What do you think?
Rate this book
Occulted
When the Hale-Bopp soared across the sky in 1997, Amy Rose thought it was the start of an amazing new future. Instead, it brought news of a horrible tragedy at the Heaven’s Gate compound just down the road. Amy had always known there was something off about the community she grew up in. She had been forbidden from going to school, or visiting the library because the leader told her that there was no use learning about a world that was about to end. But it was not until the news of the deaths at Heaven’s Gate invaded the temple walls that she heard a new word that explained everything...cult.
She must risk everything to indulge in secret trips to an abandoned, off-limits library that teaches her everything she was not meant to know. That Gandhi was not a space alien. That Star Trek wasn’t real. That her community was built on a lie. And most importantly, the banned books give her all the information that she needs to escape.
Occulted is another shocking true-life graphic memoir about the power of literary freedom from the people who brought you the Eisner and Ringo-nominated, Freeman Award-winning Banned Book Club. Ryan Estrada (co-author of Banned Book Club) has teamed up with real life cult survivor Amy Rose (co-author of Star Trek: Connected to the Truth) to bring you the story. With gorgeous art by Jeongmin Lee, Occulted is a haunting, inspiring tale of bravery and rebellion that illustrates how to recognize and fight against those who try to control you.
She must risk everything to indulge in secret trips to an abandoned, off-limits library that teaches her everything she was not meant to know. That Gandhi was not a space alien. That Star Trek wasn’t real. That her community was built on a lie. And most importantly, the banned books give her all the information that she needs to escape.
Occulted is another shocking true-life graphic memoir about the power of literary freedom from the people who brought you the Eisner and Ringo-nominated, Freeman Award-winning Banned Book Club. Ryan Estrada (co-author of Banned Book Club) has teamed up with real life cult survivor Amy Rose (co-author of Star Trek: Connected to the Truth) to bring you the story. With gorgeous art by Jeongmin Lee, Occulted is a haunting, inspiring tale of bravery and rebellion that illustrates how to recognize and fight against those who try to control you.
176 pages, Paperback
Published July 18, 2023
1 person is currently reading
186 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
March 21, 2023
Ended very abruptly. I felt incredibly bad for Amy and wish it said what happened to her sisters and her mother.
4, sad and scary, stars.
4, sad and scary, stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 4, 2023
"I knew something wasn’t right. But until that day in 1997, I never knew the word… cult."
This was a fantastic graphic memoir about growing up in a cult. The most shocking part about this is that it’s told through the eyes of a child who lived it. Definitely recommend this one for those who are intrigued by cults and how they operate.
This was a fantastic graphic memoir about growing up in a cult. The most shocking part about this is that it’s told through the eyes of a child who lived it. Definitely recommend this one for those who are intrigued by cults and how they operate.
Read
September 11, 2025CW: child abuse, emotional abuse, gaslighting, abandonment, chronic illness
No review as this is a memoir, but I really wish there was a way to get more information out of this in a way where the authors wouldn't be sued.
No review as this is a memoir, but I really wish there was a way to get more information out of this in a way where the authors wouldn't be sued.
January 19, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Critical Score: C
Personal Score: B+
Maybe the issue here is that they’re going for an “upper middle grade” genre (isn’t that just YA?) with content that’s best suited for an adult treatment. I appreciate them trying to make this story appealing to kids. I actually love that. But I’m pretty sure this challenge is why the book feels surface level and underwritten. Hell, even the art feels unfinished; there’s no wall, counter, or table in here that isn’t bare white.
The antagonist is very one-dimensional, the timeline is foggy, there’s not enough world building about how this cult was able to exist and carry out everything this girl went through. We don’t get any closure on the mom or the cult itself. And we don’t see enough of the MC’s life after escaping. This almost feels like a part one, given how many questions we are left with.
So, why did I really enjoy it? Well, it’s fast-paced, the subject matter is fascinating, and…yeah, that’s about it. This book’s got a lot of issues, but I had fun reading it—and I’d read the sequel that it needs.
Critical Score: C
Personal Score: B+
Maybe the issue here is that they’re going for an “upper middle grade” genre (isn’t that just YA?) with content that’s best suited for an adult treatment. I appreciate them trying to make this story appealing to kids. I actually love that. But I’m pretty sure this challenge is why the book feels surface level and underwritten. Hell, even the art feels unfinished; there’s no wall, counter, or table in here that isn’t bare white.
