Hell as Well

by Becca Lynne

Fourteen-year-old Evalynn Mae has only ever known her father’s sermons and her mother’s punishments. In their strict religious household, obedience is demanded, love is conditional, and sin is punished with fire. When her secret feelings for her best friend are exposed, Evalynn becomes the center of her family’s shame—isolated, controlled, and made to believe she’s broken.

Her only light is Brennan, her younger brother, whose small hand in hers gives her the strength to endure. But when the state intervenes, Evalynn is ripped from the only home she’s ever known and placed into foster care. Instead of freedom, she finds herself under the suffocating rule of the Carters, whose “perfect family” façade hides cruelty masked as kindness. She’s told when to sleep, when to eat, and even how to wash the skin she was born in. Each protest is met with dismissal, each cry for help swallowed by silence.

As her new social worker investigates the past that Evalynn is too afraid to speak aloud, her parents are arrested, Brennan is kept from her, and her lifeline—Officer Jules McGillicutty—stops answering her calls. Evalynn spirals between desperation and numb obedience, caught in a world where every adult insists they know what’s best for her, while her own voice is dismissed as hysteria.

Haunted by the weight of her parents’ faith, the terror of her foster home, and the guilt of believing she’s betrayed her family, Evalynn faces an impossible stay silent and fade into the porcelain doll Mrs. Carter demands her to be—or risk everything by fighting for her truth, her brother, and herself.

Raw, unflinching, and deeply moving, this is the story of a queer child navigating faith, control, and survival—where even broken wings can find a way to fly.

395 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2026

About the author

Becca Lynne is a 30something year old, neurospicy, chronically ill, queer, mother of 4 living her best life in rural Southern California. By day she is a virtual English tutor and by night she is mother, author, and cozy game streamer and content creator. Along side her sister, Becca Lynne also owns a homemade witchy and mythological candle shop called Lore of the Pomegranate.

Reviews

[BARBARA · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the way that this author allows you to literally visualize everything happening in this story whether it be where they are what they're doing I can actually picture it and that is her form of writing that does that. I felt the characters' emotions! You ache for them! I found myself on the edge of my seat many times throughout, hoping and wishing! This book has truly lived in my head days after finishing it..I still think about this character and still visualize everything that she went through! It's definitely going to be the book that sits in my head!

[Soha Amer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hell as Well by Becca Lynne is one of those books that doesn’t just tell a story—it confronts you with it.

This is not an easy read. It’s raw, unsettling, and deeply emotional, following Evalynn—a young girl raised in a rigid, fear-driven household where love is conditional and identity is treated as something to be punished.

What makes this story so powerful is how real it feels. Evalynn’s voice—confused, silenced, yet quietly resilient—captures the experience of being unheard in a world where every adult claims authority over her life.

Her bond with Brennan is heartbreaking and grounding at the same time—the only softness in a life defined by control and fear.

And just when you think there might be escape… the foster system introduces a different kind of cruelty—one that hides behind politeness and “perfect family” facades.

This book explores:

* faith used as control
* identity and shame
* systemic failure
* and the fight to reclaim your voice

It’s painful, but it’s also important.

[Shyler Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was lucky to receive an ARC for this. I went in blind, I actually don't know what I thought this was going to be but this far exceeded anything I expected.

Pulling from her own experiences and from those around her, Becca Lynne delivers a punch with this one.

Evalynn is just 14 when she makes the incredibly brave decision to run away from home in order to save herself and her 4yo brother.
What should have transpired is a place where they felt safe, but this was far from the truth. Evalynn was placed in another incredibly unsafe environment where she starts to question whether she is going crazy or whether this is normal in church families.

There are some heavy triggers so please check those but this was incredible

[Rachel Browning · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Hell As Well” by Becca Lynne is an emotional, intense, and deeply tragic read that completely pulled me in from the start. I was fully invested in Evalynn’s story, her pain, her confusion, and her fight to hold onto herself in a world that keeps trying to break her.

