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The Mirror House Girls by Faith Gardner
5.0
dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced
This book is a chilling and thought-provoking look at how easily someone can slip into a cult without realizing it. It starts out feeling almost wholesome—when Winona, the main character, meets a group of supportive, tight-knit friends and moves into their communal home, it seems like she’s finally found her people. They’re warm, encouraging, and all focused on personal growth through intense therapy.

But as she starts digging deeper into herself through their version of “healing,” things start to feel off. The group repeats mantras like, “If it’s not hard, it’s not worth doing,” and that pressure slowly builds until it’s too late to pull away. The story alternates between the past—when she was fully immersed in the group—and the present, where a documentary crew is investigating a mass tragedy that left only one survivor.

I thought this was a gripping, unsettling read. It’s not just a story about a cult—it’s a story about loneliness, identity, and how easy it is to mistake control for care. If you’re into psychological fiction, true crime vibes, or cult narratives, this one’s worth picking up.


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