Summary:
Lyla's family is part of 20 families in a cult known as The Community, led by Pioneer. This cult came together after 9/11 in an attempt to flea the evils of the world inside gates. They have an underground compound that they are planning on surviving the end of the world in, so they spend their days training to protect themselves and keep the unchosen, outside world out. Everything seems to be going forward, except Lyla doesn't really like spending her days in target practice. She wants to do other things. She seems to be questioning things a little bit more and her current obsession with a boy from the outside encourages her traitorous thoughts further.
My thoughts:
I really love the concept of this book. We are looking from the inside of a cult instead of the outside viewpoint that we often take. It also plays on my favorite dystopian genre. There are rarely dystopians that I do not like. It takes a little bit for this novel to get going, but once it does, the story goes by quickly. The story keeps you moving and after about halfway through the novel, I didn't want to pause for another day. I generally liked Lyla. She does go through some grand transformations within the novel. Her passive, questioning nature leads to a more bold statement as she investigates things a bit more. It's like she gets more courageous with more knowledge or more questions.
The major problems with this book are the large holes within the explanations of the set-up. Why is Pioneer the leader? Usually in a cult book, the leader is someone that the reader goes back and forth on liking and disliking. We feel some of that pull of charisma that makes the leader interesting and possibly someone we would listen to. Pioneer isn't really like that. There is no real expression of why he is chosen other than the discussion of the Brethren that he receives messages from. Why would wealthy people leave their lives to follow him based upon this? It is not like the Brethren already have a known spot in the world. I could buy the desire to find safety after 9/11 and the survivalist underground bunker idea. Perhaps Pioneer owned the land and that was why he became the leader? I don't know. That really bothered me because he just wasn't believable.
I also didn't understand why you would protect this underground area that couldn't sustain any type of life. They have to keep going outside the gates in order to get supplies. What type of cult, especially one that is based upon survivalism, have no means of survival without the outside world? This really annoyed me. There are other holes within the plot that will make you stop and go, REALLY?!? but nothing made me stop reading. The writing is simple that you could probably fly through the book in a day or two.
Lyla's family is part of 20 families in a cult known as The Community, led by Pioneer. This cult came together after 9/11 in an attempt to flea the evils of the world inside gates. They have an underground compound that they are planning on surviving the end of the world in, so they spend their days training to protect themselves and keep the unchosen, outside world out. Everything seems to be going forward, except Lyla doesn't really like spending her days in target practice. She wants to do other things. She seems to be questioning things a little bit more and her current obsession with a boy from the outside encourages her traitorous thoughts further.
My thoughts:
I really love the concept of this book. We are looking from the inside of a cult instead of the outside viewpoint that we often take. It also plays on my favorite dystopian genre. There are rarely dystopians that I do not like. It takes a little bit for this novel to get going, but once it does, the story goes by quickly. The story keeps you moving and after about halfway through the novel, I didn't want to pause for another day. I generally liked Lyla. She does go through some grand transformations within the novel. Her passive, questioning nature leads to a more bold statement as she investigates things a bit more. It's like she gets more courageous with more knowledge or more questions.
The major problems with this book are the large holes within the explanations of the set-up. Why is Pioneer the leader? Usually in a cult book, the leader is someone that the reader goes back and forth on liking and disliking. We feel some of that pull of charisma that makes the leader interesting and possibly someone we would listen to. Pioneer isn't really like that. There is no real expression of why he is chosen other than the discussion of the Brethren that he receives messages from. Why would wealthy people leave their lives to follow him based upon this? It is not like the Brethren already have a known spot in the world. I could buy the desire to find safety after 9/11 and the survivalist underground bunker idea. Perhaps Pioneer owned the land and that was why he became the leader? I don't know. That really bothered me because he just wasn't believable.
I also didn't understand why you would protect this underground area that couldn't sustain any type of life. They have to keep going outside the gates in order to get supplies. What type of cult, especially one that is based upon survivalism, have no means of survival without the outside world? This really annoyed me. There are other holes within the plot that will make you stop and go, REALLY?!? but nothing made me stop reading. The writing is simple that you could probably fly through the book in a day or two.
