This book is mostly about faith and religion. I did find the premise interesting but I was hoping for more of an apocalypse type book and this was not. It's an exploration of Agnes' faith in the face of the lies that have been fed to her and their community from their flawed and sinister religious leader, Prophet. Red Creek is considered a cult by the outside world. With the Rapture approaching Agnes needs to face the truth and try to save her family. I did find it interesting but the faith based content took up maybe 90% of the book. This meant there was a lot of thinking and musing and not a lot else happening. You know what would have jazzed it up for me? The virus should have been a zombie virus. Nothing like someone trying to nibble on you to add a bit of urgency and action. Just OK for me. ( )

This is an unusual but riveting story about a girl trying to escape the polygamist cult she grew up in, only to face a weird apocalyptic pandemic in the outside world, and then discovers she has some sort of paranormal gift tied up in her spiritual beliefs. Some reviews call this a religious novel which is a fair judgment I guess but I don't want people to be discouraged in picking up this book because of that. The religious elements play a central role in the story but it's not in any sort of preachy way, it's more about how Agnes comes to realize that the environment she grew up in presented a really twisted and abusive view of Christianity and how she forms her own ideas of what faith and God are. And I love the fact that her strength comes from her faith and spirituality, which isn't something you find in YA novels (or many modern novels, I think). I'm not religious myself but I'm really into the idea of girls and women who have a sort of quiet, even understated, strength that comes from the conviction they have in themselves and their own beliefs rather than any sort of physical abilities.

I did think Agnes's transition from being extremely devout to rejecting Red Creek and its cult happened too quickly. It felt unrealistic and clunky, as if the author didn't want to really delve into it and wanted to get to the rest of the story quickly. I'd like to have seen Agnes struggle more with the realization that everything she believed in her entire life was a huge lie. I think I just wanted more from the book in general-- it's a really strange and fascinating mishmash of elements (the sci-fi-ish virus, Agnes's gift, the apocalypse theme) but none of it was really explored all that deeply. I guess because it's not really what the book is about. Overall an enjoyable but kind of a surface-level read. ( )

*3.75

This was a five star until the 70 percent mark. Then it had no big real consequences and questionable theology.

Not bad, but I'm not sure if it was good either ( )

One of those: Why did I read this?

If this had stayed about the cult, it would have been good. But the ridiculous pandemic and the religion got annoying and superfluous. This book tried to be a whole lot of things and failed. ( )

This is the sort of story that elicits different thoughts and emotions as you read it. Part dystopian, a dash of horror, some magical realism and a very intriguing spiritual aspect all blended to keep one engrossed and turning pages. I liked it very much and look forward to what comes next from this author. ( )