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Eden West
Tackling faith, doubt, and transformation, National Book Award winner Pete Hautman explores a boy’s unraveling allegiance to an insular cult.
Twelve square miles of paradise, surrounded by an eight-foot-high chain-link fence: this is Nodd, the land of the Grace. It is all seventeen-year-old Jacob knows. Beyond the fence lies the World, a wicked, terrible place, doomed to destruction. When the Archangel Zerachiel descends from Heaven, only the Grace will be spared the horrors of the Apocalypse. But something is rotten in paradise. A wolf invades Nodd, slaughtering the Grace’s sheep. A new boy arrives from outside, and his scorn and disdain threaten to tarnish Jacob’s contentment. Then, while patrolling the borders of Nodd, Jacob meets Lynna, a girl from the adjoining ranch, who tempts him to sample the forbidden Worldly pleasures that lie beyond the fence. Jacob’s faith, his devotion, and his grip on reality are tested as his feelings for Lynna blossom into something greater and the End Days grow ever closer. Eden West is the story of two worlds, two hearts, the power of faith, and the resilience of the human spirit.
Twelve square miles of paradise, surrounded by an eight-foot-high chain-link fence: this is Nodd, the land of the Grace. It is all seventeen-year-old Jacob knows. Beyond the fence lies the World, a wicked, terrible place, doomed to destruction. When the Archangel Zerachiel descends from Heaven, only the Grace will be spared the horrors of the Apocalypse. But something is rotten in paradise. A wolf invades Nodd, slaughtering the Grace’s sheep. A new boy arrives from outside, and his scorn and disdain threaten to tarnish Jacob’s contentment. Then, while patrolling the borders of Nodd, Jacob meets Lynna, a girl from the adjoining ranch, who tempts him to sample the forbidden Worldly pleasures that lie beyond the fence. Jacob’s faith, his devotion, and his grip on reality are tested as his feelings for Lynna blossom into something greater and the End Days grow ever closer. Eden West is the story of two worlds, two hearts, the power of faith, and the resilience of the human spirit.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 14, 2015
24 people are currently reading
1212 people want to read
About the author
Pete Hautman
60 books357 followersPeter Murray Hautman is an American author best known for his novels for young adults. One of them, Godless, won the 2004 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. The National Book Foundation summary is, "A teenage boy decides to invent a new religion with a new god."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 148 reviews
January 26, 2015
I have to start by admitting that this book was not quite what I expected after reading the summary. I’m not really sure why, because the book delivers on everything the summary promises, but somehow I anticipated something a little more otherworldly and dystopian. What Hautman delivers is the dystopian otherworldliness of a modern day religious compound.
Seventeen-year old Brother Jacob is a member of the Grace living in Nodd, a compound sandwiched between the “godless” Fort Landreau Indian Reservation and the Rocking K Ranch in Minnesota. The Grace believe that the world is nothing more than breeding grounds for sin and temptation, and thus they have fenced off their 12-square miles of Paradise in an attempt to protect themselves against evil and create the second Garden of Eden. All Worldly materials and ideals are rejected in order to keep their souls pure for the coming of the Ark and the archangel Zerachiel. The result creates an image much like Benedictine monks in Amish Country.
For Jacob, who has lived in Nodd for as long as he can remember, the lifestyle of faith and hard work are all that he knows and come to him as easy as breath, and he confidently and contentedly awaits the End Days. However, a particularly harsh winter presents the Brothers and Sisters with their toughest tests of faith yet, and their numbers begin to dwindle.
Jacob finds himself tempted by the Worldly innovations of the blonde cowgirl on the neighboring ranch. (It’s the innovations, I swear. Okay, it’s a little bit her body, too, but hey, she’s pretty.)
A ne’er-do-well boy arrives with his mother and pregnant sister, claiming to be converts. After all, what else would a vagrant pack of devout converts look like?
Local law enforcement informs the Grace that they will be touring the facilities, and returns an envelope that looks curiously to be full of cash. It’s totally legit.
The foodstuffs are diminishing, the Grace are becoming as irritable as the crab tree they worship, and the pot crops have come in exceptionally and disappointingly acrid.
And of course, an allegorical wolf begins slaughtering the sheep. Naturally.
The most shocking and contentious blows to the Faith, however, seem to be coming from within Gracehome itself. Could the lauded prophet and leader of Nodd, Father Grace himself, be at the root of the suffering of his own flock? Does this plot ever have a different arc?
All jabs and gibes aside, I really truly enjoyed this book. The language is simple and flows easily. The characters are for the most part individual and memorable – a particular feat on a compound with dozens upon dozens of identically outfitted cult members. The plot DID have a few twists and “Oh no he DI’NT!” moments, but the brunt of the greatness of this novel is not in its plot; rather, I found the most enjoyable parts to be its characters and their developments, and I continuously found them drawing me to pick the book back up every time I put it down. I’ve gotta give mad props to Hautman for turning out yet another YA novel completely grounded and lacking in clichéd teenage drama. This one has definitely earned a place on my “Reread on a Rainy Day” shelf.
