Set in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina, The Ash Family follows a young woman named Beryl who ditches her flight to college and gets picked up at the bus stop by a man named Bay who convinces her to try out his homestead community. What follows is Beryl (renamed Harmony by the settlement’s charismatic leader) adjusting to life on the commune and evaluating her own motivations for being there. 

To be frank, I don’t have much positive to say about this book. The only reason it is a 2-star instead of a 1-star is that I was intrigued just enough to stick it out to the end.

My main critiques are around character development and the story’s resolution. Beryl’s backstory for joining a cult is very weak. She blames her poor, overbearing mother for pressuring her to go to college against her desires, but honestly the way her mom is described is definitely not “run-away-to-a-commune” worthy. Plus Beryl/Harmony’s personality is wildly inconsistent. She can somehow buck the desires of her mom and ex-boyfriend but is wholly impressionable and eager to please with the very, very obviously manipulative and abusive Ash Family. Additionally, the Bay character made little sense, with his personality vacillating dramatically in ways that were hard to follow. Finally, the story’s climax and conclusion left so much to be desired. There were nearly no answers, no redemption, and plenty of loose ends from foreshadowing earlier in the novel.