Gather the daughters - Jennie Melamed

GATHER THE DAUGHTERS tells the story of an end-of-the-world cult founded years ago when ten men colonised an island. It's a society in which men reign supreme, breeding is controlled, and knowledge of the outside world is kept to a minimum. Girls are wives-in-training: at the first sign of puberty, they must marry and have children. But until that point, every summer, island tradition dictates that the children live wildly: running free, making camps, sleeping on the beach. And it is at the end of one such summer that one of the youngest girls sees something so horrifying that life on the island can never be the same again.

My thoughts:

I wish I could write this well written awesome review, but sometimes you are at a loss for words to do the book justice. I will do my best but I might ramble on.

The book stayed with me as I read, it stayed with me when I finished it, and I still think about it and want to pick the author's brain. To know, to know...TO KNOW.

Cults are scary. These people truly believe they serve their God and their ancestors, but as you read on you realise they serve their own good. There are those who serve, there are those who blindly follow and there are monsters. 

I want to say so many things! But spoilers! It felt like a punch to the stomach when the realisation hit me of what this cult is about. I felt sickened to the core. And as I read on something else hit me, what if...what...if? This cult is so wrapped about in their lies and cruel ways and as the daughters start to question things so did I..what if? Yes I am being cryptic but when you start to question you will understand. But before that that horrible revelation is laid before you and it is gruesome.

On an island there lives a cult. Girls are married young. You obey your father, you obey your husband. You have 2 children. They grow up, you die. That is life. But before that there are the summers and at first I was all why? But the summers of freedom are both a curse and a blessing. They get to run wild, to be children, and well to escape the mosquitoes. But then you realise that most are just too indoctrinated that everything that happens is just a part of life. Sure the summer of freedom is lovely, but normal life is good too. And that is not the way things should be. All these poor children, all these poor families.

I really can not do it justice. You have to read it for yourself and feel that kick in the gut when things come together. To see these brainwashed sheep go on about their lives and, just read it! It shows the power of words, how the masses blindly follow.

Conclusion:
A well written thought provoking book. One of the best I have read this year. Might be the best book I have read this year.

And yes be warned, there are trigger warnings. It is a cult after all. Things are not always pretty inside a cult.

Hardcover, 352 pages
Published July 25th 2017 by Tinder Press
Fiction
For review