****
Seventeen-year old Brother Jacob is a member of the Grace living in Nodd, a compound sandwiched between the “godless” Fort Landreau Indian Reservation and the Rocking K Ranch in Minnesota. The Grace believe that the world is nothing more than breeding grounds for sin and temptation, and thus they have fenced off their 12-square miles of Paradise in an attempt to protect themselves against evil and create the second Garden of Eden. All Worldly materials and ideals are rejected in order to keep their souls pure for the coming of the Ark and the archangel Zerachiel. The result creates an image much like Benedictine monks in Amish Country.
For Jacob, who has lived in Nodd for as long as he can remember, the lifestyle of faith and hard work are all that he knows and come to him as easy as breath, and he confidently and contentedly awaits the End Days. However, a particularly harsh winter presents the Brothers and Sisters with their toughest tests of faith yet, and their numbers begin to dwindle.
Jacob finds himself tempted by the Worldly innovations of the blonde cowgirl on the neighboring ranch. (It’s the innovations, I swear. Okay, it’s a little bit her body, too, but hey, she’s pretty.)
A ne’er-do-well boy arrives with his mother and pregnant sister, claiming to be converts. After all, what else would a vagrant pack of devout converts look like?
Local law enforcement informs the Grace that they will be touring the facilities, and returns an envelope that looks curiously to be full of cash. It’s totally legit.
The foodstuffs are diminishing, the Grace are becoming as irritable as the crab tree they worship, and the pot crops have come in exceptionally and disappointingly acrid.
And of course, an allegorical wolf begins slaughtering the sheep. Naturally.
The most shocking and contentious blows to the Faith, however, seem to be coming from within Gracehome itself. Could the lauded prophet and leader of Nodd, Father Grace himself, be at the root of the suffering of his own flock? Does this plot ever have a different arc?
All jabs and gibes aside, I really truly enjoyed this book. The language is simple and flows easily. The characters are for the most part individual and memorable – a particular feat on a compound with dozens upon dozens of identically outfitted cult members. The plot DID have a few twists and “Oh no he DI’NT!” moments, but the brunt of the greatness of this novel is not in its plot; rather, I found the most enjoyable parts to be its characters and their developments, and I continuously found them drawing me to pick the book back up every time I put it down. I’ve gotta give mad props to Hautman for turning out yet another YA novel completely grounded and lacking in clichéd teenage drama. This one has definitely earned a place on my “Reread on a Rainy Day” shelf.
****
April 21, 2015
This review originally appeared on my blog, Leeanna.me.
==
I’ve read quite a few young adult and adult books, fiction and nonfiction, about life in religious cults, so EDEN WEST wasn’t anything new for me. Before I started the book, I thought it would be a fresh take on the subject, especially as it’s written from the perspective of a boy, seventeen-year-old Jacob.
But EDEN WEST was just an average book. There’s a lot of focus on themes and symbols, such as the wolf slaughtering the sheep. There’s a lot of the “cult mainstays,” such as polygamy for the powerful men, teenage wives, living off the land, seeing the outside world as evil, the End Days are coming and only the Grace will be saved, etc.
In the book, Jacob encounters two outsiders who start him on the process of questioning his faith and himself. Lynna lives on the land next to Nodd, and Tobias is brought to Nodd with his mother and sister to be a convert. Jacob has lived in Nodd since he was five, so his reactions to knowledge of the outside world and questioning his beliefs are understandably childlike at times. But I was frustrated when, time and time again, Jacob would resolve to work harder, be more faithful, to ignore temptations.
Now, I understand that’s typical behavior in these types of situations. But it ties into my biggest peeve with EDEN WEST: not a lot happens.The book doesn’t really dig into any of the issues it brings up. Jacob thinks about his life a lot, and by the end of the book, it seems like he may leave Nodd. But will he?
SPOILER.
SPOILER.
And that’s where the book ends. I’m the type of reader that likes a firm conclusion, so the vague openness of EDEN WEST's ending left me disappointed that I bothered to finish the book.
If you haven’t read other cult books before, you might enjoy EDEN WEST. But if you have, I’m not sure you’ll find anything new or extraordinary here. I didn’t.
==
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an honest review.
See more of my reviews:
==
I’ve read quite a few young adult and adult books, fiction and nonfiction, about life in religious cults, so EDEN WEST wasn’t anything new for me. Before I started the book, I thought it would be a fresh take on the subject, especially as it’s written from the perspective of a boy, seventeen-year-old Jacob.
But EDEN WEST was just an average book. There’s a lot of focus on themes and symbols, such as the wolf slaughtering the sheep. There’s a lot of the “cult mainstays,” such as polygamy for the powerful men, teenage wives, living off the land, seeing the outside world as evil, the End Days are coming and only the Grace will be saved, etc.
