Book Review: Heretics Anonymous by Katie Henry

Book Title & Author: Heretics Anonymous by Katie Henry
Published by: Katherine Tegen Books on August 7th, 2018
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 336
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
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Synopsis:Michael is an atheist. So as he walks through the doors at St. Clare’s—a strict Catholic school—sporting a plaid tie, things can’t get much worse. His dad has just made the family move again, and Michael needs a friend. When a girl challenges their teacher in class, Michael thinks he might have found one, and a fellow nonbeliever at that. Only this girl, Lucy, is not just Catholic . . . she wants to be a priest.
But Lucy introduces Michael to other St. Clare’s outcasts, and he officially joins Heretics Anonymous, where he can be an atheist, Lucy can be an outspoken feminist, Avi can be Jewish and gay, Max can wear whatever he wants, and Eden can practice paganism. After an incident in theology class, Michael encourages the Heretics to go from secret society to rebels intent on exposing the school’s hypocrisies. When Michael takes one mission too far—putting the other Heretics at risk—he must decide whether to fight for his own freedom, or rely on faith, whatever that means, in God, his friends, or himself.

Review:Okay, so clearly I have a thing for secret societies. I don't think I realized that until I finished this book. I guess, to me, secret societies mean that people, usually teens are fighting for change. In our current world, standing up against things we don't agree with is brave & awesome. Fighting for change is awesome and that's just what Heretics Anonymous does.

I was super stoked about this book because I was raised Catholic. I even applied to a super competitive all girls Catholic high school, but I didn't get in. I ended up at a teeny tiny Lutheran school. So technically, I had 2 different religions and my own personal beliefs fighting for room in my brain. I was familiar with everything St. Clare's did in terms of Mass, communion and the majority of the Bible. I generally try to avoid books about religion because I'm always afraid they'll get too preachy and make me want to scream and throw stuff, but I was really excited about this one.

By Michael's age, I'd already realized I was an atheist. I was an atheist going to a Lutheran school, having been raised Catholic. It was a weird feeling and it definitely made me feel like even more of an outsider than my physical disability did. So I was able to relate to Michael in a way that I never relate to male MCs, so kudos to Henry for that.

I was worried that Lucy was going to be "too preachy" and that I was going to hate her. But she wasn't and I didn't. I didn't love the romance between them, and in fact felt like it took something away from the book. I felt like they were better as friends. Lucy ended up being a surprise for me. I ended up enjoying her friendships with Avi, Eden & Max. Lucy was a tiny bit judgmental towards Eden, which really irked me and definitely irked Eden, but I was able to move past it.

It was weird because I actually liked the male characters in this book more than I liked the female characters. I'm not even sure why bu Michael, Avi & Max were standouts in this book, I definitely wish there was more of Avi & Max and a little less of Lucy & Eden.

I won't get into all the crazy stuff they do, only because I want everyone to read this book and I don't want to spoil it for you. They spend the book challenging the Catholic teachings, the double standards, the dress codes etc. 

There's one scene in this book that really struck me because they are talking about kids preparing for their First Communion and how St. Clare's wants to help support them in this choice. What choice? They're kids, 8 years old in fact. They don't get a choice in this. I didn't. I loved that segment because it was the truth. Kids don't get to decide stuff like this.

This book was such a nice surprise with decently developed characters and all the non-preachy discussions on religion. I was really excited about this one and I'm so happy that I wasn't disappointed in it.

Final thoughts: I would recommend this book for very specific people. I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure a devout Catholic would feel the same way.