3.75 // Starting off, this is certainly a unique and interesting story. It takes place in the early 1900s; a mother and two children are called to a remote island by her husband who has been there for several years under the guise of work. Clara (mother) appears to have some psychic abilities, though the extent of them wasn’t very fleshed out.

“The child had reached the age when the spirit world opened to her”

They arrive on the island and later realize that nothing they had heard about the island was true. As you can tell from the title, the island is home to a small cult that relies on medicinal herbs from the indigenous islanders. The bulk of the story details her and her children’s experiences in the cult and her fading trust in her husband and peers.

I found the beginning to be quite slow but the last half went by so quickly, I got through it in one read. The book takes on several perspectives, most commonly Clara and her daughter. I struggled initially with the shifting perspectives as I couldn’t tell whether Clara and Elsie’s chapters were occurring simultaneously or chronologically. It became more clear as the book went on.

I liked the pace of the book and it definitely could have been drawn out more as there were so many details and potential plot points to draw from. But I appreciated the brevity. At times the conversations between characters felt dull, probably accurate for the 1900s, but not the best reading. We could grasp some aspects of the cult including the hierarchy, mechanism of control, punishments, etc. I think it could have been fleshed out a little more, like what brought these people here; why hasn’t anyone tried to leave, what happens if they leave etc. The book alludes to various practices like sedation, abuse, starvation, and “physical degradation.” Later on there are references to blood letting which I didn’t fully understand until quite literally the very end. Basically this cult isn’t supposed to be conniving, they’re all just dumb, high, lunatics who think they’ve figured out the secrets to life. I think ward’s motives weren’t entirely clear either. Like obviously his main goal was clear and he was a nasty evil dude. I just assumed he wanted all of those members for their money, but there could have been another underlying psychological reason.

The ending was very action-packed and had me really feeling for the characters, where in the beginning I found them cold and not relatable. The very end of the book felt a little too easy, but it felt satisfying. I don’t like when books try to wrap up all the loose ends - it just makes the end long and too idealistic. The ending was at the right point and vague enough that it wasn’t overdoing it. I liked that we saw the final scene from the main characters point of view; they had one singular goal and the rest of the “loose ends” didn’t matter to them or the reader.

I could definitely see this being a horror-ish movie, maybe like a Jordan peele style. Overall I think the story was great but I felt that I didn’t understand the characters as well as I should have.

I was given an advanced reader’s copy for review.