In the book, Jacob encounters two outsiders who start him on the process of questioning his faith and himself. Lynna lives on the land next to Nodd, and Tobias is brought to Nodd with his mother and sister to be a convert. Jacob has lived in Nodd since he was five, so his reactions to knowledge of the outside world and questioning his beliefs are understandably childlike at times. But I was frustrated when, time and time again, Jacob would resolve to work harder, be more faithful, to ignore temptations.
Now, I understand that’s typical behavior in these types of situations. But it ties into my biggest peeve with EDEN WEST: not a lot happens.The book doesn’t really dig into any of the issues it brings up. Jacob thinks about his life a lot, and by the end of the book, it seems like he may leave Nodd. But will he?
SPOILER.
SPOILER.
And that’s where the book ends. I’m the type of reader that likes a firm conclusion, so the vague openness of EDEN WEST's ending left me disappointed that I bothered to finish the book.
If you haven’t read other cult books before, you might enjoy EDEN WEST. But if you have, I’m not sure you’ll find anything new or extraordinary here. I didn’t.
==
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an honest review.
See more of my reviews:
February 7, 2016
What's the difference between a cult and a religion? Mostly time, I think, but sheer numbers probably have something to do with it. Hautman manages to give a balanced and fair report on life within a tiny religious community in the West. Jacob meets a girl from the outside world, Lynnie, and gains perspective, and she, too, learns. Jacob's relationship with his parents is nuanced. Every religion has elements that sound bizarre to outsiders, but also provides something, perhaps many things, to its adherents. It's kind of amazing, really, that the book never relies on simplistic reactions. Overall it is a book about what individuals need from their communities, that transcends any specific belief issues.
Library copy
Library copy
May 8, 2015
Pete Hautman really knows how to create an engaging story. In Eden West we glimpse the inside of an insular cult through the eyes of a boy called Jacob. As Jacob slowly starts to question his faith and lifestyle through a series of trials life throws at him, his story becomes more complex and basic at the same time. He's just trying to find his place in the world. This book fascinated me to no end and it brings out questions of all sorts. Highly recommend and especially good for a discussion!
December 4, 2015
Since I enjoyed Godless so much, I was intrigued when I saw Hautman had returned to the topic of religion in Eden West.
The book took a very long time to develop a head of steam, and once it did, the rest of the book seemed rushed.
It was entertaining to watch Jacob repeatedly deny that Father Grace’s group was a cult. Yeah, they wear robes, they have a sacred tree, their leader (and ONLY their leader) has multiple wives, fourteen is not too young for a girl to get married, the elders throw wrongdoers into a pit until they capitulate, and if they don’t capitulate, sometimes they shove an ice pick into their frontal lobe to calm them down a bit, and both the suicide rate and infant mortality are off the charts… but it’s not a cult. They’re the one true faith— honest.
The wolf and sheep as metaphors seemed a little belabored and obvious, but I did like the sensitivity of the scene in which Jacob kills the wolf. It’s not easy out there for a lone wolf, which helps explain why the lost lambs tend to gather in robe-wearing, brimstone-believing cults.
I enjoyed the use of the tree as the focal point of the cult. I’m disappointed that Tobias— an outsider— was the one to poison the tree. I wanted the beginning of the end of Nodd to come from inside the community. When the tree was thriving, it was supposedly a literal signpost for the return of Zarachiel. After it dies, one of the faithful says offhandedly “It was just a metaphor.” Whew. That’s a relief, because otherwise, you’d have to disband the cult, because all the prophesies were about this real, actual crabapple tree that just happens to be growing in the middle of cult central.
The ending was meant to be mildly ambiguous, but I’m picturing Jacob in blue jeans, working for Lynna’s dad, and learning how to use contractions when he speaks.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 12, 2015
This book was very enjoyable. One thing I loved the most was how, even though I didn't agree with everything these people believed in, I still felt sympathy for everything they were going through. The characters weren't all very deep, but they were interesting enough to keep it moving. I liked the writing, mostly, although there was one word I wished he'd changed in the second or third chapter (personal preference). Anyway, all in all, if you like books about religion, family, or coming of age, I think you'll like this. It had me laughing a lot, too, which is something I definitely didn't expect.
December 21, 2016
"Are you saying the only way we can be friends is if I join your . . . group?"
"If you do not, you will be destroyed."
Lynna bites her lip and shakes her head slowly. I see tears in her eyes.
"Oh, Jacob, can you even hear yourself?"
Jacob has lived in Nodd, a strict and secretive religious community, since he was a young boy. Now, at almost eighteen years old, he spends his days praying for forgiveness, and patrolling the fence surrounding the compound. It's there he meets a "worldly" girl, and his life begins to change.
This is well written and intriguing. No matter your religious views, you should find this to be an interesting read.
"If you do not, you will be destroyed."
Lynna bites her lip and shakes her head slowly. I see tears in her eyes.
"Oh, Jacob, can you even hear yourself?"
Jacob has lived in Nodd, a strict and secretive religious community, since he was a young boy. Now, at almost eighteen years old, he spends his days praying for forgiveness, and patrolling the fence surrounding the compound. It's there he meets a "worldly" girl, and his life begins to change.