The antagonist is very one-dimensional, the timeline is foggy, there’s not enough world building about how this cult was able to exist and carry out everything this girl went through. We don’t get any closure on the mom or the cult itself. And we don’t see enough of the MC’s life after escaping. This almost feels like a part one, given how many questions we are left with.
So, why did I really enjoy it? Well, it’s fast-paced, the subject matter is fascinating, and…yeah, that’s about it. This book’s got a lot of issues, but I had fun reading it—and I’d read the sequel that it needs.
February 23, 2023
This book was received as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
From the first second I picked this up, I was hooked. Estrada always has a way with comics, and Rose's story is something that's handled delicately and in a way that doesn't feel sensationalized. These are things that are terrible, and they aren't shied away from, but they're definitely told from a perspective the intended audience will understand. This hits, hard, and does a fantastic job. A high recommend from me when it comes out, especially for how it unpacks how cults drag people in.
From the first second I picked this up, I was hooked. Estrada always has a way with comics, and Rose's story is something that's handled delicately and in a way that doesn't feel sensationalized. These are things that are terrible, and they aren't shied away from, but they're definitely told from a perspective the intended audience will understand. This hits, hard, and does a fantastic job. A high recommend from me when it comes out, especially for how it unpacks how cults drag people in.
April 3, 2023
This was a very interesting look inside a cult form a child's eyes. The author grew up in a cult near the Heaven's Gate cult. She was stripped of her family members one by one and the kept mentally abusing her until finally she was sent away to live with her father - finally getting to live a "normal" life. This was a lot more emotional than I expected. It is so frustrating to see people sucked into something that requires them to treat their loved ones so poorly and sacrifice everything for a made up "cause". What a traumatic experience for a child to survive.
September 30, 2023
The author is a better person than me... I would have been name dropping the cult and all the members in it. Occulted is about a real life survivor of a Star Trek cult near the Heaven's Gate cult. I wasn't a fan of the art style but the story is just insane. It's easy to see the ways Amy as a child was trapped inside the cult and the many ways their leader manipulated the members. Also there is Ghandi... with abs and hot aliens... things I did not expect from a nonfiction cult story... I'm hoping there will be a follow up as this one ended abruptly and without many answers.
September 29, 2024
I am so confused. It's not that I don't believe the author, but the way the story's told just has me scratching my head. So many missing pieces - I feel like maybe since it's such a short graphic novel that things were left out? I liked the art, but I'm left with so many questions that may have been answered if this had been written and fleshed out in a traditional narrative format.
July 19, 2023
Solid read! I was really excited for this one and it lived up to the main part of my expectations (being a memoir about growing up in a cult and escaping in part due to a love of books and learning). I wish it had been just a little more in-depth about what books mattered to Amy (are there any she remembers? what's her relationship to graphic novels? what deeper thoughts does she have on the value of reading after her experiences?) and definitely a little more in-depth about what happened to various members of her family-- we don't get to find out what ultimately happened with her for example, even if they ever spoke to each other again.
This left the ending feeling a touch abrupt; it's certainly possible that Amy Rose never spoke to numerous members of her family, but just leaving it on the last time they spoke and moving on without acknowledging the depth of the moment or later reflecting robbed those points of their potential emotional impact.
I also think the art could've been a little more detailed; the framing is just as often dynamic and fresh as it is unimaginative. There's little to complain about, but also (in my personal opinion) relatively few moments to celebrate when the artist seems to have a genuinely good grasp on their craft.
Recommend if you're curious about the subject; the book certainly doesn't hurt to read and the thirty minutes I spent zipping through I don't regret at all. I'll be trying to learn more!
This left the ending feeling a touch abrupt; it's certainly possible that Amy Rose never spoke to numerous members of her family, but just leaving it on the last time they spoke and moving on without acknowledging the depth of the moment or later reflecting robbed those points of their potential emotional impact.
I also think the art could've been a little more detailed; the framing is just as often dynamic and fresh as it is unimaginative. There's little to complain about, but also (in my personal opinion) relatively few moments to celebrate when the artist seems to have a genuinely good grasp on their craft.
