The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes
I have this “To-Read” list on Goodreads. If it ever gets under 200 books, I’m pretty impressed with myself. Sometimes I read books on the list that are getting a lot of buzz or that I’m really looking forward to, and sometimes I go to the oldest books on the list to try to make a dent.
The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly has been on my “to-read” list for almost two years. It was the oldest book on my list. That means I have no idea why I put it on the list. I’m not sure if a friend recommended it or if I read about it somewhere. I wish I remembered so I could talk to whoever recommended it to me.
When we meet Minnow Bly, she has been convicted of assault and is being sent to juvie. As the story unfolds we learn about Minnow.
Since she was five years old, she has lived in a commune with her family. In this commune, men marry multiple wives and they all look toward the “Prophet” for guidance. Minnow has always questioned their way of life and remembered enough of their old life to want to know more, but that is not acceptable.
Minnow has lived a terrible life. She has unimaginable things done to her by people who are supposed to love her. She has one friend outside the community but if they find out about him, she is afraid what will happen to him.
The story goes between Minnow living in juvie and learning about the real world and going back to her memories of her life in the commune. She has to figure out the truth from the lies that have been told to her.
This book disturbed me. There were parts that were very hard to read and I felt the need to finish the story quickly so I could stop reading it. Not finishing the book was not an option. With that being said, this book left a mark on me. I’m not sure you can “enjoy” a book like this but I did learn a lot and cared to know what would happen to Minnow after the book was over.
I would love to hear others opinion of it. Go read this book!
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