This is well written and intriguing. No matter your religious views, you should find this to be an interesting read.
March 16, 2016
There are people who won't like this book, people who will think the main character (whose name I am already blanking on) is a little empty, and those who are unsatisfied with its pacing -- some parts seem sped up while the book as a whole is pretty slow.
But this book spoke to me and stuck with me -- I am fascinated by new religious movements (cults) and the surrounding academic literature that studies them. I found this book to be sensitive and honest to the lifestyle of a religious movement while a little light on its exploration of theology.
But this book spoke to me and stuck with me -- I am fascinated by new religious movements (cults) and the surrounding academic literature that studies them. I found this book to be sensitive and honest to the lifestyle of a religious movement while a little light on its exploration of theology.
October 2, 2015
I don't read much contemporary books but this book intrigued me so much. Great start but the pace was so so slow and it became predictable. If you like coming of age books or good hearted books this book might be a good pick for you.
January 11, 2019
Jacob has lived his life on a religious compound for most of his seventeen years, and is totally immersed into the lifestyle invented by a man who has three wives and a small following of believers.
When three new converts arrive, the placid existence changes for Jacob’s community. The teen convert, Tobias, has come unwillingly and brings destruction to Jacob’s world.
A slow corrosion develops as Jacob begins a friendship with Lynna, a teen girl who lives on the other side of the fence. Even though she is “worldly” and intrudes upon Jacob’s beliefs, he finds refuge in knowing her as his world begins to fall apart.
An interesting exploration into beliefs, and how wrong a belief system can go when it is a system developed by a man who exploits the need that some have for inner happiness.
Few cliches or the usual stereotypes and plot schemes are found, and even though it is an uncomfortable read at times, it is provoking.
When three new converts arrive, the placid existence changes for Jacob’s community. The teen convert, Tobias, has come unwillingly and brings destruction to Jacob’s world.
A slow corrosion develops as Jacob begins a friendship with Lynna, a teen girl who lives on the other side of the fence. Even though she is “worldly” and intrudes upon Jacob’s beliefs, he finds refuge in knowing her as his world begins to fall apart.
An interesting exploration into beliefs, and how wrong a belief system can go when it is a system developed by a man who exploits the need that some have for inner happiness.
Few cliches or the usual stereotypes and plot schemes are found, and even though it is an uncomfortable read at times, it is provoking.
March 6, 2024
I loved this book, I like the portrayal of the cult and how its depicted in Jacob's view of it, with his beliefs used to describe their practices. I like how he deals with many internal struggles as he tries to find out who he is, and if he himself cannot be ridden of the sins he believes he carries. The ending was very sweet and allowed for room for interpretation which I heavily enjoyed.
July 20, 2024
An enjoyable, quick YA read. A good investigation into what happens when faith and family become so insular that the world is shut out; we can all get too caught up in our own patterns of thinking. I was definitely unsure at first where this was truly set, but it is in today’s world, just hidden from the reader at first to really give the effect of being steeped in the cult community. Pretty good if you want a quick and entertaining read that isn’t overly complex but still has some substance to it.
January 5, 2023
i honestly thought this book was gonna suck, which it did but not as much as I thought it would. It's a slow paste and very easy to not, get lost in. but that's just my review, you can read it yourself and maybe you like it????
March 8, 2019
This book was great, i love how Jacob gets to taste Lynna’s jelly at the end, and its a sweet memory of her even though shes not there with him. Jacob is going to be happier out of Nodd and i love the journey he went through to get to that realization.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 11, 2015
Eden West by Pete Hautman
Jacob is 17 and has lived in the land of Nodd since he was a young boy. Nodd is a 12 mile secluded religious community in Montana which is surrounded by an 8 foott tall chain link fence. Jacob is not allowed to leave the protection and safety of Nodd because the world is a dangerous, terrible place. Everyone who lives outside the fence is doomed for all eternity. Only the people are the inside will be saved when Archangel Zarachiel arrives with an Arc to bring them to paradise. Until then, there is much work to be done.
One of Jacob's duties is to patrol and fix the fence. One day, a girl on an ATV, sees Jacob and drives to the fence to talk to him. Lynna is different from the girls he knows and he is tempted by her. She is beautiful and pervading his thoughts, which is sinful.
A new troubled teen joins the religious group against his will and begins questioning the rules and restrictions Jacob lives by. And a wolf breeches the fence. Will Jacob's faith hold?
Pete Hautman has done it again. He has written a thought provoking, realistic novel for teens. Hautman's fiction always makes me think and look at the world in a new way. Eden West really makes you think about faith and religion and the self imposed walls that we live behind. Eden West contains a great cast of characters that you grow to care about. I really loved Jacob's parents and I just adore Jacob. He is such a good teen who is doing what he should. Questioning. Questioning his role in the world and the world around him.
Hautman is a writer that transports his readers to another place and deeply sets the scene. I felt I knew the land of Nodd, as if I grew up there. It felt like a real place. Eden West is a look at a fascinating life style choice. Hautman keeps the reader turning the pages at a rapid rate. Eden West is beautiful, tragic, hopeful and fascinating to say the least.