Recommend if you're curious about the subject; the book certainly doesn't hurt to read and the thirty minutes I spent zipping through I don't regret at all. I'll be trying to learn more!
February 25, 2023
I received an ARC of this graphic novel and from the moment I sat down to read it, I was hooked. This a graphic novel memoir that tells the true story of the author’s experience as a child in a little known cult around the time of the Heaven’s Gate cult. Besides telling a compelling and emotional story, it’s topical to our times where book censorship and banning has seen a significant increase. It’s equal parts heartbreaking and enthralling. I did feel like the ending was rushed, but otherwise a great read.
October 10, 2023
4.5 stars
You don't often hear about cults from a child's perspective, so this was a really interesting read. Little Amy really broke my heart a few times throughout this.
I only knocked down the rating a little bit because the ending felt a little abrupt.
You don't often hear about cults from a child's perspective, so this was a really interesting read. Little Amy really broke my heart a few times throughout this.
I only knocked down the rating a little bit because the ending felt a little abrupt.
April 1, 2023
Highly recommended. Through the eyes of a young girl whose sick mother is drawn into a doomsday cult, authors Ryan Estrada and Amy Rose expose the manipulation that creates obedient followers from seemingly rational but desperate people. We need more books like Occulted that recognize the realities of abuse, neglect, and outright hatred children can experience from family and religious communities, particularly at a time when children’s intellectual freedom is under constant attack. We cannot prepare children for hardships or danger by not acknowledging their existence or telling comforting lies.
Jeongmin Lee’s wonderful illustrations capture the intense, complex emotions of the young girl’s relationship to the cult leader. We see why Amy believed that the leader could read her thoughts, how quickly the leader could drop their façade of enlightenment when potential marks were out of earshot, and how Amy’s spirit of defiance kept burning despite may attempts to snuff it out.
Thank you to Iron Circus Comics and Netgalley for providing a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Jeongmin Lee’s wonderful illustrations capture the intense, complex emotions of the young girl’s relationship to the cult leader. We see why Amy believed that the leader could read her thoughts, how quickly the leader could drop their façade of enlightenment when potential marks were out of earshot, and how Amy’s spirit of defiance kept burning despite may attempts to snuff it out.
Thank you to Iron Circus Comics and Netgalley for providing a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.
September 9, 2023
As someone who has always been fascinated with the inner workings of cults but struggles with reading non-fiction, this book was everything I needed.
The graphics allowed me to see/feel the narrator's story and emotions as a child raised within a cult. Who had enough self-awareness to recognize that things were off and the leader's manipulative and abusive behavior was not normal.
I will be going down a rabbit hole to learn more.
Video Review >>>> https://www.tiktok.com/@plus.size.bib...
The graphics allowed me to see/feel the narrator's story and emotions as a child raised within a cult. Who had enough self-awareness to recognize that things were off and the leader's manipulative and abusive behavior was not normal.
I will be going down a rabbit hole to learn more.
Video Review >>>> https://www.tiktok.com/@plus.size.bib...
December 22, 2023
I would have loved more in general. More about how the author recovered from their time in the group, what happened to the cult, etc. but I still enjoyed it.
June 21, 2025
Well, this was not quite what I wanted it to be. There were not quite enough details, the timeline was unclear, and so many questions are left! But fascinating subject.
August 19, 2024
This was good, but it ended abruptly so I was left with a lot of questions.
March 29, 2023
A graphic memoir of Heaven's Gate. I remember it happening so this was a powerful read. I liked following a kid's perspective. I didn't really think about there being kids attached to the cult. Very well written.
5 stars
5 stars
February 27, 2023
3.5. A great viewpoint of how cults work to ostracize and belittle from the eyes of a child.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 19, 2023
75%
This was a very interesting insight into how cults can affect children growing up in them - and how cults control people in general. As fascinating as this perspective was, I am left with so many unanswered questions: why didn't her father take her with him when he left the cult? why didn't the aunt take the younger kids when she took the older one? did no one ever come looking for Amy and try to get her away from the hellhole? why didn't her semi-foster parents fight for her? did her mother ever get out? did she ever reconnect with her sisters? what was it like rejoining her father after so many years? have there been long-term effects of the cult on her? is the cult still around?
