The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly

by Stephanie Oakes

A truly remarkable debut about the dangers of blind faith and the importance of having faith in yourself. Ages: 14+

The Kevinian cult has taken everything from seventeen-year-old Minnow: twelve years of her life, her family, and her ability to trust.

And when Minnow rebelled, they took away her hands, too.

Now the Kevinian Prophet has been murdered and the camp set aflame and it's clear Minnow knows something. But she's not talking. As she adjusts to a life behind bars in juvenile detention, Minnow struggles to make sense of all she has been taught to believe, particularly as she dwells on 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 is willing to part with the terrible secrets of her past.

Powerful and compelling, this remarkable and brave debut novel reveals the terrible dangers of blind faith. And the importance of having faith in yourself. Ages: 14+

• ISBN10: 1460705459
• ISBN13: 9781460705452
• Publish Date: 1 July 2015 (first published 9 June 2015)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: AU
• Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

A phenomenal book full of sadness and hope with a gripping storyline. I literally couldn’t put this book down. The characters are dynamic and the writing style is superb without being overly complicated. One of my favorite books this year.
Highly recommend to my mystery friends!

[empressbrooke]

I don't even remember where I came across this or why I put it on my Overdrive wishlist, but I'm so glad that I did.

[Stephanie]

This was pretty good, but I felt at one point it was trying to say a lot of things and not all of them had the depth I needed or wanted.

[cornerfolds]

In the famous words of Bartok the Magnificent, "Wow! I tell you what, wow!" The synopsis of this book made it pretty clear what the book would be about, but there was still no way I could have known what I was in for. I usually hate contemporary fiction, but I think there's a pretty reasonable explanation for why I enjoyed this one. Here's a little-known fact: I have a degree in religious studies. I'm fascinated by different religions and even more so by cults and this is one of the best cult fiction pieces I've read. Suffice it to say The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly totally and completely blew me away!


---Characters---
Obviously, Minnow Bly is the center of this incredible story. Minnow has been a part of the Kevinians, a cult that lives in the middle of the woods, for the last twelve years of her life, from the age of five until seventeen, when she finally manages to escape. Amazingly, she is the only person who wanted to escape the cult, the rest of the characters following their leader blindly. This makes Minnow an incredibly strong character, in my opinion. Well, this and many other things. Minnow is written in such a way that I felt like I could really identify with her. I felt almost like I was inside her head with her, which isn't something I've been able to say about many fictional characters. Her head was a really confusing and oftentimes frightening place.

Having been raised in a cult, Minnow knows very little about the real world and, most worrisome to her, she knows next to nothing about science. She has been taught that the sky is a canvas, the stars are God's eyes, and meteors are missiles. Throughout this book, Minnow strives to learn more about the natural world and make sense of all the nonsense she's been fed for her entire life. But she isn't happy taking anyone at their word. Instead Minnow makes it her mission to learn to read in order to learn - to find answers. I loved this about her!

Possibly my favorite character in this book is Angel, Minnow's murderer cell mate in juvie, who just happens to be a huge science buff and takes it upon herself to help Minnow learn. While she does share her opinions on the world quite often, I liked that even more often she offered resources to help Minnow find answers for herself. This is how everyone should find answers, I think, rather than accepting anything on the word of anyone else.

The love interest (there's no triangle, thank goodness) in The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly is Jude, a boy who has also been raised in the woods, but not as part of a cult. The book stretches many years and tells their story in bits and pieces, allowing the reader to watch their relationship grow from childhood friendship to something more as time passes. My feelings towards Jude changed over the course of the book, but I felt like he was an overall positive character and a very believable love interest, which is not often the case in YA fiction.

I could say so much more about the many other characters that made up this book, but I could honestly go on for pages! The Prophet is completely despicable, Minnow's family made me want to pull my hair out, and Dr. Wilson is incredibly complex. In case you haven't picked up on it, the characters in this book are amazingly well-written.