Pair Eden West with Godless for a riveting discussion with your teen or for your book club.
Jacob is 17 and has lived in the land of Nodd since he was a young boy. Nodd is a 12 mile secluded religious community in Montana which is surrounded by an 8 foott tall chain link fence. Jacob is not allowed to leave the protection and safety of Nodd because the world is a dangerous, terrible place. Everyone who lives outside the fence is doomed for all eternity. Only the people are the inside will be saved when Archangel Zarachiel arrives with an Arc to bring them to paradise. Until then, there is much work to be done.
One of Jacob's duties is to patrol and fix the fence. One day, a girl on an ATV, sees Jacob and drives to the fence to talk to him. Lynna is different from the girls he knows and he is tempted by her. She is beautiful and pervading his thoughts, which is sinful.
A new troubled teen joins the religious group against his will and begins questioning the rules and restrictions Jacob lives by. And a wolf breeches the fence. Will Jacob's faith hold?
Pete Hautman has done it again. He has written a thought provoking, realistic novel for teens. Hautman's fiction always makes me think and look at the world in a new way. Eden West really makes you think about faith and religion and the self imposed walls that we live behind. Eden West contains a great cast of characters that you grow to care about. I really loved Jacob's parents and I just adore Jacob. He is such a good teen who is doing what he should. Questioning. Questioning his role in the world and the world around him.
Hautman is a writer that transports his readers to another place and deeply sets the scene. I felt I knew the land of Nodd, as if I grew up there. It felt like a real place. Eden West is a look at a fascinating life style choice. Hautman keeps the reader turning the pages at a rapid rate. Eden West is beautiful, tragic, hopeful and fascinating to say the least.
Pair Eden West with Godless for a riveting discussion with your teen or for your book club.
September 23, 2015
How do you, as a teen, assess the world when your parents hauled you off to live in a cult at age five? If you're isolated from the rest of the world and have had twelve years of constant preaching and training that the Archangel Zerachiel is arriving soon when the apocalypse happens. You work doing whatever is necessary to support the brethren of Nodd and you pray at the foot of the holy tree—a lot.
This is Jacob's reality. He has a few faint memories of the time before his family came to Nodd, but nothing he can hold onto and use as a benchmark against the indoctrination that is woven into his daily life. His father, formerly a lawyer, considers him less than because he was conceived out of wedlock. Overall, his dad is a dour and rather harsh man. His mother, however, still has the capacity to nurture him when he most needs it and seems to understand him and his slowly emerging doubts.
Those doubts are accelerated when he encounters Lynna, the daughter of the ranch owner whose spread lies on the other side of the wire fence that Jacob walks twice a month. Is is their interactions, a huge disappointment by Father Grace, founder of the cult, and troubling conversations with a boy his own age who escapes not long after being brought to Nodd by his mother, along with his pregnant
sister that fuel his starting down the pathway of serious questioning.
As Jacob spends more time with Lyssa, his doubts about everything he's been taught to believe are tested more and more, resulting in some serious soul searching. How that shakes out and what he eventually decides to do, make this a very interesting read. The author states in the acknowledgments that he began the book 13 years ago and the length of time he spent getting it right paid off. This is a good book for teens who like something where the main character is faced with a spiritual as well as a life style crisis. It's worth adding to any school or public library.
This is Jacob's reality. He has a few faint memories of the time before his family came to Nodd, but nothing he can hold onto and use as a benchmark against the indoctrination that is woven into his daily life. His father, formerly a lawyer, considers him less than because he was conceived out of wedlock. Overall, his dad is a dour and rather harsh man. His mother, however, still has the capacity to nurture him when he most needs it and seems to understand him and his slowly emerging doubts.
Those doubts are accelerated when he encounters Lynna, the daughter of the ranch owner whose spread lies on the other side of the wire fence that Jacob walks twice a month. Is is their interactions, a huge disappointment by Father Grace, founder of the cult, and troubling conversations with a boy his own age who escapes not long after being brought to Nodd by his mother, along with his pregnant
sister that fuel his starting down the pathway of serious questioning.
As Jacob spends more time with Lyssa, his doubts about everything he's been taught to believe are tested more and more, resulting in some serious soul searching. How that shakes out and what he eventually decides to do, make this a very interesting read. The author states in the acknowledgments that he began the book 13 years ago and the length of time he spent getting it right paid off. This is a good book for teens who like something where the main character is faced with a spiritual as well as a life style crisis. It's worth adding to any school or public library.
August 4, 2015
I know that the World is a terrible place, filled with wild animals and evil men and wicked women.
