It's Not a Cult

A Novel

by Lauren Danhof

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Pub Date Aug 22 2023 | Archive Date Jun 13 2023

Alcove Press

General Fiction (Adult) | Humor & Satire

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Description

Mona Awad's All's Well meets Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt in Lauren Danhof's darkly humorous debut, in which a daughter races to save her mother from a dangerous cult before it's too late.

Glinda Glass is truly trying her best. After dropping out of her graduate school program, she moves back to her childhood home with her mom—who has not only joined a cult, the Starlight Pioneer Society, but has also become enraptured by its charismatic and menacing leader, Arlon. Meanwhile, Glinda spends her days working in the Drench-the-Wench dunk booth at the local Renaissance fair with her only friend Troy—who may be falling in love with her.

When Glinda learns that the cult will be turning her family’s home into their commune, she decides to take matters into her own hands—by infiltrating the cult and taking it down from the inside. There, she realizes things are far more sinister than she could have ever imagined and that she must get her mom out from under the spell of Arlon by any means necessary.

But Glinda can’t do it on her own; to save her mother, she’ll have to confront her own history of trauma and grief and repair her relationships with her sisters and Troy, no matter the cost.

Available Editions

EDITION	Other Format
ISBN	9781639104383
PRICE	$18.99 (USD)

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Additional Information

Average rating from 203 members

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Featured Reviews

Reviewer 634330

I was sent a free copy of this book from Netgalley. Here is my honest review.

I loved this book!

The title gives off quite dark vibes, and this book definitely had those themes, but it was somehow done in a way that was light and even humorous, which I didn't expect. It was a fast paced book.

While the "not a cult" is a main plot point, about how a set of siblings must try and rescue their mother, another main aspect of this story is family. I loved all three of the siblings and the relationship they had with each other. The family relationships were not always perfect, but you can tell that they love each other and the importance of family was shown through this book.
It also dealt with other topics such as guilt and grief.

I loved the relationship between Glinda and Troy and would enjoy reading more of their story. Glinda constantly pushing everybody away did get annoying in parts, but it was understandable why she did that.

The main antagonist is extremely unlikeable, and I would like to say more about him but I always try and write my reviews without spoilers.

An easy 5 stars!

(Also, it is definitely a cult)