Siblings Avery and Cole escape a fire at their family compound. Their parents taught them that they were chosen, civilization is killing itself, and how to survive. After the fire burns their home and the rest of their family dies, they have to survive in a world they don't know.

This is the third debut novel I've read in a row and the streak is going- all have been good! I very much enjoyed this, despite being tough to read. I have actually shied away from the thriller/suspense genre for a while because I feel like everything is trying to be some outrageous psychological thriller to gain the success of Gone Girl. It has been tiresome. This was refreshing and different. Disturbing, but refreshing.

Jesse Vilinsky narrates the audiobook and does a fantastic job- especially in the very dramatic portions.

I received an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

Twisted.

After a fire at their compound, Avery convinces Cole to leave the only home they’ve known by convincing him that everyone else died in the fire.

For awhile they seem to be getting by, but they get picked up by law enforcement after trying to steal a pregnancy test since the head of the cult brought in someone to “breed” her and carry on the legacy.

The pair is hit with the news that when their father at the cult said they were chosen it actually meant they were stolen from their real families. Cole is returned to his old family and Avery heads to a group home. They both struggle to face the past and the secrets they left behind. For Avery, the secrets run much deeper and require her to remember the trauma she blocked out.

This tale gives us an insight into an unknown world and will definitely keep you longing for more.

This is dark story of child abduction, extremism, end of the world theories and brain washing. It's a long story but I think it needed to be to tell the complete story. .Jesse Vilinsky does an excellent job narrator. It is well written. and covers all aspects of Avery's ordeal.
Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media, LLC for this advanced review copy. In return, I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

This book was FANTASTIC! I love a good book about cults. I loved the characters, the plot and the ending. This book kept me guessing the entire time.

4.0 stars
This emotional book is about a girl who escapes from a cult after a fire erupts and burns their compound down. Reminds me of what occurred in Waco Texas. After a extremely traumatic event, 19 Year old Avery and her brother Cole are left to fend for themselves and find not only was their lives a lie, but that their dad who put them through living hell is not really their dad.
This book showed how grooming works and how as a child you are easily influenced to believe whatever your parents tell you.
It was heartbreaking and tragic at times, however this book also shows resilience and how their is light at the end of the tunnel.

4 ⭐️
I like the cover of this book.
I didn’t expect what this book was leading up to. I. Was. So Wrong🤯
This was a great book. I really didn't have any idea who did what or when Until the very end.
This is a well done dark book full of dark content.
Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape media for this haunting ARC in exchange for my honest review.

📖 Earlier this week I had the privilege of reading this debut novel from BROOKE and what an emotional ride! I was quickly absorbed in this incredibly well-written story and these characters are going to stay with me a while even after reading the last page. 

🔥 The author tells the story of Avery and her parents and siblings who live on a compound as a member of a commune, where they are trained in survivalist methods. One night, there is a fire and she and her brother escape, but this only leads to more revelations for our main character as she starts to process what has happened, where she came from and how to find her footing as she begins her next chapter with the outside world. 

💭 I really appreciated how it gave insight into how the children were taught to fear the world outside the commune and pitted against each other during their time at the compound, as well as the emotional integration with the outside world after the escape.

TW: SA, Abuse. Avery and her 11 brothers and sisters have grown up with their parents on a commune. They were raised and trained to survive the world after the "end" came. Its was drilled in them that they were the chosen ones. After the death of a new sibling, Avery is raped so she can continue the bloodline. After a devastating fire kills almost everyone, but Avery and her brother Cole, they walk away. Trying to hide from authorities. They make their way to a town, where they steal and hide with no plan for the future. After Avery and Cole are arrested for shoplifting they discover their whole lives have been a huge horrible lie. They were kidnapped as children and forced to be raised in this a cult. Cole's family comes to take him home and wants no further contact with Avery. Avery left alone, slowly tries to build a life and cope with PTSD, all the while scared who else made it out of the fire. The police are asking questions and Cole has abandoned her, Avery must start facing real life and very real questions.
Brooke Beyfuss weaves a gripping story of hard life, made harder when everything you ever knew about yourself is not real. The life you lived and the things you believed were a horrible betrayal and the last shred of goodness in your life, is ripped away. Its a punch to the gut, but there is hope in knowing the truth, and sometimes just letting go.