So begins Jacob's narration. Like any seventeen-year-old, Jacob trusts what his parents and respected authorities have always taught him about the world and his place in it. Like any seventeen-year-old, he questions what he has always been taught and yearns to discover the world for himself so he can fully take ownership of his identity, to decide for himself who he will be. As is common, religion plays a role in his searching; but it plays an uncommonly large role for Jacob: he lives in a small, remote, struggling community called the Grace that believes they are tending a new paradise while awaiting imminent salvation. Outsiders and readers might describe the Grace--Jacob's people--as a cult and Nodd--Jacob's paradise--as an extreme religious commune in rural Montana, but Jacob believes.
"There may not be a next year," I point out.
Enos smiles sourly. "One can only pray."
Jacob believes, but he has never faced a period of trials and tribulations such as he encounters over the course of his narrative. The story starts with his first encounter with an outsider, one that doesn't quite mesh with what he's been told to expect. That's followed by other challenges, from both within and without, to the Grace's faith and place. Jacob believes because he's been taught to believe, but he has never actually chosen the belief for himself; this is the story of his coming to realize that growing up means getting that choice.
It's easy as an outsider to look on someone like Jacob with disdain, but this book successfully puts readers inside Jacob's head with an entirely different perspective that changes our feelings about him. As Booklist said in its review, the result is "thought-provoking and highly captivating."
So begins Jacob's narration. Like any seventeen-year-old, Jacob trusts what his parents and respected authorities have always taught him about the world and his place in it. Like any seventeen-year-old, he questions what he has always been taught and yearns to discover the world for himself so he can fully take ownership of his identity, to decide for himself who he will be. As is common, religion plays a role in his searching; but it plays an uncommonly large role for Jacob: he lives in a small, remote, struggling community called the Grace that believes they are tending a new paradise while awaiting imminent salvation. Outsiders and readers might describe the Grace--Jacob's people--as a cult and Nodd--Jacob's paradise--as an extreme religious commune in rural Montana, but Jacob believes.
"There may not be a next year," I point out.
Enos smiles sourly. "One can only pray."
Jacob believes, but he has never faced a period of trials and tribulations such as he encounters over the course of his narrative. The story starts with his first encounter with an outsider, one that doesn't quite mesh with what he's been told to expect. That's followed by other challenges, from both within and without, to the Grace's faith and place. Jacob believes because he's been taught to believe, but he has never actually chosen the belief for himself; this is the story of his coming to realize that growing up means getting that choice.
It's easy as an outsider to look on someone like Jacob with disdain, but this book successfully puts readers inside Jacob's head with an entirely different perspective that changes our feelings about him. As Booklist said in its review, the result is "thought-provoking and highly captivating."
April 18, 2015
Hautman, Pete. Eden West. Candlewick Press, 2015.
Jacob and his family moved to Nodd, a religious compound in the middle of Montana, when he was just 5 years old. This world is almost all he has ever known. He does not question his beliefs or his role in the world, until one day when he speaks with a girl through the fence surrounding Eden West. Her experiences make Jacob question everything he's ever believed in. Is his faith strong enough to keep him inside the compound?
This book had a bit of a slow start, but I did end up enjoying it. I was glad to watch Jacob's thought processes as he tried to make what he was experiencing match with the beliefs he had held for most of his life. It was neat to see him interacting with both the boy who was brought in to the cult from outside and also the neighbor girl who spoke with him through the fence. This book paints an accurate picture of how easy it is to simply go through the motions and not question what you've been told, and also how painful it can be when your beliefs disintegrate. Recommended.
Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: minor violence - two boys get into a fistfight, Jacob self-flagellates as an act of repentance, Jacob shoots a wolf
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars
Read-Alikes: Keep Sweet, Alis, Godless, The Giver
Jacob and his family moved to Nodd, a religious compound in the middle of Montana, when he was just 5 years old. This world is almost all he has ever known. He does not question his beliefs or his role in the world, until one day when he speaks with a girl through the fence surrounding Eden West. Her experiences make Jacob question everything he's ever believed in. Is his faith strong enough to keep him inside the compound?
This book had a bit of a slow start, but I did end up enjoying it. I was glad to watch Jacob's thought processes as he tried to make what he was experiencing match with the beliefs he had held for most of his life. It was neat to see him interacting with both the boy who was brought in to the cult from outside and also the neighbor girl who spoke with him through the fence. This book paints an accurate picture of how easy it is to simply go through the motions and not question what you've been told, and also how painful it can be when your beliefs disintegrate. Recommended.
Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: minor violence - two boys get into a fistfight, Jacob self-flagellates as an act of repentance, Jacob shoots a wolf
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars
Read-Alikes: Keep Sweet, Alis, Godless, The Giver
July 10, 2015
Oh my goodness - I loved this book so much! It is rare for me to find a teen book (my audience) that fits so squarely in literary fiction (my genre) so I am always excited when I do. And this book is definitely teen literary fiction. Really good teen literary fiction. With a cult. And a harsh western landscape. And spare prose. And a strong young woman in a pivotal role. But it's not primarily Lynna's story. No, it's the story of Jacob, a young man coming of age among the Grace who live in Nodd, a self-sustaining religious community in Montana. He has spent most of his life there and the ways of the Grace are all he really knows of the world. Until he encounters Lynna one day while walking the perimeter. And it is then that his faith is shaken. It comes at a time when the community is tested - by new members joining, by harsh weather, by the intervention of worldly powers in their affairs. Whether Jacob will survive this period in one piece is just as open a question as whether the community will. And I was completely taken with the whole thing. I ached with Jacob and I was curious with Lynna and I feared along with the faithful. I wanted to kneel before the tree and taste the rustic bread and peer into the cell where penitents stay to offer reassurance. It is a book that called me to compassion and made me want to understand in a way that was unexpected but satisfying. I don't know if teens are going to care about the relatively slow pace and the quiet kinds of malevolent forces in this world. But I sure did!
