So I guess Dektar was giving is a 'cult 101' class with this story.
I was left feeling a bit *meh* after reading it, I was obviously expecting something else. I thought it was going to be a slightly dark and twisted novel. I found more of a soul search inspirational novel that wasn't quite fully executed.

Putting those pre conceived expectations for fiction occult novels aside, Dektar wrote some interesting characters.
Our little friend, Berie aka Harmony, is 'chosen' to come and live with the Ash Family. I would have to say that is just about the most exciting thing that happens to her. There are a few disturbing events, however, most of the details of these events are questionable. Not only do we have an unreliable narrator but the family that she lives with is seeped in manipulated 'truths'. Dektar certainly had me hating Dice, the fearless leader, and wanting so much more from Bay.
I guess you could read this and question your own priorities or maybe see how people are manipulated every day into seeing reality in the way society (in this case with the mask of a cult leader) dictates. I kept waiting for the moment of 'aha' to hit whenever Berie was going through one of her muddled brain/grasping at the secrets of life moments. I just never really got on board. I am not claiming to be enlightened, this one just didn't flip my switch.
I would be willing to read another novel by Molly Dektar just to see what kind of range she has as a writer. I just wouldn't necessarily recommend this one.

I’m always fascinated by this type of cult novels, but there have been so many written in the last few years that in many respects, we already have a pretty good idea of we are going to get.

And this was the case with the Ash Family. There was not much to set it apart from those that came before it, but it was not a bad book.

I enjoyed the prose, and thought that the depiction of everyday life in ‘the Family’ was well done, but I was not especially taken with the protagonist, Harmony.

She is, expectedly, naive, but she doesn’t seem to grow emotionally as the novel unfolds, which I found surprising. I’m not sure if it was by design, to demonstrate the insidiousness of cults, but as a result, the ending left me feeling unsatisfied and it felt a bit unbelievable.

I received a complimentary ARC from Simon and Schuster, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

There’s just something inherently fascinating about cult stories: What makes someone give up their life to join one? How do they become seduced by it despite the red flags? When and how to utopian ideals transform into something dangerous and controlling?

Seeking something more out of life than college and settling down, 19-year-old Berie joins the Ash Family, a community of eco-terrorists living off the grid in the woods of North Carolina.

Drawn to their “essential” lifestyle, she is determined to do anything to earn the trust of the Family’s charismatic leader, Dice. As suspicious events start happening, Berie is torn between her ties to those she cares about both inside and outside the Family and her devotion to their mission of giving up the self for the purpose of the community and the environment.

Debut novelist Molly Dektar creates such a vivid setting, atmosphere and mood. There’s a subtle feeling of ominous tension that she teases out, while simultaneously lending insight into Berie’s desperate need for belonging. Her ambivalence is what keeps her so interesting as a character: constantly teetering between doing what she wants to do and doing what she feels like she ought to do—and often confusing the two.

Fans of cult novels like Emma Cline’s The Girls and lush mysteries like Abby Geni’s The Lightkeeper’s will certainly like this one.

Berie is supposed to be on her way to college, and her Mom thinks she is on her way to the airport. But Berie meets Bay who is charming with a magnetic personality just what you would expect in a cult recruiter. Berie decides to follow him, although it might be just for a few days to see how she likes it. A story about how easy some find it to prey on the vulnerable lost souls.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book left me with really mixed feelings. It was well-written and I couldn't put it down towards the end, so I'm glad I read it. At the same time, I just really didn't like the characters, what was happening, or how it ended. To be fair, I don't think I was supposed to - it's about a cult, after all.

I didn't like the main character one bit, but I have to give credit to the author for creating her - it was an act of brilliance to make this chick the narrator of the story. She's troubled, she's selfish, she's got more bad characteristics than good ones, and she's definitely disturbed too. Yet I didn't for one second think of her as an unreliable narrator - no doubts that the story as she told it was meant to be the real story. I love the backstory about her big head injury back in high school, too - repeated just enough to make us wonder how that might have affected her, but not enough for us to excuse her lack of emotion or concern for others.

I don't think this is intended to have a sequel, but I would be interested to see another book about the Ash family told from a different character's perspective (maybe Sara or Bay?), maybe picking up where this one leaves off.

Molly Dektar is going on my list as a must by author. I was blown away by her beautiful writing.

