I'm not sure why, but I love a good cult novel, and this one was pretty satisfying. Zylynn lives with The Children in the Light, a small, secretive community in the Arizona desert. She's been there for as long as she can remember, so all she knows is all white clothes, "hungry days" where she and the others are not allowed to eat, and a rigid schedule of work and worship. All girls in the community officially become women at age 13. If they make the ceremony on their 13th birthday, they are assured a place in the community forever. Just days before her 13th birthday, Zylynn is taken from the community by a man named Louis, who says he is her father. All of a sudden, she has a stepmother, a dad, and three rambunctious siblings. Zylynn doesn't understand the abundance of food, the concept of choice, or parental love, among other things, and her transition to the world we know is incredibly painful. All she wants is to get back to the world she knows, but she's enjoying the food and the freedom of ours. Every emotion causes her confusion and guilt. The greatest sin in the Light compound is curiosity, and she is completely distressed that she can't make the curiosity go away. This novel is basically about Zylynn coming to terms with the painful truth about her past and the community that raised her.
The plot is a little slow, since it all takes place inside Zylynn's head, and her thoughts are pretty repetitive, but I was interested enough in learning what her ultimate choice would be to keep going.
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