Yikes! ( )

This book was wierd. Had a hard time keeping engaged. Overall the story was different than any other stoey ive ever read. Wasnt a horrible book just wasnt my forte ( )

The Goodreads blurb says this book is about G-d, sex, faith, and family. WRONG. This is a bland, uncreative novel about a polygamy group shoddily cobbled together from several real-life cults, and the author even points this out in narration. The cults are spinoffs of branches of Christianity, as she indicates. The sex this blurb refers to is in fact ongoing sexual abuse of a minor. Also a few women in this book do love each other, but it's just done to increase the angst, rather than portray same-sex romantic relationships respectfully (triple alliteration, hah!). There is a lot of "telling and not showing" of Amity's dedication to Sorrow. So, the Goodreads blurb is wrong.

And to think, I was so pleased when I'd found this again after reading it years ago. Other reviewers have pointed out: nothing happens in this book; the mom is pointless; and the author could have made different choices for an interesting book. The author is so mired in her world-building, that she should have just stayed with that. Don't open up with the escape--have it be the final page. The book would have been so much shorter and concise. Instead, the way the author wrote this book means the mom's only purpose is for exposition. Her daughters exposit heavily, too, but do much more to drive the barely-there plot along. Having the escape be the final page would have made more sense narratively. We wouldn't be jerked back and forth to different spots in the past and recent past to vague present. This book is 99% narrative passages. The descriptions are bland. I never once cared about anyone.

Save yourself time and read another book. Goodreads has several lists with similar themes the book was apparently supposed to be about. ( )

Amaranth and her daughters, Amity & Sorrow, have fled their family and their life in a polygamist religious compound with nowhere to go and Amaranth's only thought being to get them as far away as possible. But when the car crashes in rural Oklahoma and she is forced to rely on a farmer for help (one of many things that challenges the strict rules they've all been taught to follow), she is also forced to confront the past, the present, and the future for both herself and her daughters.

A gripping tale of the aftermath of being indoctrinated into what I can only describe as a cult, Amity & Sorrow contains some difficult content but is one of those books that really hits you emotionally. The layers of Amaranth, Amity, and Sorrow's experiences that are slowly revealed over the course of the book through narrative and flashbacks are complex and provide the reader with a dark and vivid picture of their lives before the book begins.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, though I know it's not one everyone is likely to enjoy. It's gritty and certainly isn't a shiny happy tale, and I know some people don't like books like that. But I'd still encourage people to give it a chance.

Content warnings: mentions of child abuse, sexual abuse, and incest; religious fundamentalism

(eGalley provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.) ( )

(This review can be found on my blog The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl).

So when I read the blurb about this book, it definitely interested me. I find these kind of cults interesting. Amity & Sorrow: A Novel by Peggy Riley is such a good read when it comes to religious cults and just a great read in general.

Amaranth is on the run from her polygamous, cult leader husband. She's also brought her two children, Amity and Sorrow, with her. When she crashes her car in Oklahoma, she doesn't plan on staying. However, after spending time with Bradley, she wants to stay. Sorrow, her eldest child, wants to go back to her father. Amity just wants to make her sister happy. Sorrow will do anything she can to get back to the compound and her father. Will Amaranth stay with Bradley or will she miss the compound's ways?

The title is pretty straight forward. Amity and Sorrow are the names of the children in this book. I kind of like the title although I think it's not very original.

The cover is simplistic. I was a bit confused though when I started reading the book because the two girls look like adults judging by what their bodies look like. Amity is supposed to be 12 years old, and although Sorrow's age is never revealed, she is referred to as a child. I think the cover would've suited this book better had it looked like a pre-teen and a teenage girl holding hands.

The setting and world building were done beautifully. Everything was written the way I'd think a polygamous cult would be and the how the people in it would act. Riley's portrayal of a woman who escaped from a religious cut is fantastic!

I can not fault the pacing in this book. Not once was I bored when reading Amity & Sorrow: A Novel. Every chapter ending left me wanting more. Every page came alive in my mind for me.

The characters were very well developed and well written. I enjoyed reading about Amity. I loved her innocence and the way she was protective of her sister. I couldn't stand Sorrow, not because she wasn't written well but because I just found her to be so much of a spoiled brat. Amaranth was a great character, and I thought she was a great mother to her children.

Like the pacing, the dialogue is fantastic. The children who were raised in the religious cult speak the way I'd imagine them too. The dialogue between the characters is very interesting. There's no real swear words although there are sexual references.

Amity & Sorrow: A Novel by Peggy Riley is a fantastic read that will leave its readers thinking about it long after they've finished the ending. It is a touching story about love, survival, and the human spirit.

I'd recommend this book to everyone aged 16 due to sexual references and adult themes.

(I received this book for free from the Goodreads Firstreads program). ( )