---Setting---
There are really two settings in this book - The Community and the jail that Minnow is sentenced to. The jail could really be any other jail. It was well-written but how much can you really say about jail that hasn't been said somewhere else? But The Community was just... it was like I was there. I'm really not sure how Stephanie Oakes did it, but she made me feel like I was watching through a TV screen. I can picture the entire Community almost in detail. I can see the buildings and the surrounding woods and the pond and the animals. There was a contradictory air of serene trepidation surrounding the Community that I could almost feel when I was reading about it. Minnow's unease and need to get away was so real based on the way all of her surroundings were described!

My point is the world building was also completely amazing.


---Plot---
Have you guessed yet what I'm going to say about this story? Um... yes, it was amazing. I'm sorry I don't have better words to describe it. I'm going to be honest here: I have an anxiety problem. The entire time I was reading this (and even in between the times I was actually reading) I had a constant feeling of unease. That's how good Stephanie Oakes is at setting the tone. This book made me feel for Minnow Bly even when I wasn't reading it!

This book paints such an amazing picture of a cult that is so terrible it should be unbelievable, but really isn't. From the beginning I was thinking that nothing like this could ever happen. Then I thought about Jonestown and even the story of Irene Spencer and I knew that it absolutely could, which makes it even more horrendous.

One of my favorite parts of this book (one of my favorite parts...) was that I really didn't know what happened! It was kind of a whodunit throughout and it wasn't until the very end that the truth about who killed the Prophet came to light.

The only thing I didn't absolutely love was the ending. I wish there had been more of a resolution to the story. Instead, it just kind of ended a little vaguely. It would be really awesome if Stephanie Oakes would release a novella so that I could find out what actually happened to Minnow!


---In Closing---
I've already said way too much about this book. I could probably go on for a lot longer about everything I loved, but I won't. I really think everyone should read this book! I don't usually include quotes in my reviews, but this was so beautifully written (the author has a degree in poetry) that I can't end this review without leaving you with at least a couple.

Jude taught me what love was: to be willing to hold on to another person's pain. That's it.

I nod. "You know one thing the Prophet never answered? That nobody ever wondered about but me? People. What made us. Where we came from."

"But you know that already," Angel says. "From the stars."

[Sarah Says]

This book has received so many raving reviews and so many “loved it” reviews from fellow book bloggers that I follow. I can understand how someone could be so WOW’d by this book. The writing is beautiful, easy to read /understand and flows at a perfect pace. The action arches and curves to keep you tearing through the pages till the end.

It’s hard to believe that this is Stephanie Oakes Debut! It is her debut people and in my eyes it is flawless. I’ve already added her next book to my TBR even though it won’t be out until next year.

Cults disgust me. Anyone who hides behind religion and lies degusts me. In fact any person who can hurt another living thing and enjoy it, degusts me. Even so I think this book is brilliant. It made me keep reading even though I hated the topic matter. I either wanted to slap sense into the characters or see them run them over with an army tank. Ok, I wanted the Prophet to be run over by an Army tank, the rest I wanted them to wake up to themselves, stupid sheep.

I liked Minnow from the start, but I loved her once she woke up and started to rebel.

My only complaint is that I wanted more closure at the end. I wanted to know that the innocent got a happy ending and the others got what they deserved – even if that is unrealistic.

I generally read books to escape the horrible world we live in. This book spotlights the horrible world we live it, but I am glad I read it. I think anyone 13+ could read this and get something out of it.

I’m going to share what I am sure is going to become one of my favorite book quotes. I’ll give you a little lead in so it makes sense. Warning the work fuck is used, but there is very little swearing in the book considering she ends up in juvenile hall.

* * * * * * *

“FUUUUUCK!” She screams.

“A MILLION TIMES FUCK!” I scream with her.

“What on God’s sacred green Earth is going on?” Benny calls from the skyway. She approaches the bars, her arms crossed.

“Nothing,” Angel and I sat in unison…

“Fuck,” I Whisper.

“Fuck,” she whispers back, a smile creeping onto her face. And, inside that smile is the knowledge that some things are just too sad, too screwed up. Sometimes there’s nothing for it but shouting “Fuck” with your best friend at the top of your lungs.

* * * * * * *
"Some things are just too sad, too screwed up. Sometimes there’s nothing for it but shouting “Fuck” with your best friend at the top of your lungs."
I think that sums up life; something’s are just too sad, too screwed up. I’ve been known to scream profanities at the sky, sometimes there is nothing else we can do to release the pain.