Some sort of afterword answering these kinds of questions would bump this up to 4 stars for me.
~Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.~
This was a very interesting insight into how cults can affect children growing up in them - and how cults control people in general. As fascinating as this perspective was, I am left with so many unanswered questions: why didn't her father take her with him when he left the cult? why didn't the aunt take the younger kids when she took the older one? did no one ever come looking for Amy and try to get her away from the hellhole? why didn't her semi-foster parents fight for her? did her mother ever get out? did she ever reconnect with her sisters? what was it like rejoining her father after so many years? have there been long-term effects of the cult on her? is the cult still around?
Some sort of afterword answering these kinds of questions would bump this up to 4 stars for me.
~Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.~
February 11, 2023
A really good graphic novel showcasing what it can be like growing up in and around a cult. As an outsider viewing this tale it's so hard to watch Amy go through and thankful that she came out the other side. I appreciate Amy Rose's ability to write their story down and share with the world.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.
February 6, 2023
Very heart felt and interesting.
I'm glad I stumbled across this digital arc on Edelweiss.
I thuroughly enjoyed it.
I'm glad I stumbled across this digital arc on Edelweiss.
I thuroughly enjoyed it.
August 26, 2023
WTF did I just read?
April 2, 2023
A fine and valuable addition to the small shelf of ten-and-up-friendly graphic novel memoirs, this shows a cult survivor suffering the pressurised environment of the temple concerned. Once part of a nuclear family of five, now it's just Amy and her mother still living with the cult, despite all the warning signs – chain smoking, coercive behaviour, yoga lessons to trap newcomers, pronoun mangling… The harridan at the heart of the cult can never decide what to do with Amy, keep here there or pack her off somewhere else, but all we know is that the sole good room in the place is full of one thing that might finally help Amy – books.
Yes, the blurb kind of goes heavily on this being about the redemptive powers of reading and book learning, but while I welcomed that moral I was just as fascinated in the life of the cult, the austere white world they tried to live in before enlightenment was to be found. They're not named specifically, but one key beat is early on when the Heaven's Gate lot top themselves, and we're told they were almost neighbours. They seem to have a similar sky-bound focus, fascinated with aliens, and of course the ability to cure any illness, even over the phone – for a cost.
Rich on this kind of detail, then, and yet still perfectly readable for school pupils anywhere, this is clearly helped by being co-written by the real world Amy, portraying her stumbling naivety as she goes about the soulless temple in very revealing fashion. Probably the only flaws here are in the crossed purposes and dithering of said harridan, making this a bit too vague about what she really wanted from and/or intended for Amy. Call it the harridan's stumbling naivety as well, then, but either way call this a success – for being potentially such a unique volume, this feels like four and a half stars from me.
Yes, the blurb kind of goes heavily on this being about the redemptive powers of reading and book learning, but while I welcomed that moral I was just as fascinated in the life of the cult, the austere white world they tried to live in before enlightenment was to be found. They're not named specifically, but one key beat is early on when the Heaven's Gate lot top themselves, and we're told they were almost neighbours. They seem to have a similar sky-bound focus, fascinated with aliens, and of course the ability to cure any illness, even over the phone – for a cost.
Rich on this kind of detail, then, and yet still perfectly readable for school pupils anywhere, this is clearly helped by being co-written by the real world Amy, portraying her stumbling naivety as she goes about the soulless temple in very revealing fashion. Probably the only flaws here are in the crossed purposes and dithering of said harridan, making this a bit too vague about what she really wanted from and/or intended for Amy. Call it the harridan's stumbling naivety as well, then, but either way call this a success – for being potentially such a unique volume, this feels like four and a half stars from me.
July 25, 2023
Recommended yep!
For an unsettling but fascinating look at a child's experience growing up in a cult, for a follow along as she discovers the things she thought were true are being turned upside down (Where are Gandhi's muscles??
Thoughts:
This isn't exactly an easy read because there is so much pain in the story, but it also balances with a few moments of love and humor. A graphic novel worked really well for this story though, as the manipulation of the leaders and members comes through with the body language and facial expressions. It allows for a level of nuance that kept me creepily engaged with studying ever panel and feeling very unsettled about the insidiousness I just had to watch happen.
