The Children of Red Peak

Once again pure magic from this author! Couldn't put it down all I wanted was to find out the truth at the end! A powerful story for anyone with past troubles with religion and talks about the dichotomy of love the church family atmosphere while hating what it can do. Even though the dial is like all the way up to 11 I found the characters to have relatable problems and flaws. Overall a wonderful experience , super creepy and atmospheric that keeps you guessing all the way through! Must must read!

I am BITTER. At the beginning, I really thought this was gonna be a new favorite. I loved the cult and the descriptions, how it was looking at trauma and religion. I was stoked. But then, it took such a nosedive. We focused on two characters I didn't care about at all the whole time when all I wanted to hear from was David and Angela. We heard so much about Deacon's band that I didn't care about and Beth and Deacon's romance that I also didn't care about. The story also spoiled everything that happened with the cult so all of the flashbacks weren't surprising or scary because I knew what would happen. I also predicted the ending so early on and it's an ending I absolutely hate; it's a “The Deep” by Nick Cutter type of ending that was just so disappointing and terrible. UGHHHH

Overall it's a good story, the flashback parts were my favorite because the buildup of the religious fanaticism was really creepy! 

However, I felt disappointed that we didn't really see anything from Angela, despite her being in the same situation as the other three characters. I feel that more backstory for her (and arguably all of the characters) could have really helped the book. David, Beth, and Deacon all felt like we started to get something really interesting, but it never got to the point of real connection to any of them. 

Also, the romance wasn't really my favorite, it felt kind of just added in for the sake of it. I think it could have worked if the characters were more fleshed out. 

In conclusion, it's a good book, but definitely not my favorite