Book Review: The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oaks

Book: The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly
Author: Stephanie Oaks
Published: June 9, 2015
Publisher: Dial Books
Number of Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Tags: YA, Contemporary, Mystery, Cry Baby

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Synopsis: The Kevinian cult has taken everything from seventeen-year-old Minnow: twelve years of her life, her family, her ability to trust. And when she rebelled, they took away her hands, too.

Now their Prophet has been murdered and their camp set aflame, and it's clear that Minnow knows something—but she's not talking. As she languishes in juvenile detention, she struggles to un-learn everything she has been taught to believe, adjusting to a life behind bars and recounting the events that led up to her incarceration. But when an FBI detective approaches her about making a deal, Minnow sees she can have the freedom she always dreamed of—if she’s willing to part with the terrible secrets of her past.

Gorgeously written, breathlessly page-turning and sprinkled with moments of unexpected humor, this harrowing debut is perfect for readers of Emily Murdoch's If You Find Me  and Nova Ren Suma's The Walls Around Us , as well as for fans of Orange is the New Black. 

 ~My Review~

 "Anger is a kind of murder you commit in your heart."

Everyone goes through some sort of pain in their life. Weather it be they lost love ones, they are sick, or something else happened, everybody deals with pain. This book show the recovery of a girl who suffered through a lot, and how she's learning to cope with what happened to her.

In this book we follow Minnow Bly, through two times in her life; before, and after. When Minnow was little, her dad moved her and her mother to a religious cult in the woods. There, horrible crimes are committed, and everyone thinks that it's okay due to a made up religion called Kevininan. There, she falls in love, gets her hands cut off, and nearly kills  man when she escapes. She is now in jail, and she is recovering, and trying to piece her life together.

I loved Angle. She became Minnows, protector, teacher, and friend. It was really cool to see their relationship grow from Angle teaching Minnow the basics of survival in jail, all the way to them talking about how the Earth formed. I found their friendship to be really special, and I hope that they would keep in touch after the book ends. 

Speaking of the end of the book, I absolutely hated the ending. I didn't want a rant/spew about life, I wanted to know what happened with Minnow! And other characters like Angle, and another character I won't mention because of spoilers. What happened? I found that a good bit of the book was inspirational talk, but I really wanted more storyline.

The writing was really hard for me to get into at first. I really enjoyed reading about Minnow in present day, but I got really confused when it would suddenly flip to Minnow when she was still at the cult. I found these flips to be really sudden, and unexpected at times. Though when I realized the time line had flipped, I really enjoyed reading about Minnows secret love life.

Overall, I liked this book! I found highlights in the friendships, and storylines, though I found myself often confused throughout the book.