[Kelly]

http://www.divabooknerd.com/2015/06/the-sacred-lies-of-minnow-bly-by.html
As morbid as it sounds, I'm fascinated by cults. Those who pack up their lives and families and move into commune conditions to follow what is culturally seen as a socially unacceptable way of life without interference. Alberton is a fictional storyline that echos within these communities all over the world. It follows the story of Minnow, now one of nineteen children her own father has produced and has lived within the community for twelve years before that fateful night it all came crashing down. Minnow's story is told from the Missoula County Juvenile Detention Center, where she has been sentenced to six years for the brutal assault of a man mistaken for someone else. She's scared, but her quiet resolve draws cellmate Angel to her defense, the two girls finding a kindred spirit and shared experience between them both. As Minnow's crime was committed under duress, authorities are willing to strike a deal for her release upon her eighteenth birthday, in exchange for her story.

The result is an eerie and beautifully written story of hope, determination and a question of faith. I absolutely adored Minnow who proves that a strong protagonist doesn't need to show a force of strength, but her quiet style of defiance was inspiring and takes readers on her journey of self discovery and acceptance. Through her meetings with forensic psychologist Doctor Wilson, Minnow's story is nothing short of horrific. Readers are confronted with her emotionless removal from her ordeal, from the Prophet law community members abide by, to the misogyny towards women and expected Polygamy of men taking multiple wives. Taking wives that are also underage. But none more so than Minnow having her hands removed. It was distressing to say the least.

Throughout her poignant story, hope lies in the hands of Jude, a boy who knows abuse at the hands of a loved one and their blossoming romance becomes an anchor for Minnow's respite from the Community, if only for a brief moment. Jude isn't her hero, nor does he rescue her from the captive environment but rather provides Minnow with the confidence and tools to inspire her to save herself. He isn't necessarily a love interest, but a representation of another world that is waiting for her.

It's hard to fathom that this is a debut novel. A psychological, yet poignant storyline that readers can completely immerse themselves in. Said to be a retelling of The Handless Maiden, The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly is confident, beautifully written and forward thinking young adult release that will endear readers to Minnow's plight. The storyline builds in layers, revealing more of Minnow's world as she shares pieces of her story, ending in a crescendo that will leave you feeling a sense of justice and fulfillment. Absolutely remarkable.

[shannonmiz]

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly was hands down (no pun intended, seriously, that would be awful!) one of my most anticipated 2015 releases, and I am happy to report that it did not disappoint! First, this book is messed up. If you are squeamish, this may not be the book for you, because there is detail of some very unpleasant things. The poor girl's hands have been cut off, for goodness sake, and I dare say that isn't even the worst of the Kevinian behavior! Cults tend to fascinate me in general, but the Kevinians have taken crazy cult activity to a whole new level. The thing is, there have been cults that engage in awful behavior in our history, and this cult story is (sadly) horrific, but not inconceivable, especially the way the author details the evolution of the cult.

I am impressed and in awe that the author was able to make Minnow so very believable, to make me feel like I was really in her head, despite the fact that I could not relate to a single thing she'd been through. Minnow came from one of the darkest places I have ever read about a character coming from. Her family abandoned her to the Kevinian beliefs, she has no idea if her only friend or her family is alive or dead, and upon escape she attacks some dude and is sent to juvenile detention, of all places. This was the only part of the story that gave me some pause, because I do wonder what would have actually happened- would our legal system be so inhumane as to put someone so clearly psychologically damaged in a prison setting? I'd like to think not, but I suppose I can't say for sure.

Along the way, Minnow finds out so much about herself. She learns that some people can be trusted, but most importantly, she learns about herself. Who she is and who she can be away from the cult that took over her life. The secondary characters, though they are few, really add a lot to the story as their interactions with Minnow really have a huge impact on her life- both the flashback interactions from her cult days to the present interactions in juvie.

I won't say more, because I think I'd be doing you a disservice. Go into this one completely open, find out truths as Minnow unravels them, or in some cases, has them unraveled to her. I was shocked, I was horrified, and at times, I even felt a bit of hope. The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly was a book that was incredibly hard to put down, and had me captivated until the last word.

This review was originally posted on It Starts at Midnight