I decided to read The Cult Called Freedom House for the Ladies of Horror Fiction #LadiesFirst20 Challenge, which I mentioned here previously. And I’m glad I did!
If you weren’t aware, the challenge was just to make your first read of the year a horror novel written by a woman (because really, all the big names in horror are men excepting Mary Shelley, who wrote ONE, and I think it’s high time that changed).
Anyway, onto the…ahem…meat of the post:
Edition:
Kindle e-book
Synopsis:
[I removed the first block of the provided synopsis since it contained a massive spoiler that I wish hadn’t been there. And I don’t really understand why it was. So I’m choosing to save you from it.]
Samantha was only fourteen and looking for what every fourteen-year-old looks for – freedom. She wanted to be as far away from her substance-riddled mother and abusive home as possible, but she never asked for anything like this. It always starts with just one person and one fucked up idea. This is the story about Samantha and the cult called Freedom House.
A psychological horror thriller, this book will frustrate you, scare you, disturb you, and at times, it will make you want to be ill. Are you ready to learn what’s going on behind the doors of Freedom House?
My Thoughts:
The Cult Called Freedom House is not a long book by any stretch. It was a really quick read, and a great choice for my first book of the year. Not only because it was quick (hey, I have those 2 others that I stopped in the interest of focusing on this one – I have to think of Net Galley. Won’t somebody think of Net Galley?!) but also because it was pretty damned good.
It deals with the disappearance of a teenage girl who turns up with a local, previously unbeknownst to law enforcement cult. It deals with how she ended up there, the cult’s background, and the officers tasked with finding her and bringing her home.
All our problems need to go to the Red Room.
This story checked a lot of boxes for me – cults, cannibalism, and a pretty fucking unhappy ending. I also appreciate that although it ended on a cliffhanger, it wasn’t one of those endings that makes you angry – at least that happens to me sometimes. Yeah, this one didn’t do that at all. Like I said, it’s definitely a cliffhanger, but it’s an inoffensive one. She’s not trying to strong-arm you into buying subsequent books. You could just read this one and live your life completely free of regrets if you so chose.
There were definitely some things that could have used improvement – like some clunky writing, or some inconsistency in the dialogue, but overall the story was both fun and terrifying. Also this is Evelyn’s first book, so for all of those reasons, I am more than able to give a pass for the little inconsistencies.
I think that Evelyn has the makings of a really great horror writer. She definitely has pacing and tension building down. She builds a believable world, and none of her characters felt overly tropey. And she most definitely has a knack for cohesively weaving together multiple narratives which is a pretty difficult thing to do as seamlessly as she does. I think I’m going to stick with her through another Sophia Rey book and see how she improves upon this first entry.
Rating:
The one thing that really kept me from rating higher was that there was a rather important reveal spoiled right in the opening chapter, which kind of ruined the fun for me. But only kind of. Everything in between reading the opening spoiler and reaching the end to discover that it was a spoiler was great.
Although I’m also left wondering how the music turned itself on in the room at Boulder Creek, and why that was deemed unimportant. Seems potentially important, doesn’t it?
The Cult Called Freedom House Sophia Rey Book 1 Stephanie Evelyn Amazon Media Horror, Thriller ASIN: B081GJ9QTF Published November 13, 2019 E-book, Paperback 165 pages https://www.iamsterp.com/
