After the Fire

hell yeah I'll read any YA novel about a cult

this one was fine, it simultaneously felt a little too long but also like everything resolved too quickly? I loved the flashbacks about life within the cult (based on the Branch Davidians), and I was interested to read about Moonbeam's recovery process but it did seem to gloss over uhh a lot.

It's no Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly but still a fine choice for the cult enthusiast reader.

I really didn't like,,,anything about this book. There were no real twists or reveals that were interesting; pretty much every plot point or “reveal” can be guessed from the moment they're hinted at. The characters were all such bland, flat archetypes, the structure of the story didn't make any sense to me and all of the aspects of the cult were so stereotypical and cookie-cutter. There was nothing unique or interesting, the messaging while positive is so obvious and blatant and everything just felt over the top and contrived.

This is such a gripping read. The tone of the writing is vicious and raw from the very beginning of the book, and even though there's such a sense of dread and tension throughout the entire book you just can't shy away. I had thought to myself that there wasn't anything that a fanatical religious cult could do that would surprise me by now but, even though what happened didn't surprise me, the emotions that it leaves you with are real. The disgust and the horror and the incredulity are things that can never stop shocking you.

Moonbeam's voice throughout the story was so clear and watching her try to come to terms with what she lived through and try to reckon that with what's real and what's not is both heartbreaking and awe-inspiring. There weren't very many happy moments in this book, to be completely honest, but it carried and ended on such a hopeful tone that while the story itself is a tragedy, you couldn't help but enjoy the happy ending, or as happy as you can call it.

Although I will say I did cry happy tears at Moonbeam's letter from her mom and their reunion.

Real tearjerker stuff. Fantastic read.