Stephanie Oakes

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes is a young adult horror novel that really just had my full attention from the first sentence. Written A-chronologically, we follow seventeen year old Minnow’s story as she remembers it. For twelve years, Minnow’s been in a polygamist abiding, pro marital power, delusional cult. She rebelled, though, and that cost her more than most people would want to lose – both her hands. Due to some unforeseen circumstances (and a terrible defense show more attorney), Minnow lands in juvie, where she meets Angel and other unfortunate girls who’ve pretty much been the victims of victim shaming.

Okay, yes, I might have read too much into the characters and their stories, but the sad truth is that the world hasn’t changed as much as people believe it has. This book is a statement, and a very loud one at that, about the injustice that happens every day to women and girls. Where the bad guy gets off and the good guy who’s been terrorised and simply stands up for themselves gets the blame. In other words, The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly will stay with you and make you think about how unfair the world is.

There are some rather grizzly scenes here and there, but these scenes are important, and frankly I think they’re well written.

All in all, I loved this book. It’s a great read that’ll keep you wanting more, and it deserves to be on your shelf. Also, I can’t wait to see what the author comes up with next. Hopefully, it’ll be another YA horror, because there’s truly not enough of those in circulation at the moment. show less

This book was great! Although in the present day story line nothing really of note happened, I really enjoyed getting to see Minnow's reaction to life in juvie after having lived apart from general society for almost her entire life.

That being said, I definitely preferred the parts about her past in the Kevinian cult and wish that the entire book was set during those times. I found those parts to be both horrifying and fascinating. I felt my heart ache for Minnow as she dealt with who she show more was while living as part of a group that did everything in its power to squash individuality and difference.

The punishments dreamt up by the cult's leader/founder were horrific and yet they made me really wish I could have seen more into the day to day lives of the people there and how they interacted with everyone else.

All of that being said, I really enjoyed this story and the only thing I would change with the way it actually was written, is the ending. I would have made it a little more definitive. show less

4.5 stars.

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes is a unflinchingly honest portrayal of life inside a religious cult. Although a work of fiction, every heartbreaking detail rings true and the novel raises very thought-provoking questions and answers about blindly following the teachings of a self-proclaimed spiritual leader.

When Minnow Bly was five years old, her parents followed Prophet Kevin into the Montana wilderness where they helped build and then lived in a secluded show more Community with other followers. They never questioned the Prophet's increasingly bizarre teachings and they followed his every command without any protest. The Kevinian cult believed in taking more than one wife and the Prophet decided which young girl the much older men would marry. The women and children carried out the most strenuous tasks while the men were made Deacons of the "church". The cult members had no contact with the outside world but Minnow faintly recalled small details of life before her family joined the Prophet which caused her to doubt some of his proclamations.

When the novel opens, Minnow has been arrested for a vicious assault on a young man following her escape from the wilderness compound. She is convicted of the crime and sent to a juvenile detention center where an FBI forensic psychologist offers her a deal that could lead to her parole on her eighteenth birthday. In exchange for his testimony at her upcoming parole hearing, Minnow must tell Dr. White the harrowing details about the night the Prophet died and the Kevinian compound was set ablaze. Through flashbacks and her vivid account to Dr. White, the story of Minnow's life with the Prophet is revealed and surprisingly, with the help of the doctor and her cellmate, Angel, Minnow begins to heal from her horrific ordeal.

While not technically a mystery, there is a suspense element to the storyline. Minnow is reluctant to divulge the events of the night of the Prophet's death but why? What reason could she possibly have for keeping a secret of this magnitude? Is she responsible for his death? If not, who is trying to protect? The answers to these questions might just lie in her surprising and unexpected friendship with Jude, an outsider who lives close to the religious compound. This friendship leads Minnow to sneak away at every opportunity to escape her cloistered life with the Kevinians. These experiences with Jude also foster some of her skepticism of Prophet Kevin's somewhat ludicrous teachings.

At the juvenile detention center, Minnow strikes up an unlikely friendship with Angel who helps her navigate the confusing life among the other inmates. After years in seclusion, Minnow is incredibly naive and at first, she finds it difficult to leave behind the teachings of Prophet Kevin. She is also uncertain of her own opinions and looks to others to tell her what to think about the questions she has about life, faith and the world in general. Minnow is extremely intelligent and through the programs available to her, she begins the arduous tasks of learning to read and gain the skills needed to live a regular life. Surprisingly, Minnow does not turn her back on faith and she finds comfort in certain passages from the Bible.

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly is an extraordinarily fascinating novel and the storyline is incredibly compelling. Minnow is an extremely complex and sympathetic character and she is also very easy to like despite the circumstances that led to her incarceration. Cults are infinitely intriguing and Stephanie Oakes provides a credible scenario for how disenfranchised and dissatisfied people can easily be led astray as they search for a better life for themselves and their loved ones. An absolutely outstanding novel that is quite hopeful despite the rather serious subject matter and one that I highly recommend. show less

Molly Mavity has a hard life for a teenage girl. Her father is about to be executed for burning people to death, her mother died a few years ago, and everyone at her high school hates her. Pepper Yusef is doing a bit better than her, but he's just found out that he won't be graduating high school. His last chance is to write extensive papers in all his failing subjects to graduate. He also has a seizure disorder, a useless service animal for said disorder, and major reputation problems show more centering around his crush Petra. When Molly crashes into his life and insists he has answers, Pepper thinks she's crazy, but she draws him into an international mystery that involves Ava Dreyman, the Anne Frank of the Cold War.

The Arsonist is a twisty, light hearted mystery told through three perspectives: Molly, Pepper, and Ava. Molly is convinced that her mother, who killed herself ago, isn't dead and is sending her clandestine messages. These messages lead her directly to Pepper, who doesn't conciously know anything about her situation at all. Pepper is kind of stumbling through life. His crush pretty much used him to get into a prestigious school through an embarassing interview that exploited his background as an immigrant from Kuwait and his dream to become the president of the United States. Molly and Pepper are both on their way to being alone and alienating everyone around them until they join forces and work together. Ava's narrative is her diar published in book form, detailing her experience from her mother and her friends murdering GDR officials and police to her death as a young adult.

This book deals with a lot of dark subjects such as murder, oppression, and death. However, it always has this quirky, comedic tone that makes everything have a lighthearted feel. I think things like living in the GDR under threat of death for being revolutionaries and Molly's dad killing numerous people in a fire should be looked at a little more seriously. There are also a number of bizarre incidences that seem a bit out of place and weird like Molly drinking 30 small milk containers and peeing herself in class when the teacher wouldn't let her go to the bathroom or when Papper takes ipecac to avoid graduation and then acts like he's fine later. Some of this could be edited out to make a more streamlined book. The actual mystery is pretty convoluted in and of itself, so this stuff feels like time wasted.

The Arsonist is a bit of a mixed bag. I really liked the journey, but I wouldn't reread this book. I really liked that everything is somehow connected in the novel. Even through every bizarre development, the plot is moving towards revelations and unconvering a mystery. It's practically impossible to guess what it is, but the journey is fun nonetheless. I did want to know if Pepper actually passed high school with his essays as they were written in the book. Even though it takes a very healthy dose of suspended disbelief, the story is a fun, weird mystery that takes our odd heroes out of their comfort zones. show less