The art works perfectly for this. It was in a relatively simple style that was without clutter and felt reflective of Amy's mindset and the overall perspective of a child. It was also really easy to actually understand what was going on, which isn't always the case with graphic novels, so that's appreciated.
The story is (inevitably, by subject matter) creepy and super sad and depressing and well conveys the fear and confusion and bravery and feeling of being trapped she has. The level of manipulation is wild and freaky, and even just reading this was tough because I felt so helpless to change anything when I saw it all happening.
The ending is a bit abrupt, with Amy moving from child to adult in a few pages and giving a brief update about where she is in life now. It was appreciated to get that bit of resolution and look to the future, but it was also done in just a few pages and jarred me a bit to have such a large gap of time.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Iron Circus Comics for a free advanced copy. This is my honest review!
~See more reviews and book talk at MyBookJoy.com!~
For an unsettling but fascinating look at a child's experience growing up in a cult, for a follow along as she discovers the things she thought were true are being turned upside down (Where are Gandhi's muscles??
Thoughts:
This isn't exactly an easy read because there is so much pain in the story, but it also balances with a few moments of love and humor. A graphic novel worked really well for this story though, as the manipulation of the leaders and members comes through with the body language and facial expressions. It allows for a level of nuance that kept me creepily engaged with studying ever panel and feeling very unsettled about the insidiousness I just had to watch happen.
The art works perfectly for this. It was in a relatively simple style that was without clutter and felt reflective of Amy's mindset and the overall perspective of a child. It was also really easy to actually understand what was going on, which isn't always the case with graphic novels, so that's appreciated.
The story is (inevitably, by subject matter) creepy and super sad and depressing and well conveys the fear and confusion and bravery and feeling of being trapped she has. The level of manipulation is wild and freaky, and even just reading this was tough because I felt so helpless to change anything when I saw it all happening.
The ending is a bit abrupt, with Amy moving from child to adult in a few pages and giving a brief update about where she is in life now. It was appreciated to get that bit of resolution and look to the future, but it was also done in just a few pages and jarred me a bit to have such a large gap of time.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Iron Circus Comics for a free advanced copy. This is my honest review!
~See more reviews and book talk at MyBookJoy.com!~
December 28, 2023
Short but very effective graphic memoir of a kid growing up in a doomsday/enlightenment cult in California in the late 1990s, not allowed to leave the compound or even go to school (why bother? the world's ending soon anyway!), and how sneaking forbidden books helped her figure out that the manipulative leader - who loathes children, despite their lovey-dovey hippie facade - was wrong and abusive (and also that Ghandi was not a sexy alien).
Neat, simple art style.
Gives a good overview of how cult leaders (and abusers in general) attract, manipulate, and isolate vulnerable people, including how they can convince seemingly reasonable people to believe outlandish nonsense, how kids can be trapped in such situations, and how important books can be to recognize when people are trying to control you and help you fight back.
It wraps up on a positive note, but I wish there had been an afterword telling what happened to her mother and the cult!
Suitable for teens and up; younger kids might not be able to understand the whole cult thing, or may find the child mental abuse and effective abandonment too distressing.
Content/trigger warnings: no sexual abuse or molestation, but plenty of emotional abuse, manipulative behaviour, brainwashing, and deliberate social isolation (almost shunning) of a child; no alcohol or drugs; exploitation of gravely ill people with promises of faith-healing; spiritual extremism and appropriation of Buddhist religious imagery for cult purposes
Neat, simple art style.
Gives a good overview of how cult leaders (and abusers in general) attract, manipulate, and isolate vulnerable people, including how they can convince seemingly reasonable people to believe outlandish nonsense, how kids can be trapped in such situations, and how important books can be to recognize when people are trying to control you and help you fight back.
It wraps up on a positive note, but I wish there had been an afterword telling what happened to her mother and the cult!
Suitable for teens and up; younger kids might not be able to understand the whole cult thing, or may find the child mental abuse and effective abandonment too distressing.
Content/trigger warnings: no sexual abuse or molestation, but plenty of emotional abuse, manipulative behaviour, brainwashing, and deliberate social isolation (almost shunning) of a child; no alcohol or drugs; exploitation of gravely ill people with promises of faith-healing; spiritual extremism and appropriation of Buddhist religious imagery for cult purposes
June 6, 2023
Thank you to NetGalley, Iron Circus Comics, and Letter Better Publishing Services for access to an eARC of Occulted by Amy Rose and Ryan Estrada in exchange for an honest review.
