“I knew just being a girl in the world handicapped your ability to believe yourself.”
It is indeed a very bold and unflinching coming off age story, one that you probably wouldn’t read elsewhere. An honest reminder of how adolescence really is the most crucial, most fragile stage in a person’s life and when neglected, young girls like Evie Boyd, 14 then could easily fall prey to society’s predators disguised as friends or change.
Feeling alone and desperate for company, attention and acceptance, she was easily lured by Russel’s false promises and the community’s preaching of comfort and love. She has become blind to what the community at the ranch really is, her morals and sense of right and wrong becoming blurry, her sense of self lost because it’s more important to belong to that odd but supposedly attractive group.
The writing could be tedious at times and there were instances when it somehow feels like the author is trying too hard but it was still a gripping narrative that would make you want to know what exactly the horrors this group committed and how Evie managed to survive all of it. I just wish there was more to the ending although I guess the author is simply trying to reiterate her point as I quoted above.