Berie is on her way to college, but unsure of her place there. When she meets a man named Bay at the bus depot, he convinces her that college isn't right for her, and he knows a place she can go. Without a word to her family Berie follows Bay back to a farm deep in the North Carolina mountains, where a commune called The Ash Family works and lives off the land. Bay introduces Berie to Dice, the charismatic, sinister leader of the family. Dice tells her she's welcome to stay for three days or for the rest of her life, no in between.

Berie falls for what the family says they have to offer, but all is not what it seems.

This is a quiet, mesmerizing book about the powers of a cult over lost, lonely or confused young souls.
Beryl is on her way to college, financed in part by her mother selling a cherished piece of jewelry. In an act of defiance, she walks away from the bus, leaving her backpack and following Bay, an enigmatic young man who isn’t good-looking but is heavy on the charisma. Beryl is swept up in the methodology and habits of the Ash Family farm, a co-op in their eyes, a cult to outsiders. The author, Molly Dektar, does a fantastic job writing and weaving the emotional traps and the hypnotic senseless speeches and opinions of the leader, Dice. I’ve never been in a cult but I could easily see the inner workings and trappings being exactly as described by Dektar; the manipulating to make the weak feel that they can’t survive without the blessing and approval of the leader. Dice and his sidekick Bay are scrupulous and eerily haunting in their control of the others.
This isn’t a feel-good happy ending book. It’s a realistic picture of weak and lost young souls who can’t find it in themselves to stand up so they lean on those who shouldn’t be trusted. I thoroughly enjoyed each page of this slowly engulfing sinkhole of humanity; a glimpse into a world that you know is out there but wise enough to avoid.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to Simon & Shuster for making it available.)

Dektar sets the scene for the reader immediately, through the eyes of our narrator, Berie. Except Berie is not supposed to tell anyone her name in this new place, she needs to leave it behind. She’s given a choice – stay with us for three days, or the rest of your life.

Without much thought, Brie adopts this new life for herself at the Ash Family Farms, leaving the “fake world” behind. She reveals herself as someone eager to please, eager to fall under a spell. She wants to prove herself to the Ash Family. But quickly, the cracks in this community start showing – evasive answers, hushed whispers, disappearances. Berie soon starts questioning herself - and everything around her. In some ways, it felt like a quiet Bluebeard fable mixed with those news stories you hear about but can't quite wrap your head around.

This novel is rather slim and Dektar’s writing is propulsive, I read this book practically in one sitting. I found myself, like Berie, not sure how I let the time get away from me.

I think there is something so fascinating about cults and the type of people who are attracted to cults. This novel is the story of the fictional "Ash family," a cult that resides in the mountains of NC. Readers are given a firsthand view of the indoctrination of Berie/Harmony, a young girl who leaves her family and college education behind to become a member of the family.

I liked this book, but I do think the ending was a little hectic and confusing. I wanted more closure and more insight into the aftermath of Berie's experiences in the family. Overall, a quick and interesting read.

I didn't care for this book at all. The story was distasteful and repetitive in places. The characters provoked no sympathy and little interest. The concept initially caught my interest, but basic storytelling was lacking.

This novel is about doing what makes YOU happy. It has interesting cult aspects, which I really appreciated. The pacing was a bit slow but the plot was still amazing. Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I've read several books about cults and enjoyed them all, but this one was quite different in the haunting way the story unfolds. Berie (aka Harmony in the Ash Family compound) is a nineteen-year-old woman who is supposed to board an airplane for college, when she meets the magnetic Bay at a bus stop and he convinces her to travel with him to their mountain community. Their credo is, "You can stay 3 days or the rest of your life." Sounds appealing, right? But of course we know how these enigmatic leaders suss out the weak, the lost, the vulnerable, and then seduce and manipulate them into believing they are loved and part of a greater "whole." And so Harmony is sucked into this "family" as they work constantly with livestock and nature, growing their own crops and sustaining themselves under the leadership of Dice, the Father Figure of the group. And of course there is more than just "harmony" in the group; there are protests and "actions" that involve the members putting their lives at risk, all in the name of community and fighting back at the "fake" world,
But the difference with this book is Dektar's writing; it is both hypnotic and haunting as we see from Harmony's perspective how she is slowly taken in by the smooth-talking Dice and taught to "get relativity" and "there's no such thing as a definite self." Huh?? But she wants to believe so strongly that she gives into these nebulous theories and believes all the wild allegations that Siberia is melting and Armageddon is close on its heels. With many other novels like these, I find myself thinking, "How can you not see what is happening here?" But with this book, even though Harmony is naive and needy, somehow I sympathized with her as she desperately clings to the idea that she loves Bay and she will come to be trusted. Granted, it's uncomfortable reading at times, but isn't part of reading a good book getting out of one's comfort zone to uncover truths that permeate society?
So hats off to Dektar for a marvelous debut novel! I certainly look forward to more from her!