After We Were Stolen
by Brooke Beyfuss
Narrated by Jesse Vilinsky
Pub Date 19 Jul 2022
Dreamscape Media



I am reviewing a copy of After We Were Stolen through Dreamscape Media and NetGalley:



Nineteen year old Avery awakens to flames consuming her family's remote compound, she knows it's her only chance to escape her father's grueling survival training, bizarre rules, and gruesome punishments.


For the first time she and her brother Cole flee the grounds for the first time in their lives, suddenly homeless in a world they know nothing about. After months of hiding out, they are arrested for shoplifting and a shocking discovery is made Avery and Cole were kidnapped fifteen years earlier, stolen by cult leaders they knew as Mom and Dad.


Cole is returned to his birth faMiley, immediately leaving Avery alone and desperate. She is uncertain if her ""parents"" survived the fire and is terrified to find out. The loss of Cole and the trauma of her former life threaten to undo her, but when the police investigation reveals there may be more survivors, Avery must uncover the truth about the fire to truly be free.



This powerful story is suspenseful, and emotionally charged and deeply thought-provoking, After We Were Stolen delves into the idea of family—those we're born into and those we make—resilience, and the lengths a cult survivor will go to finally be free of her painful past. Brooke Beyfuss's powerful debut novel sparkles with heart, grit, and extraordinary characters who will stay with you long after the last page.


I give After We Were Stolen five out of five stars!

Oh my goodness. The heartbreak I felt for these characters. Avery and Cole were damaged by their situation. After their arrest and the discovery of who they were I hoped it would get better for them. Then the reveal at the end had me gasping. What a great book.

I enjoy reading novels about missing kids being found again and once I read this synopsis I put a request in to review it immediately.

“When nineteen-year-old Avery awakens to flames consuming her family's remote compound, she knows it's her only chance to escape her father's grueling survival training, bizarre rules, and gruesome punishments. She and her brother Cole flee the grounds for the first time in their lives, suddenly homeless in a world they know nothing about. After months of hiding out, they are arrested for shoplifting and a shocking discovery is made—Avery and Cole were kidnapped fifteen years earlier, stolen by cult leaders they knew as Mom and Dad.”

AFTER WE WERE STOLEN by Brooke Beyfuss, and narrated by Jesse Vilinsky, is just amazing from start to finish. Gritty, heartwarming, and heartbreaking, too. The story pulled me in from the onset and kept my interest throughout. The narrator had a very pleasant voice and gave each character a unique sound and was excellent at expressing the emotions as they were happening.

I highly recommend this. 5 stars!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the gift of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Thrillers are one of my top choices for genres - and I love a book that hooks you right from page one. Books about cults will ALWAYS interest, it's that unknown for sure! Avery grew up in a cult and knew no different. She believed her family was the "chosen" people, while people on the outside were dying. A fire helps aid her and her brother in their escape and they soon realized nothing was as it had seemed. You will be hooked, you'll be questioning how cults can exist. Truly a great read!

Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this digital ARC

Some books are quick reads. Some are fun and meant for the beach. Some stay with you for a long time after you finish. After We Were Stolen is definitely a novel that makes you think, touches your heart, brings up emotions - a solid debut novel from Brooke Beyfuss and one I can recommend with warnings - it’s dark.

Main character Avery, 19, and younger brother Cole,16, live in the woods in a survivalist type camp clearly operating as a cult. The patriarch/leader is controlling and domineering and life there is awful. Beyfuss, a writer with tremendous skill, describes the cult life in beautiful prose which transports the reader into this dark world. Waking to a fire overtaking the compound, Avery and Cole manage to escape to a world they have never seen.

The book synopsis gives away too much, in my opinion. And because I don’t want to spoil the journey with even more details I’ll end by saying that Beyfuss needs to keep writing. She has skill. I felt the emotional power of this book. I’m currently in therapy dealing with childhood trauma, and in hindsight should probably have waited to read this one, but c'est la vie. Go into this knowing it will live in your head for a while.

Thank you Dreamscape Media for allowing me to listen.

This was a good one! I enjoyed listening to it and finished it in like two days. Lots of twists and some surprises. Also just wow at finding out your entire life isn’t what you thought it was!
Definitely recommend this one!

Avery awakens to her home in flames. She uses this chance to escape the terrible abuse from her parents. She grabs her brother, Cole, and they run for their lives. After running for months, these two are arrested for shoplifting. But when the police run their prints, they discover they are not who they thought they were. And they had been stolen as children.