This book hit hard. The emotions feel raw and real, and at times, almost too familiar. There were moments that felt deeply personal, which made it even more powerful and honestly heartbreaking to read. The author doesn’t shy away from the heavy themes of control, trauma, identity, and survival, and it all comes through in such an unflinching way.

It’s a painful, impactful story about a girl trying to find her voice in a world determined to silence her. Definitely not an easy read, but completely worth it. This one will stay with you long after you finish.

[Annette Cates · Rating 5 out of 5]

*I received this book as an ARC reader.
This book took me to places I was not prepared for. I did not grow up in religion so I have no background to compare this story to. That being said, I held my breath many times in this book. I was angry and sad and almost never happy reading this story. I thought it had a great storyline, was relevant today but even decades ago. I like the characters and how you can feel the emotions Becca wrote them. I will never read this book again, not because it was bad, but because it was so heavy for me and I will not soon forget it. I 100% recommend it and suggest if you don't get into it, put it fown and come back in another headspace.

[Printessan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in one sitting because I just couldn’t put it down. The story follows Evalynn, a 14 year old growing up in a strict religious household where everything revolves around obedience, shame, and punishment. From the start, you can feel how controlled her life is and how little space she has to just be herself.
When her feelings for her best friend are revealed, everything changes for her. Instead of things getting better when she’s taken out of that home, she ends up in another place where she still doesn’t feel safe or free. It just shows that getting out doesn’t always mean things actually get better.
Everything is told from her point of view, and you really feel how confusing it is when all the adults around her say they’re doing what’s right, even when it clearly doesn’t feel that way.
Her bond with her little brother was one of the few things that gave some kind of warmth in the story. You can really feel how much she cares about him and how much he means to her.
Even though it’s fiction, it’s built on real experiences from multiple people, and that makes everything feel so much more real and painful. It’s really emotional, and I just wanted to step into the story and protect her and her brother.

Thank you so much Becca for letting me be a part of your team. 🌺❤️

[Jessica Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy cow, what to say about this book. I cried for Evie more than once, I was mad for her and the way the adults in her life treated her. I wanted to reach through the book to yell at them and slap them. No child she ever be made to feel the way that Evie was made to feel. In the end, she was able to stand up for herself as well as her brother. It was so moving to know that she was willing to do anything to protect him. This was such a sad story but moving as well and very thought provoking.

[Julie Lanaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful (albeit tough) read. I didn't grow up in this kind of household, but definitely saw some "sweeping under the rug" of the ugly side of religion as an outsider. I couldn't wait to see where this would go and how the kids would turn out. The story is painful, but is also a wonderful story of redemption.

Another great read by Becca Lynne

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh the tears!!!!

I went into this one after seeing Becca’s TikTok.
I’m so glad I did.
I raged. I clutched my heart. I wanted to scream. I cried.
As a person who was raised with this kind of Christian perversion, this hit way too close to home.

I loved it and wish I could read it again as a new read!

[T || · Rating 5 out of 5]

*due to being on becca's street team, I got the ARC earlier than ARC readers**

this is a 7⭐️ read for me (unless 10 ⭐️ isnt overkill!)

Becca Lynne, does it again with Hell as Well. This book is heavy on the triggers, so do heed the warning. It is a psychological thriller, based around religious trauma. While this is a work of fiction it does indeed feature some real life facts from Becca's life & people she knows. Who all willingly agreed to allow it in this book, to help aid exposure to the subjects featured.
I did not only ARC this, I BETA read it also. So to say I know the story inside out is an understatement. But saying that, no matter how much I read this story, it NEVER fails to continuingly hit me in the feels. I never don't not shed a tear, crying for the characters, out of fear, out of anger at systems and people. The fact I know although this is a work of fiction, some of it is taken from real life experiences, upsets me even more. To think of someone I love and care about going through something like that in life, with people who were meant to care and protect, is heartbreaking.

Do heed the warnings on this read. It is a hard read. But gawd, is it worth it.

Becca, I love you, I adore you, I will ALWAYS see you, and I will always be here for you. I didnt just gain a friend. I gained a family member

I am so proud of you. I know how much blood, sweat, tears and heartache went into this book.