Devoted by Jennifer Mathieu

I did not finish this book, and will not be writing a review as a result. The subject matter of an extremist religious cult was intriguing to me in the beginning, but then I lost interest and found myself gravitating towards other things. The writing was lovely, and I appreciated the respect Jennifer Mathieu treated her character with. But in the end, I just didn't feel like seeing how the story played out.

Oh, man, this book! I loved this book about a young girl who is curious for more knowledge and that leaves her with the choice of a religious brainwashing camp or being kicked out of her home. Yeah, it was a pretty fantastic read!

Just a little side note to start off, that I am Christian, but just the belief. I love the church that I went to as a kid, the community is great, but the group worship isn't for me. I don't know if this is a hot take or an unpopular opinion, but the bible wouldn't have been published if it wasn't a religious work. I get that it's really old, and the English versions are translated, but it's not really well written, it's got a few parts that are comparable to the experience of reading Shakespeare in that its dense and doesn't flat out say what it means.

I felt really bad for Rachel. It's not her fault that she's asking questions, it's the religion and teachings that are at fault. But she's the one that struggles with fitting in, who ends up leaving. And that's a hard journey, basically leaving your life behind and starting fresh, with not a lot of knowledge of the outside world. But she was strong, and I loved her journey! We had glimpses of Lauren's as well, which was a good balance because while they both did the same thing, they're different people with different circumstances and so reacted differently.

There were points where I just seethed, from their beliefs about family and religion, that women are basically to clean house and have babies. And there was this one point where the dad makes her burn a book. First off, no, book burning is bad! The Nazis did that. And I'm like, if what you teach says to limit knowledge, access to the outside world, then maybe it's not something good to teach, if it's that breakable.

And it's frustrating that some people live like that in this day and age. A perfect quote from this book is "...a repressive religious cult that hates women and thinking for yourself and gay people." I'm so glad that Rachel breaks free, and makes choices so she'll have opportunities in the future like getting a job and enrolling in school. I'm so proud of her!

This book was such a great read, I really enjoyed it, and I need to read more by Jennifer Mathieu!

A beautiful story that engages with religious bigotry and abuse that still somehow manages not to delve deep enough into the world or issues it presents. It's also a bit too unbiased for my tastes: There are some things that should be thoroughly shamed, and religious abuse is one of them.

This book wasn't what I expected. Honestly, I had high expectations of this one, so many people told me that it was a great book and it was just meh for me.

This book shattered me. It was so beautifully written that I struggled to put this down and go to work. The struggle of the MC to find herself was amazing. I will write a proper review but know everyone should read this book.

Rachel's constant struggle between doing what she wants to do and honoring her family is intense. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. So often I wanted to reach into the pages of this book and give her a hug. I connected with her so intensely that her pain was my pain, her fears were my fears. In the end, I found myself admiring her courage more and more. Her curious mind never stopped and that made me want to be more like her.

This story stayed with me long after I finished the story. Why? Because Mathieu has such a gift for the written word that this spoke to me. This novel covered such a serious topic and Mathieu did it with grace and style. I'm not sure of many authors that could portray this topic the way she did. She has always been one of my favorite authors and this story proved why she will continue to be one. It is a troubling story so please do not go lightly into this. Do not start it believing it is "another religious story" because it is anything but. It is a powerful story about the struggle to be true to oneself or sacrifice to do what is expected.

This is a super short review, I understand, but I could really go on for days about why I loved this story and the author but I'm trying not to give too much away! I want you to pick up this book and devour it the way I did.

I'm often quite intrigued by stories that follow the cultishly religious. I cheered for Rachel throughout this book as she starts to question the future of being a wife and mother--only--that seems to already be set for her. This is the second book by this author that I really enjoyed, so will definitely be on the lookout for more YA written by her.

4 stars
First things first, this cover does NOT reflect the contents of this book.
Secondly - this book *might* push some folks away because initially, it feels VERY "bashy" towards religion/Christianity.
Thirdly - this book is GOOD. It takes a girl from her extreme/ultra-conservative/strict religion where she was not allowed to think anything about herself or feel good about herself, and morphs her into a *good* girl with a conscientious but thinks for herself and is happy with herself.

My only true concern about this book is the fact that has the very real potential of being disregarded by EXACTLY the people that need to read it because of the anti-religion feel.

Okay - so here's my take on the synopsis...girl grows up in a very, VERY strict church/community/cult, decides it isn't the life she wants and believes that God can still be a part of her life. She also realizes that it is okay to not want to be a mom and a wife for decades, that it is okay to be educated, and it is okay to be okay with yourself.

Wow. This is an excellent book. Seventeen year old Rachel has been raised in a family that is part of a very fundamental Christian church that follows the quiverfull philosophy - one of patriarchalism and separation from most of society. She and her 9 brothers and sisters have always been home schooled and she has been taught that she must dress modestly in order to protect men from lust. She has never been allowed to go anywhere on her own, has never watched TV and has never been alone with a boy. When her mother miscarries and falls into depression, which her parents don't believe in going to a doctor for, Rachel must take the lead in caring for her younger siblings. She also helps her father with his home business by doing some of his paperwork for him on their old computer. After hearing that Lauren, a girl who had left their community had been seen back in town, Rachel decides to look her up on the computer. Lauren's website refers to Rachel's church as a cult and Rachel contacts Lauren. She realizes that she does not want to marry and have lots of children right away like her older sister did and Lauren lets Rachel know that there is much more to life than that and helps Rachel to escape when her parents threaten to send her to a religious boot camp. The book is well-written and the characters and situations are realistic. I received this book free to review from Netgalley and I enjoyed it and highly recommend it.