well done, Jennie Melamed. I also think the depictions of mental illness were well written and realistic. I also loved the setting. I thought the island location was engaging and well fleshed out. The societal structure was also (horrifying, obviously) intriguing and well conceived.
I have a few critiques which is why I've deducted a star. I found the ending to be a bit rushed and muddy. I think we could have used a little more fleshing out in the back third of the book. Things happen very quickly - too quickly, in my opinion. There are aspects of the book I wished had been given more of a treatment. The wanderers and the wasteland for example - I was very interested in the wasteland and what secrets were being kept from our heroines but we never really get a clear picture. I'm sure this by design since we're meant to feel like the girls feel. However, I think allowing the reader to know more could have heightened the stakes and helped us understand societal motivations more clearly.
I found this book while googling "Books about Cults" because I'm fascinated by them. Then I found out it was post-apocalyptic and I was overjoyed because that's my favorite genre. Win win!
As many other reviewers mentioned, this book is incredibly dark. I enjoy dark fiction and thought Jennie Melamed was really successful in her delivery of difficult topics. Many injustices happen off-screen and are implied which was a good choice especially since children are involved. What I love most of all is that the victims in this story have a lot of power. For example: the perspectives shift but it is always a daughter telling the story, no men are ever given a perspective or voice. I find this to be a really important aspect because there are no attempts to justify the abuse. For this - well done, Jennie Melamed. I also think the depictions of mental illness were well written and realistic. I also loved the setting. I thought the island location was engaging and well fleshed out. The societal structure was also (horrifying, obviously) intriguing and well conceived.
I have a few critiques which is why I've deducted a star. I found the ending to be a bit rushed and muddy. I think we could have used a little more fleshing out in the back third of the book. Things happen very quickly - too quickly, in my opinion. There are aspects of the book I wished had been given more of a treatment. The wanderers and the wasteland for example - I was very interested in the wasteland and what secrets were being kept from our heroines but we never really get a clear picture. I'm sure this by design since we're meant to feel like the girls feel. However, I think allowing the reader to know more could have heightened the stakes and helped us understand societal motivations more clearly.
jager123's review against another edition
1.0
No. Just no. I hated every second of this. I was hoping for something very different to what I found within the pages.
ammbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Wow....can't really say I liked it. I found it disturbing and though provoking. As one reads the news and hears of cults and extreme communities Ms . Melamed's farfetched world suddenly does not seem beyond the possible.