The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes is the second book I read by the author. Yes, I am one of those weird people who happened to read The Arsonist first. I loved it so much that I bought this book immediately. Since all of the reviews on her other book complained that it was not as good as this book, I had really high expectations. I wasn’t all that disappointed. But I have to say I loved her second book more… although this one was great too!
Synopsis: The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes
“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.
The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly is a hard-hitting and hopeful story about the dangers of blind faith—and the power of having faith in oneself.”
Goodreads
What I Loved
This book was great! I was also in an unusual situation of having all day to do nothing but read. So naturally, I read the whole thing in one day. But I did take a few much needed breaks, because parts of this book are dark. Really dark. Which I love in a book! Although I was surprised to find out that this was considered a YA book at school libraries.
As with all cult books (yes, I read a lot of them) I found myself engulfed in their weird way of life. I found it really interesting and had trouble putting it down. Except after some of the more gruesome parts. Despite the book leading with the fact that Minnow Bly had her hands cut off, it does get even worse. There are lots of twists and turns that will have you on the edge of your seat!
What I Didn’t Love
There wasn’t much that I didn’t like about this book. The whole cult plot isn’t too unique, but Stephanie Oakes made this book stand out. I did find that for a teenager who grew up illiterate in such a closed-off society, Minnow Bly spoke and thought in a way that was too sophisticated. This was a little hard to believe and it stood out to me. Other than that, I have no complaints. Although I am confused by why people LOVED this book and HATED The Arsonist so much.
Summary: The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes
You can grab a copy of The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes on Amazon. It was rated at almost 4 stars on Goodreads and most of the reviews are 4 stars, so there’s very few haters! I do recommend both of the authors books and will be excited to read whatever else she writes. Although I must say, her second book is the most unique and bizarrely awesome thing I’ve ever read while this book is just plain awesome.
Bonus Earrings
If you’d like to show off your love for reading via jewelry, check out these fun earrings on Everyfelt!
Follow The Travel Bug Bite for more book reviews!
Oh my goodness this book scared me so much when I was younger!
It scared me at 28 🤣 btw, if you ever wanted to write a guest post about books with links to your blog, please let me know ☺️