April 2, 2015
Seventeen-year old Jacob has lived in a cult in a remote area of Montana since the age of five. His parents joined Grace Ministries while grieving the loss of Jacob’s four-day old brother. While Jacob can recall glimpses of his young life (television, fast food, toys) he is fully invested in his life serving the Archangel Zerachiel and working hard on the land to support his fellow Brothers and Sisters. Never once has Jacob doubted his faith until he meets two Worldly, and therefore wicked, teens. Tobias, a troubled and angry boy, arrives at the compound with his mother and immediately fights the constraints of this limited and spartan living. Lynna, a beautiful girl from the neighboring ranch, excites Jacob in ways that he knows are sinful but her allure is all consuming. Within the span of a few months, the compound experiences some of the most trying times of its history: bitterly cold weather, diseases wiping out their chicken crop, injuries and illnesses of the members, a suicide and several desertions. Many question whether the end is near and Jacob finds himself at a crossroads, considering a new path. Immediately engrossing, this story gives the reader a compelling look into a modern-day religious faction. Jacob is a sympathetic character with universal appeal. With so many realistic novels currently focusing on mental illness, drug use and suicide, this unique story is surprisingly hopeful and offers a welcome change of topics.
December 1, 2015
Lots of people leave their religion as they grow up. It can be a simple step or a very traumatic and difficult one. But hardly anyone faces the challenges that Jacob faces in Eden West. Jacob has been brought up among a small religious group (the kind we'd easily classify as a cult) where they live off the land and don't interact with the outside world. It is not an easy life, but it is full of faith. And while the group certainly has its outdated practices, they aren't nearly as horrifying as some you may hear about. As cults go, they're pretty mild.
Jacob's story is mostly about his internal struggle as he starts to find his life not shaping out the way he thought it would, the way he expected it to go if he was a person of faith. Which challenges his faith and commitment. As someone who went through a long and difficult crisis of faith, there was so much I could relate to in Jacob. He's an extraordinarily written character, someone whose belief is real and significant but still vulnerable.
As someone who lived a life of belief, I'm not sure how those who have never been sincerely religious will respond to the book. I hope it would be eye-opening, that they would see Jacob as real and three-dimensional and not dismiss him because of his beliefs. They'd certainly be denying themselves a beautiful experience of following his story if they did.
Jacob's story is mostly about his internal struggle as he starts to find his life not shaping out the way he thought it would, the way he expected it to go if he was a person of faith. Which challenges his faith and commitment. As someone who went through a long and difficult crisis of faith, there was so much I could relate to in Jacob. He's an extraordinarily written character, someone whose belief is real and significant but still vulnerable.
As someone who lived a life of belief, I'm not sure how those who have never been sincerely religious will respond to the book. I hope it would be eye-opening, that they would see Jacob as real and three-dimensional and not dismiss him because of his beliefs. They'd certainly be denying themselves a beautiful experience of following his story if they did.
August 1, 2016
I am not sure how this book is garnering so many stars. I can only see handing this book to someone who complains of insomnia and needs to be put to sleep. The pacing is brutally slow, and the plot is weak. I found the premise of the cult to be ludicrous.
Spoiler Alert*****************
Really? All these people follow this guy because he has found a new tree of life and it's a crabapple tree?? No one recognizes this or are they just that astoundingly stupid? I am never sold on the charisma of the leader to get people to follow him into the Montana wilderness because of a crab apple tree. The language of the cult is off-putting and while I understand it was to written that way to make them sound different from people from the outside world, it is clunky and tiresome. There are threads of plot that are started and never finished. Why is the cult leader a bigot with issues about Native Americans?
If the senator returns the campaign bribe, why isn't anything done with the accusations the new teen alleges? As soon as the "visitors" leave, the plot line is abandoned. The wolf plot makes little sense and creepy Uncle Carl is ridiculous at best.
This book crams vague plotlines from half a dozen made for tv movies about joining a cult and stuffs them into the most boring cult book possible. I do not see teens enjoying this book at all.
Spoiler Alert*****************
Really? All these people follow this guy because he has found a new tree of life and it's a crabapple tree?? No one recognizes this or are they just that astoundingly stupid? I am never sold on the charisma of the leader to get people to follow him into the Montana wilderness because of a crab apple tree. The language of the cult is off-putting and while I understand it was to written that way to make them sound different from people from the outside world, it is clunky and tiresome. There are threads of plot that are started and never finished. Why is the cult leader a bigot with issues about Native Americans?
