Thanks to Flatiron Books for the gifted book!
by: Miranda Beverly-Whittemore
rating: meh
I have a lot of feelings about how to rate this book. Overall, I did not enjoy it. The characters are not likeable and at 25% I wrote down two big plot twists predictions that I got correct. The first at least 15% of the book I was so confused and annoyed that it was written intentionally to give you as many details as possible while still being confusing. The timelines jump so quickly back and forth that I was continuously having to reorient myself to see where we were in the story. Not one single character was someone I wanted to root for. There were things that happened that felt more like shock instruments than plot instruments and detracted instead of added to the story. Reading it, it was so full of heaviness and darkness that I needed a palate cleanser of a different lighter book in between reading this one. But despite all that, I was intrigued enough to keep turning the pages... I don't recommend this book necessarily, but if you like dark, slow burn, psychological books, this may be for you. And I will say, the prose was beautiful despite the story not being my fav.
Content Warning: Cult life, Death (including child death), Murder, Violence, Abandonment, Infidelity, Cursing, Mental Illness (and I'm sure I missed some, message me if you have a specific concern)
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