Avery is a character which broke my heart. I will not give away everything but her trauma is heart wrenching. And to be honest, she breaks my heart throughout most of this book. Then there is Cole, you think his life is about to get better. But, is it really? His life takes a completely different turn from Avery’s.

Y’all! This is probably the best book of the year for me! I literally had to pause this book and catch my breath in places. And part of this is because the story is amazing but another part is the narrator, Jesse Vilinsky. I could absolutely feel the pain in her voice. And believe me…there is a lot of pain and loss in this story. I dang near cried twice!

Need an intense, emotional read…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

After We Were Stolen is a book of mystery, wonder, and awe. From beginning to end, Brooke Beyfuss pitches a title that grips you and then keeps you coming back for more. Avery is 19 years old and trying to navigate the family dynamics with her father’s strange rules and demands. When a deadly fire strikes the family compound, Avery escapes along with one of her 12 siblings, Cole. Along the way, Avery continues to put the puzzle together that her “upbringing” was not was it seemed. With all their “training for the end of the world”, Avery and Cole survive until they cannot anymore and end up discovering who they really are.

From beginning to end, Brooke serves up a tale with twists and turns. With the first few chapters setting up the story as a whole, it is a bit slow until it’s not and you cannot stop. The characters are well rounded with enough details as to why they are important to the story as a whole. The ending… oh my gosh. Just get to the end. Brooke Beyfuss is a storyteller and I hope she has more stories to tell.

After We Were Stolen is Brooke Beyfuss's debut novel and it was a powerful one! This story of children growing up in a cult of preppers for the end of days is drawn in every way you think it can. Making sure their children are tough by putting them through many experiences to create survivalists. It certainly makes the unbelieve seem possible, which is tough considering I'm sure there are similar cults out there. This cult's motto was:

Prepare, endure and thrive.

It would be even more difficult if you got out, somehow escaped, and realized that everything that you believed, that you thought to be true, was all a lie. And that it was openly spoken about and criticized all around you.

This story of Avery and her brother Cole and of how their whole life they believed that they should never pass over the perimeter and ensure no one comes across the perimeter of their property. That the outside world is killing itself. Until the day that Avery put two pieces together: Avery was nothing more than the cow she was monitoring, waiting for a calf to be born. She was only a vessel, a body that can increase the numbers of the cult, she is just livestock.

One twist after another, this story describes how difficult it would be to transition back into the world after many years in a cult, not knowing any different. How does one find their way through life when the only thing they know how to do is survive in the wild?

Prepare, endure and thrive.

After We Were Stolen had me sucked in wondering what could happen next? And what actually happened in the big event? And how would I manage if I had my eyes opened to the rest of the world after only knowing life in a cult?

After We Were Stolen
by Brook Beyfuss

⭐⭐⭐⭐🌑

[blurb]
A fire. Her escape. And the realization her entire life has been a lie.
(I normally do a longer blurb, but this is such short and sweet and exactly what it means)

[review]
This is another book that needs a content warning. There is a SA scene and her afterwards can and probably will be very triggering for people. Please tread lightly and take care of yourself.

For the rest of the book. I thought at first that this book was giving me 'flowers in the attic' vibes, and I really need to stop trying to guess the books I'm reading. But I guess that's the nosy older sister in me. Because I. Was. Wrong. So wrong. And no, I won't tell you what actually happened. This book has an honest look on what comes after a big event. What happens when you have to separate trauma victims that don't want to be separated. And it's sucky. There's a very true undercurrent of what happens to missing rich kids verses missing poor kids. And also what happens to the rich/poor when they're found.

This was an excellent book. I really didn't have any idea who did what or when till the very end. I loved the ending and the healing that came with.
This is a dark book full of dark content. But it's a well done dark book.

Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape media for this ARC audiobook. Thank you Brookbeyfuss for this haunting book. Also, a huge thank you to Jesse Vilinsky for bringing these voices to life even in their worst moments!

I really enjoyed listening to this book and found it be an emotional one. While this book discusses living in a cult, it really isn't the main focus. The focus is on the characters, mainly Avery and Cole, handling life after escaping the house fire. It was an engaging storyline that moved at a good pace. As the details emerge of what their lives were like, it becomes clear that there was a lot of trauma. Both characters deal with it in different ways. This is a debut novel from the authoer and is very well written. I wish the ending would have been a little different or maybe not so abrupt BUT it was still very good.

Wow this was a good book! I listened to the audio version and the narration was excellent! I was immediately drawn in to an interesting story and loved it all. I was sorry when it ended!!