Jennifer Moffett

A VERY slow-burn of a cult YA quasi-thriller that has a strong beginning but kind of loses itself from after the first third. I found the narrative on manipulation and hiding ill-intent behind a religious mask to be the most well done parts of this book; seeing Emily fall victim to the Kingdom was creepy to say the least. Other than that, I think the chill factor is pretty lacking. There are a lot of religious rants, deception, some double-crossing, but nothing that ever shocked me. Many people are comparing this to "Sadie" by Courtney Summers, but I'm gonna disagree and say this is more like "With Malice" by Eileen Cook with teeny little hints of the Amanda Knox case sprinkled in à la cult. The pretty prose doesn't make up for the dragging narrative, so all in all this was a bit lackluster for me.… (mehr)