Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in an isolated community without questioning the fact that her father has three wives and she has twenty brothers and sisters. That is, without questioning it much—if you don’t count her visits to the Ironton County Mobile Library on Wheels to read forbidden books, or her secret meetings with Joshua, the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her. But when the Prophet decrees that Kyra must marry her sixty-year-old uncle—who already has six wives—she must make a desperate choice in the face of violence and her own fears of losing her family forever.A heartbreaking book, if you ask me. I love reading books about polygamy. I think that this began when I started watching the Big Love series on HBO. To be completely honest, I do not much care for society's view of polygamy in general. I have watched shows and documentaries about both fictitious and REAL polygamous families. I will be the first to admit that there are ALOT of bad things that go on inside polygamous groups/cults. But I do not for ONE second believe that EVERY single person in the whole wide world who practices polygamy does so in the same way. I think there are a lot of polygamous people out there who are truly happy living this lifestyle. I think there probably are families like the Hendrickson's (from Big Love) who exist in the modern world. Do I think it is always smiles and roses and sunshine? No. But I also do not think that all polygamists are abusive, controlling, brain washing lunatics... Okay, stepping off my platform now...
I really did like this book. It is written from the perspective of a 13 (almost 14) year old girl who is already starting to think *outside the compound,* when she is told that she will marry her 60 year old uncle. The only things I remember hearing about how the inside of these cults REALLY work, was in Carolyn Jessop's ESCAPE. So I think it is fair to say that the author did an accurate job of showing how it is possible for so many families to stay STUCK in this cult. Really, truly unable to leave. So, a good read - I could not put it down. There was a scene of disciplining the baby, towards the middle of the book, that made me physically sick for a little bit. But things like that always have that effect on me:( The ending??? Horrible. Okay, so you know the fate of Kyra... but what about everything else? I feel like I was kind of left hanging there. I always want to know JUST a little bit more than the authors give up, but this time I was left wondering much more. I think Williams could have done better than just cutting the ending off like that. It was like running into a brick wall... Very rushed towards the end.
Book Count : 4
Word Count : 945
