Published by: Sourcebooks Fire on October 2nd, 2018
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 464
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
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Synopsis: A teenager’s world is shattered in a devastating confrontation between the cult she grew up in and the forces of the U.S. government.
Father John controls everything inside The Fence. And Father John likes rules. Especially about never talking to Outsiders. Because Father John knows the truth. He knows what is right, and what is wrong. He knows what is coming.
Moonbeam is starting to doubt, though. She's starting to see the lies behind Father John's words. Then a fire engulfs life as she knew it, and Moonbeam is forced outside The Fence into a world she does not recognize.
Alternating between Moonbeam's life before the fire, and her time spent in a government-sanctioned facility afterward, After the Fire is a fascinating look at life inside a cult and its harrowing affects on survivors.
Review:
Religious cults are one of the most fascinating concepts to me. I cannot imagine having complete & total belief & trust in one person when that one person is claiming to be a messenger of God. Leaders of these cults are said to be charming & charismatic. They have this ability to make people believe that they are telling the truth, even when that seems crazy. So, when I saw this book up for request on Netgalley, I didn't even stop to consider my ginormous review pile. I hit "request" immediately, and was thrilled to get approved not long after.
Religious cults are one of the most fascinating concepts to me. I cannot imagine having complete & total belief & trust in one person when that one person is claiming to be a messenger of God. Leaders of these cults are said to be charming & charismatic. They have this ability to make people believe that they are telling the truth, even when that seems crazy. So, when I saw this book up for request on Netgalley, I didn't even stop to consider my ginormous review pile. I hit "request" immediately, and was thrilled to get approved not long after.
I was out of practice with reading really long books, so I wasn't sure how long it would take me to read After the Fire. What I wasn't counting on, was how engrossing I would find the book. How much I didn't want to put it down and how much I wanted to know all the answers to all of my questions. I wasn't expecting to be pulled in, right away. I love when books manage to pull the reader in right away. That is always a good sign. I was expecting a little more build-up, but I was thrown right into the chaos.
My heart hurt for Moonbeam. She was sure that she was the reason so many people were dead and it takes her a long time to understand & accept that she is not the reason so many of her Brothers and Sisters are gone. Everything she did on the night the fire erupted, was for her own good and the good of the younger children that could still have a shot at a normal life away from the compound.
It was fascinating to see where she had lost her faith. Not her faith in God, mind you, but her faith in Father John. It was captivating to see Moonbeam's journey from believing everything Father John said, to questioning all of it, silently of course. It was interesting to see how her interactions with certain people changed as her beliefs changed. What was most fascinating to me was the reasoning behind Moonbeam being promised to Father John as his Future Wife and how that had come to be.
There were several truly atrocious people in this book, namely Father John, but also Luke and Father John's inner circle: The Centurians, the four of them basically followed Father John's orders without question. Even when they seemed insane like locking someone in a metal box for days at a time. Like Moonbeam is told, withholding food from a child for days would be a case of child abuse in "normal" cases.
I wasn't expecting to like Agent Carlyle or Dr. Hernandez as much as I did, but I really felt like they both brought something extra to the book. Agent Carlyle in particular seemed more like a father figure, which was something Moonbeam desperately needed. Especially given the fact that her mom hadn't been a part of her life in 3 years. Dr. Hernandez was gentler with her, but I don't know if that was totally necessary. Moonbeam was incredibly tough and I got the feeling she could handle just about anything that was thrown at her.
I did enjoy the ending, but it seemed really rushed. There was one thing I was waiting for, that did happen, but I wanted more from it. I felt like the author didn't think this one thing was all that important, so he hastily stuck it in there at the end, without much thought.
My heart hurt for Moonbeam. She was sure that she was the reason so many people were dead and it takes her a long time to understand & accept that she is not the reason so many of her Brothers and Sisters are gone. Everything she did on the night the fire erupted, was for her own good and the good of the younger children that could still have a shot at a normal life away from the compound.
It was fascinating to see where she had lost her faith. Not her faith in God, mind you, but her faith in Father John. It was captivating to see Moonbeam's journey from believing everything Father John said, to questioning all of it, silently of course. It was interesting to see how her interactions with certain people changed as her beliefs changed. What was most fascinating to me was the reasoning behind Moonbeam being promised to Father John as his Future Wife and how that had come to be.
There were several truly atrocious people in this book, namely Father John, but also Luke and Father John's inner circle: The Centurians, the four of them basically followed Father John's orders without question. Even when they seemed insane like locking someone in a metal box for days at a time. Like Moonbeam is told, withholding food from a child for days would be a case of child abuse in "normal" cases.
I wasn't expecting to like Agent Carlyle or Dr. Hernandez as much as I did, but I really felt like they both brought something extra to the book. Agent Carlyle in particular seemed more like a father figure, which was something Moonbeam desperately needed. Especially given the fact that her mom hadn't been a part of her life in 3 years. Dr. Hernandez was gentler with her, but I don't know if that was totally necessary. Moonbeam was incredibly tough and I got the feeling she could handle just about anything that was thrown at her.
I did enjoy the ending, but it seemed really rushed. There was one thing I was waiting for, that did happen, but I wanted more from it. I felt like the author didn't think this one thing was all that important, so he hastily stuck it in there at the end, without much thought.
Final thoughts: If you want a captivating book about a religious cult and the people that made and then wrecked it, then you need to pick up this book.
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