Such a truly wonderful story that you can immerse yourself in. The way the author writes this really connects and I found myself lost in the words. So much conflict filled into the pages, it really makes you think and try to look beyond the story itself. I highly recommend.

It was fascinating to read about a fictional cult from the first person perspective, especially with the timeline beginning right before Berie formally joins The Ash Family. The everyday details of how a cult like this lives seemed very authentic - I wish there were more! I also wish I got to know the other characters a bit better. I kept having to remind myself that there were around 30 people in the "family" because from Berie's - renamed Harmony - perspective, it seemed like there were 5. If the family were so dependent on each other, wouldn't she interact with others more? However, the characters she did interact with regularly seemed genuine enough. Dice, the family's father, was a very believable character.

The story is told reflectively, which propels you to the ending to figure out what eventually happens with this community. The ending is unfortunately far too abrupt and, consequently, unsatisfying. I would have loved maybe another 20 pages with a more resolute and consequential conclusion.

I am not sure how I feel about this one. I thought it was well written, very vivid images. But Berie/Harmony drove me nuts. She just seemed too naive and clueless and I had a hard time believing that with her back story that would be the case. I tried to just go with it, but I kept coming back to just wanting to slap her. Which I guess is a little the point and why I would never make it in a cult. I would definitely read another work by this author though.

I love the cover of this book! The Ash Family tells the story of a confused young woman. Berie is on her way to college. While at a bus station, she meets Bay. Here's a guy who can smoothly tell Berie exactly what she wants to hear. She already hates her mother, boyfriend, etc., so she is easily convinced to go with Bay. He takes her to a commune/cult called The Ash Family located in the North Carolina mountains. Berie is renamed Harmonie. She will be cleansed and pure like a new person and serve mother Earth. Naive? Yes. To be young and stupid......She is being brainwashed and stripped of any individual identity. A cult is like one living thing. Will she become fully immersed in the Ash Family, or will she realize who she is? The story is a quest for self identity, by process of unusual and sometimes sinister cult traditions/ceremonies? I liked the description of the cult's inner workings and would have liked more of that. Berie is a troubled, sympathetic and complex character. The story is believable and plausible. It's well written and unfolds slowly at first, but the pacing is better toward the second half. Overall, a good read. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Ash Family is a beautifully written coming of age story that does involve a cult, but is more about how one sees oneself and the truth about who we are/what we've done/the choices we've made. Thoughtful, lyrical, and definitely for fans of literary fiction

I’m still processing this one. I didn’t like any of the characters, yet couldn’t stop reading. Interesting peek into cult culture and mindset.

Mixed feelings about this one. I enjoyed the details about life with the family. Much of the writing describing the mountains and Harmony's inner-life is lovely. But I kept wanting more from the story - why did Harmony/Beryl feel she had to leave her mother and what attracted her so instantly to Bay? There's little revealed in her back-story and honestly, when we do get glimpses into her life with her mother she comes across as a bit of a brat. It's obvious that being abandoned by her father resulted in her constantly seeking approval from men, first Issac, then Bay, then Dice. I became annoyed by her constant neediness for their approval (but recognize that those are exactly the type of people who join a cult). There's plenty to discuss here that would make this book a good book club choice I just wish the author had provided a little more insight into Harmony's life before the cult.

Molly Dektar's The Ash Family is lyrical and uneasy, leaving the reader consistently unsure of who to trust. While her mother believes she is on her way to college, Beryl finds herself instead on a search for her identity and belonging- which leads her to the mysterious Ash family, a cult-like group in the mountains of North Carolina led by the Manson-esque Dice. After making her decision to stay "three days or the rest of her life," the story progresses through the seasons and the shifting dynamics of the commune. The magical sense of place is starkly juxtaposed with the ever increasing dark atmosphere of the "family" as Beryl cannot or will not see the reality of her situation. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!