I'm not sure what Snyder was going for here at all, except to come up with the most bizarre and twisted post-apocalyptic DC world ideas he could come up with. This felt like weird disjointed scenes put together until some attempt of a cohesive plot by the end. What a weird, weird book, and not in a good way. 

Greg Capullo was in top form with the art, which made going through this less of a horrid slog and more of a bewildering ride. The whole art team was great.

 

 It's a struggle to figure out how I feel about this book. I think the pacing was the main issue for me. The book is mind-numbingly boring as we follow Ellerie's daily life in this small town as everything begins to fall apart around them, and we also race through half a year of time as they try to survive the winter.

All the time, things are slowly falling apart, the townsfolk are turning on each other, accusing everyone else of destroying crops, or ruining life-saving items, or killing livestock. That aspect of the book, paired with a supernatural element as the driving force of all this, was the most interesting. The creepiness of watching weird shit happen to Ellerie was fantastic. 

However, most of my good feelings about this book were overshadowed by the romance. It made sense in a way and I was fine with it, but with how huge the pacing jumps are in the narrative, it was hard to believe in the love story when they wouldn't even see each other for weeks. Three meetings, and they're already half in love.

This was worth it for the great atmosphere and look at a small town falling apart with supernatural reasons in the background. The audiobook narrator was incredble, bringing life and emotion into the story that really made it work more than when I was reading it as an ebook. 

This could have been great, except I spent 70% of this book being completely frustrated and infuriated in turns by every single character. Nobody every straight up tells Sunny anything about her new magic abilities and world. It's always "you'll see" and "it's better to see it or do it than have someone tell you." NO! JUST TALK!!

Sure, it drives the plot and allows for Sunny to take in the new world and teach us about it through her eyes, but I felt that this book took that trope way too far. I was too angry and upset on Sunny's behalf to really enjoy the first 70% of this book, and that lingering negativity lasted through to the end.

I don't think I ever liked anyone in this book. Not even Sunny.

The very interesting world building and novelty of it all kept me going, but I don't care enough about any of these children to keep going in the series. 

Finished this on audio during my commute this morning I just need to spill my thoughts out. 

Incredible. Absolutely incredible. Yes, this deals with some terrible topics and at times it's hard to take in, but I think Faith Jones has a wonderful way with words. She writes about her life in a way that's engaging and at times charming (especially her childhood years), but it doesn't shy away from the realities of what was done to her in The Family. 

I think what made this so powerful for me from the start was the way she wrote about everything from a normalized, practical lens - because to her growing up, sexual abuse WAS normal. Physical, mental, emotional, religious abuse was all normal. It wasn't abuse, it was Love. 

I've read enough and listened to enough podcasts on true crime to know that I will never blame a victim, but cults always seem a little different, don't they? How could someone fall for that? How can they not <i>see</i>? As an outsider, it's always hard to imagine how it could happen. Faith Jones brings in the perspective of someone born into a religious cult. It was simply her life. You can see how the indoctrination informed the lives of her family and her entire world. Even through her eyes, you can see how adults who were brought into The Family could have been swayed by the life and promise of salvation and love. It all makes a terrible sort of sense.

What I truly loved was Faith's journey away from The Family. It wasn't a big, grand realization and leaving for her. It was all the small things, a lifetime of moments and questions and desires, that led to her finally wanting to go to school, to learn more and better herself. And the fact that it wasn't until she was in her mid 20s that she began to TRULY question everything about her childhood and faith and The Family breaks my heart.

This was eye opening. It was charming, and heartfelt, and painful, and I'm so glad Faith Jones decided to tell her story. 

I would say this strikes a balance somewhere between Educated and Know My Name in terms of content and themes. Probably closer to Educated; this isn't quite as emotionally raw as Know My Name.