CW: verbal and emotional abuse, isolation, cult, suicide, suicidal ideation, depression, chronic illness, abandonment, check full list on StoryGraph.
As a 3 year old, Amy Rose and her parents arrived at The Temple, seeking the promise of healing for her mother's chronic illness. For years, Amy was forcibly separated from her parents and deemed worthless by the cult's charismatic and manipulative leader. Amy eventually finds books and knowledge to be a comfort to her. As she begins to read more, she learns things that make her question what the truth really is. In the end, she learns to stand up for herself and leave the cult, eventually attending a traditional high school and going on to college where she becomes a researcher in the field of astronomy.
This was a fascinating graphic memoir. I found it quite engaging to see a cult with the eyes of a child as narrator. The reader goes on a journey with Amy as she begins to question and learn what feels true and authentic to her. Amy's resilience in the face of trauma and her bravery as a child standing up to the authority shines through the pages of this memoir.
CW: verbal and emotional abuse, isolation, cult, suicide, suicidal ideation, depression, chronic illness, abandonment, check full list on StoryGraph.
As a 3 year old, Amy Rose and her parents arrived at The Temple, seeking the promise of healing for her mother's chronic illness. For years, Amy was forcibly separated from her parents and deemed worthless by the cult's charismatic and manipulative leader. Amy eventually finds books and knowledge to be a comfort to her. As she begins to read more, she learns things that make her question what the truth really is. In the end, she learns to stand up for herself and leave the cult, eventually attending a traditional high school and going on to college where she becomes a researcher in the field of astronomy.
This was a fascinating graphic memoir. I found it quite engaging to see a cult with the eyes of a child as narrator. The reader goes on a journey with Amy as she begins to question and learn what feels true and authentic to her. Amy's resilience in the face of trauma and her bravery as a child standing up to the authority shines through the pages of this memoir.
December 15, 2023
This is a true story happening in 1997 where young Amy Rose senses that something is off about her community. She’s forbidden from going to school or even going outside and is forbidden access to books. The leader of the group says there’s no use knowing anything about a world that’s about to end. When the Hale-Bopp comet soars across the sky for the first time in over 4,000 years, Amy thinks it’s a good omen signaling the start of an amazing new future. Instead, it brings news of a horrible tragedy at a similar compound just down the road called Heaven’s Gate where 39 followers all committed suicide thinking the comet brought closure, Televised news reports leak into the temple and Amy hears a new word that suddenly explains everything: cult.
Now, she must risk everything to indulge in secret trips to an abandoned off-limits library to learn what she was never meant to know: that Gandhi was not a space alien, that Star Trek wasn’t real, that her community was built on a lie, and most importantly, that banned books can give her everything she needs to escape.
Occulted is a shocking graphic memoir about the power of literary freedom. Survivor Amy Rose, shares this haunting, inspiring tale of bravery and rebellion, about how to recognize those who try to control you, and how to fight back.
I only wish the book was more detailed. It shocked and fascinated me.
Now, she must risk everything to indulge in secret trips to an abandoned off-limits library to learn what she was never meant to know: that Gandhi was not a space alien, that Star Trek wasn’t real, that her community was built on a lie, and most importantly, that banned books can give her everything she needs to escape.
Occulted is a shocking graphic memoir about the power of literary freedom. Survivor Amy Rose, shares this haunting, inspiring tale of bravery and rebellion, about how to recognize those who try to control you, and how to fight back.
I only wish the book was more detailed. It shocked and fascinated me.
February 20, 2023
I went into this one completely blind, only knowing it’s a graphic novel and obviously had something to do with the occult. It turned out to be a graphic novel memoir of a cult survivor! 😱
I flew through it in one sitting, it was emotional and heart-breaking, but also very enlightening. Its key demographic is middle grade and I really think this book should make its way to school libraries.
It tells the story of a girl who survived being in a cult between the age 3 to 12, but also shows in a very accessible manner the ways in which the cult leaders will lure and condition their victims. It was extremely educational, but you also wholeheartedly rooted for the little girl (the author) who was stuck in a horrendous environment. How unnatural her life was is shown in a little scene where she starts going to a regular school outside the cult for the first time and thinks: “I hope they bully me like on tv.” Imagine the nightmare you must live in, if school bullying seems like a desired escape from it 😢.
