We both have the same white-blond hair and clear blue eyes. All our lives people have stared at us. So we had to be there for each other.
Bryce tried to protect me from our dad. But when he died, I thought I was finally safe.
After the funeral, Bryce takes me “Since Dad’s passing . . . well, it’s been going on for a few years now. I’ve been keeping a huge secret from you.”
Now I’m lying bruised and broken on a cold floor in a dark room. How I got here is the question. And what they want from me is insane . . .
This book was the literary equivalent of a dumpster fire happening in front of a train wreck. It was impossible to look away from, impossible to put down, and absolutely impossible to take seriously.
The biggest problem was Brynn, our main character, who may very well be one of the most idiotic protagonists I've encountered in quite some time. The sheer number of terrible decisions she makes had me actively rooting for the cult to sacrifice her by the halfway point. And that's not exactly the reaction I think the author was aiming for.
Brynn's entire personality can essentially be summed up as, "I want nothing to do with this cult," while simultaneously doing everything in her power to involve herself with said cult.
As a child, she and her twin brother were members of the group before their mother managed to get herself and Brynn out. Brynn claims she remembers nothing about that period of her life and wants absolutely no connection to it. She knows the cult was central to her father's life before he passed away, she knows it's now important in her brother's life, and she repeatedly insists she wants no part of any of it.
Unfortunately, her actions tell an entirely different story.
She's furious that her brother spends so much time at "the Farm" instead of helping her run the family business. She's outraged when he tricks her into accompanying him there. Yet the moment she spots members of that same community at the local farmers market, she voluntarily approaches their stall and buys products from them.
When she learns they're hosting a wilderness yoga retreat, she signs up.
When she's cleaning out her basement and needs to get rid of unwanted items, she doesn't donate them to a thrift store, a shelter, a church, or literally anywhere else. Instead, she specifically asks her brother to take her back to the cult compound so she can donate everything there.
For someone who constantly claims she wants nothing to do with these people, she sure spends an impressive amount of time finding excuses to interact with them.
Naturally, her choices have consequences.
After repeatedly placing herself in their orbit, Brynn eventually finds herself imprisoned at the Farm and at the mercy of people who firmly believe her death will usher in some sort of apocalyptic rebirth. This is not new information to her, by the way. She's known from the beginning that members of the cult view her as central to their prophecy. Yet she continues making decisions that bring her closer and closer to them anyway.
The author does attempt to sprinkle a few shocking reveals throughout the story, but most of them landed with a thud for me. One particular reveal involving cannibalism was so heavily telegraphed that I had it figured out extremely early on. If the goal is to shock readers, maybe don't leave breadcrumbs the size of boulders in the opening chapters.
And that's really the biggest issue. The story desperately wants the reader to fear for Brynn, sympathize with Brynn, and worry about Brynn. But when the character repeatedly ignores every warning sign imaginable (including ones given to her by friends, family, and even some of the cult members themselves) and literally walks herself into danger repeatedly, it becomes difficult to care when the inevitable happens.
In the end, this wasn't the first book I've read from this author that's been set in this town, and after this experience, I think I may need a break from both. Between the events of the previous novel and the chaos that unfolded here, I'm not sure I have the energy to return to either anytime soon.
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