If the senator returns the campaign bribe, why isn't anything done with the accusations the new teen alleges? As soon as the "visitors" leave, the plot line is abandoned. The wolf plot makes little sense and creepy Uncle Carl is ridiculous at best.
This book crams vague plotlines from half a dozen made for tv movies about joining a cult and stuffs them into the most boring cult book possible. I do not see teens enjoying this book at all.
October 7, 2015
What a unique read! At first I thought I would not like it, but then enter the world of a teenager living in an isolated community! This book captivated my interest for so many reasons. Now I am curious about what the high school students will think of it.
I have read a couple of Pete Hautman's books, and I will read Rush next (as soon as the boy who checked it out today returns it.) Blank Confession is also good. Hautman knows how to write and develop creative stories not like the other YA books. I think that may be what I really like about his books. Jacob goes through such turmoil with his religious convictions versus the outside world introduced to him by a girl from the neighboring land whom he speaks to when walking the fence line- even though it is forbidden. He has faith in what he is taught, but yet he has doubts and questions. He cannot let go of his spiritual faith, but yet, neither can he release his interest in the neighbor girl. Jacob goes through such inner turmoil in a book which broaches a topic which has had very little written about in an interesting way for teenagers. Great book, Mr. Hautman.
I have read a couple of Pete Hautman's books, and I will read Rush next (as soon as the boy who checked it out today returns it.) Blank Confession is also good. Hautman knows how to write and develop creative stories not like the other YA books. I think that may be what I really like about his books. Jacob goes through such turmoil with his religious convictions versus the outside world introduced to him by a girl from the neighboring land whom he speaks to when walking the fence line- even though it is forbidden. He has faith in what he is taught, but yet he has doubts and questions. He cannot let go of his spiritual faith, but yet, neither can he release his interest in the neighbor girl. Jacob goes through such inner turmoil in a book which broaches a topic which has had very little written about in an interesting way for teenagers. Great book, Mr. Hautman.
October 25, 2015
Is the community of Nodd a cult or not? Jacob has lived within the boundaries of Nodd since he was five years old. In his seventeenth year of life, things begin to change. He meets Lynna, the girl who lives on the ranch that borders the community and Tobias, who arrives at Nodd with his mother and sister. Jacob's beliefs about faith, the tree of life and the end times are tested in this coming of age story.
For those who are just looking for a good story or for those who like books about cults and/or religion. This reader would love to see this one earn some sort of recognition or award for 2015.
For those who are just looking for a good story or for those who like books about cults and/or religion. This reader would love to see this one earn some sort of recognition or award for 2015.
April 24, 2015
This is the third new book I've read this year about a teenager involved in a cult. This one was a little different in that it was told from the POV of a 16 year old boy as opposed to the other two which had girl narrators. It dealt with some of the same topics of isolation, sexual a is within the cult, how difference is dealt with inside the cult, and an awakening happening after contact with the "outside world." Eden West dealt with some tough topics on top of that including self harm.
November 19, 2020
I'm not even sure what to say about this book. I finished it because I actually like the MC and his struggles to come to terms with his life could have been a fun journey to go on with him. But in the end, the story didn't go deep enough. It seemed to only skim to surface of the MC's change in perspective. Perhaps if the MC was more active in the things that were changing it would have felt more like his story.
April 30, 2022
BRO. ENDING???? HELLO?? I WANTED HIM TO MEET LYNNA. I WANTED HIM TO LEAVE NODD. AND IF NONE OF THE ABOVE I WANTED HIM TO DIE. I WANTED FATHER GRACE TO DIE. I'M GONNA KMS. I WANTED A TOBIAS JACOB LYNNA REUNION.
i love jacobs parents btw i wished they were more forward with their suggestion of him leaving.
finished this at 12:40am so technically i haven't gone to bed and technically it's still april 29 so Ha! take that L bozo
i love jacobs parents btw i wished they were more forward with their suggestion of him leaving.
finished this at 12:40am so technically i haven't gone to bed and technically it's still april 29 so Ha! take that L bozo
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 16, 2015
This book was a page turner! The characters were really interesting and I found myself drawn into both Jacob and Lynna's stories. The details about the cult and its different members helped the book to flow well. I really enjoyed the heartwarming ending too.
I won this on goodreads first reads giveaway.
I won this on goodreads first reads giveaway.
May 10, 2015
DNF by first few pages, and that's really saying something. Usually, I'll give a book a hefty go, and try to get at least 50% through before tossing it aside. But this. Yeah, I knew from the first paragraph this just wasn't going to happen.
It's one of those types of books that reading it is tedious and unfulfilling.
Frankly, this girl just ain't got time for that.
It's one of those types of books that reading it is tedious and unfulfilling.
Frankly, this girl just ain't got time for that.
March 16, 2015
Not exactly what I expected, but I enjoyed it all the same. Excellent writing.
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