The artwork could perhaps have been more sophisticated, but even though it’s black and white with a relatively simple linework, it’s still quite evocative of the emotions of the characters 😍.
I’m glad to have read this one, and I do hope it reaches many readers.
I flew through it in one sitting, it was emotional and heart-breaking, but also very enlightening. Its key demographic is middle grade and I really think this book should make its way to school libraries.
It tells the story of a girl who survived being in a cult between the age 3 to 12, but also shows in a very accessible manner the ways in which the cult leaders will lure and condition their victims. It was extremely educational, but you also wholeheartedly rooted for the little girl (the author) who was stuck in a horrendous environment. How unnatural her life was is shown in a little scene where she starts going to a regular school outside the cult for the first time and thinks: “I hope they bully me like on tv.” Imagine the nightmare you must live in, if school bullying seems like a desired escape from it 😢.
The artwork could perhaps have been more sophisticated, but even though it’s black and white with a relatively simple linework, it’s still quite evocative of the emotions of the characters 😍.
I’m glad to have read this one, and I do hope it reaches many readers.
August 18, 2023
This was fine. The art felt kinda wonky and the adults besides her mom and The Leader were difficult to tell apart. This could have been intentional to convey the ways that the author was treated, but it didn't feel like a choice. Also the art is clearly trying to imitate a style of Manga art and, for a book set in the US with no connection to that culture feels :/.
People's lives don't necessarily have narrative arcs, but when writing a memoir certain elements of narrative are necessary, as least for a good one. This felt disjointed, and I wish we had seen certain elements resolved, or at least addressed at the end.
Maybe I am just picky about cult stories because they are an area of fascination with me. I have no doubt that the author's experiences were horrible, and whatever she is willing to share with the public is up to her, but the end result was not a good communication of those experiences.
Additionally, I have seen people on here say that this was a story from the Heavens Gate cult, which is not true. There were no children in that group, yoga was not a recruitment strategy with them, and the author states that the group in this book was a similar group that lived nearby.
People's lives don't necessarily have narrative arcs, but when writing a memoir certain elements of narrative are necessary, as least for a good one. This felt disjointed, and I wish we had seen certain elements resolved, or at least addressed at the end.
Maybe I am just picky about cult stories because they are an area of fascination with me. I have no doubt that the author's experiences were horrible, and whatever she is willing to share with the public is up to her, but the end result was not a good communication of those experiences.
Additionally, I have seen people on here say that this was a story from the Heavens Gate cult, which is not true. There were no children in that group, yoga was not a recruitment strategy with them, and the author states that the group in this book was a similar group that lived nearby.
August 23, 2024
I actually found this really interesting and the best representation & look into the manipulating truth of cults and their effect on children. I like that it touched on the negative effects on the child but ended happy showing that recovery and getting out is possible. It gave me sight into the experience and mindset inside cults that no text, video or documentary has given me before.
Oh also, as far as the actual nitty gritty of the story, I have never been SO ANNOYED at a character, novel or graphic novel, as the Temple Leader, oml! The manipulation is REAL and showed easily in her dialogue which made me enjoy the book even more because usually I don't get that with graphic novels especially teen ones.
The structure. I thought the art and amount of dialogue made the experience of reading quick but comprehensible and fun while being weirded out but amused by the topics and new perspective. Sometimes I have an issue with b&w graphic novels but I honestly didn't even realize until the end looking back that it was in that. The experience within the story brought enough color I guess! Which is always cool.
Oh also, as far as the actual nitty gritty of the story, I have never been SO ANNOYED at a character, novel or graphic novel, as the Temple Leader, oml! The manipulation is REAL and showed easily in her dialogue which made me enjoy the book even more because usually I don't get that with graphic novels especially teen ones.
The structure. I thought the art and amount of dialogue made the experience of reading quick but comprehensible and fun while being weirded out but amused by the topics and new perspective. Sometimes I have an issue with b&w graphic novels but I honestly didn't even realize until the end looking back that it was in that. The experience within the story brought enough color I guess! Which is always cool.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews