Thank you to @Abby13Richards and @HarperCollinsUK for this advanced copy of The Cult in return for an honest review.

Description 🔖

In the middle of the English countryside, a man going by the name of Uncle Saviour starts a community that is supposed to promote purity, peace and a harmonious way of living. What started off as a paradise and place of love soon turned into living hell.

Thirty years later, two children have gone missing and have left very little trail behind them. Their parents are falling apart and the police are at a loss. The only clue that DI Ottoline has is a mask that was left in the woods. Could looking back at events that took place thirty years ago give them the leads that they need?

General Thoughts 🤔

It’s pretty clear from the title what this book is about and I was prepared for that but I wasn’t as prepared for just how dark it was going to get. I have a bit of a thing for cults, I find them so fascinating. Most of the time I get interested in the concept of everyone falling for some weird theory and becoming completely engrossed in that theory. What this book added was that the “community” started with what seemed like good intentions. I wasn’t quite able to pinpoint when it all went south, but it definitely did. It was at that point in the book that I continued to read with a “wtf” face and the tension was turned up.

As enthralled as I was with the cult aspect of this story, I was still interested in the children that went missing in the present day and for some reason, I don’t feel like as much attention was given to this side of the storyline. I wanted to feel immense empathy for the parents and be holding back my own tears as they searched for their kids, but I felt a little bit disconnected from them for some reason. I’d be really interested to know how other people got on with these chapters of the book.

Characters 👭👬👫

There were quite a few characters to keep up with in this story. What I found difficult to begin with was that a lot of the characters had very unusual names so I struggled to keep on track with who was who. I got over this pretty quickly though and got to grips with it.

I liked Pearline as an investigating officer. I thought that she was very human which isn’t something that I feel from a lot of characters like her in thrillers. A lot of them are written to seem invincible and almost a bit robotic but I felt the emotion from Pearline and felt her fears for the children. However when it came to the investigation and in front of everyone that mattered, she was straight down the line and all about business.

Love was a complex character and a woman who needed help. She’d been with the community since she was a small child; she didn’t know any different. She was so conditioned that even her own mother who took her there couldn’t change her mind. I felt sorry for her for some of the book but there was a point when that definitely changed.

Writing Style ✍️

I loved that the book was written via two different timelines. This is one of my favourite structures and I think that Abby Davies did it well. I was clear about which timeline I was reading and didn’t ever feel confused; trust me I have read some books that have done this really badly.

I think that there was a huge amount of tension in the writing and the pacing of the book was matched perfectly to that. I wasn’t surprised about how the two timelines came together but I wasn’t mad about that. The two stories were chilling enough on their own, I didn’t need another big surprise.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖️

I really enjoyed reading this book. I feel like it’s been a while since I read something that truly made me feel sick (unless I’ve erased it from my memory) so this felt particularly creepy. I see that Abby Davies has a book that she wrote before this one and I will definitely be adding that to my TBR list. If you’re going to read this book, be prepared to want to binge the whole thing.

This book has everything I look for in a book, creepy vibes, good characters and crime investigation.

The perspective of a cult member who was all in was really interesting and the way the characters are written in relation to the missing children is brilliant and really allows you to understand them.

Religious cults have been the subject matter of many works of fiction, the idea of secretive communes pursuing rapture and eternal life fascinating writers and inspiring endless speculations and fears, curiosity, suspicions, even envy and loathing.
In "The Cult" Abby Davies takes an interesting perspective of looking at the interaction between the world at large and the small but fierce world of a spiritual sect seeking immortality through the blood of the pure and innocent who need to be "resourced" from the outside.
Two young children are induced out of their home in the middle of the night and, after having witnessed a violent attack, disappear in the woods. The reader senses that there is more to their disappearance than the two mobster wanting to silence them. As the search for the children gets under way, a story of another child, called Love, is told. We follow Love's story from the time she is about ten through to adulthood. Love isn't an ordinary child - she is the product of a cult led by the charismatic, and controlling, Uncle Saviour. Love worships him and her unconditional belief in him shapes her into someone even more deluded and coercive than him.
There are three distinctive narratives within this story: that of Love, Lilly (the children's mother) and DI Pearline Ottoline (the detective in charge of the investigation). The three narratives come together in the final denouement. I found Love's tale the most compelling but not the easiest to digest. Unlike in other cult fiction, such as "After the Fire", there does not seem to be any room for redemption; the years of brainwash leaving Love bereft of sense of reality and empathy. A thought provoking read.

A cracking good story from an author that is new to me. Looking forward to reading more from her.

The tension build is so well executed and had me gripped from the first page to the last.

One of those 'just one more chapter' books that keeps you up past bedtime.

Highly recommend

Ever since I read Will Hill's book 'after the fire' a few years ago I have been fascinated by the idea of these type of cults. I adored Hill's book! So when I saw this book, I was hoping to having a similar reading experience. I was hoping I would enjoy this book just as much.
However, I just couldn't get into this book.
I really disliked the characters and the whole thing just felt farcical and stereotypical. Like a tick box of all the things we hear about with these sorts of real life cults - nothing new - nothing especially interesting. Nothing new to say.
Just couldn't connect to this book at all! Maybe I was just too hopeful for this book being like 'after the fire' - something this book just couldn't live up to. I didn't enjoy this at all. Not for me!

I loved ‘mother loves me’ which was the authors debut novel. I loved this too! I loved the cult reference and the storyline surrounding this. It was also a book where each chapter was written from a different character perspective and also different timelines sometimes which is something else I really enjoy. The chapters were short which I think makes for quicker reading. Once I began reading this book I could not put it down and I recommend to all thriller lovers!

Right from the start of this I was gripped.
It's told in a dual timeline and from multiple points of view which I love, and I really enjoyed trying to work out how the two parts came together! It's a dark, disturbing and well written book that keeps you turning the pages.
For me I prefer a bit of a faster paced book, and this was definitely a slow burn but one I enjoyed
A solid 3.5 ⭐

I had the highest of hopes for this read but unfortunately, it fell a little flat.

Like everyone, I was enamoured with Mother Loves Me. To not compare how the books felt would be hard, especially when I gave the first 5 stars and this only 3.

I loved the premise; cults, multiple perspectives, different timeframes - all my favourite things. I only wish I had realised this was a detective story. I’ve read so many police books that I just don’t really enjoy them at all anymore.

This was just not the one for me. I don’t know if I would even highly recommend it as there’s just no spark to give it an edge over any other work.

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

This book was an uncomfortable all the way through. I did not expect such brutality and gore. The timelines and perspectives were confusing. It was too dark a read for me.

I would like to thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for giving me this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This story is very dark indeed and quite unsettling. I did not exactly 'enjoy' reading this book but it was interesting to say the least and although not my kind of book at all I can see it appealing to many others. Therefore I cannot really recommend this tale from personal choice but if you love the macabre in your reading matter this may be for you.

I think there's a morbid fascination with cults and serial killer. When I read the first pages I thought "This is a serial killer in the making" and was really exciting and prepared for a very twisty story.
I can't say there's no twist but the story is a bit confusing, the voices of the different POVs disjointed and I wasn't a fan of the characters, except Lily who's interesting.
I struggled a bit but my expectations were not met.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

My thanks to HarperCollins U.K. for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Cult’ by Abby Davies in exchange for an honest review.

The plot combines an account of a creepy 1980s cult, present day abducted children and a driven DI determined to find them. It sounded very much my cup of tea yet didn’t quite work for me.

I don’t want to head into spoiler territory though felt that while it was an engaging read that the constant movement between the different points of view felt jarring.

The flashback chapters featuring Love were quite disturbing. They begin in 1987 as six-year-old Zoe, renamed Love by her Uncle Saviour, gives an account of the development of the cult through to 2012.

In the present day the behaviour of the children’s mother, Lily, who was running about trying to solve the case on her own drove me to distraction. I would have preferred more focus on DI Pearline Ottoline given her key role as head of the investigation. She certainly had her hands full dealing with the erratic Lily.

So, an okay crime novel with a seriously twisted cult at its heart.

Woah… I can’t quite get my head around what I just read. This has to be one of the most suspenseful books I’ve read this year. It gripped me from the very beginning where we seem to go back in time to what seemed to be a family starting a ‘cult’ and having their own opinions and beliefs.

It did take me a while to take a guess as to who could be responsible for the kidnapping of Hannah and Greg but at the end of part 2, I pretty much guessed who it could be.

I thought it was intense in places, the twists and turns kept me on my toes. I felt my brain and eyes couldn’t keep up with how fast I felt I needed to read - it was a rollercoaster.

This was my first book of Abby Davies and it certainly will not be my last. I am asking for Mother Loves Me for Christmas because I’ve heard such great reviews.

If you are a fan of Mother Loves Me then The Cult will surpass your expectations, it was truly thrilling and gripping. 2 sittings and the book was done. I stayed up to 4am after finishing a backshift to get to the end of Part 2 and downed Part 3 in work tonight.

I wasn't sure what to expect from The Cult but the description intrigued me so I thought I would give it a go, Unfortunately it did not work for me. The story jumped about making it hard for me to follow and it just did not live up to my expectations from the description.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

I enjoyed this book, even though The cult itself are involved with vampirism, which I found unrealistic, I enjoyed the characterisation, finding the main characters and their different points of view interesting. Good descriptions of life within a cult.

The story of the cult is told from Love’s point of view, set in the 1980s and run by uncle saviour, Love’s uncle with Love’s mother and sister being the only people who see him for what he really is. It’s a particularly nasty cult, involved in child kidnapping, in the search for eternal life. DI Pearline Ottoline is the detective in charge of the case, during the present day, of the kidnapping of two children who go missing after witnessing an assault in the street, after being lured out late one night. I liked the ending, no surprises but tied up nicely.

A book that leads the reader everywhere. Brainwashing, vampirism, kidnap, murder. To what lengths will people go to reach Total Illumination? What deep dark secrets live in the woods, what lies hidden in the well?

REVIEW
I’ve just finishedThe Cult, the 2nd novel by @abbydaviesauthor
I absolutely loved her debut Mother Loves Me and this didn’t disappoint!

I won’t give too much away as the book is released 28th October. It’s a gripping thriller which grabs you right until the end!

There are various trigger warnings such as kidnapping, violence towards children, threat etc. Some of the descriptions were a bit unsavoury for me, but that’s just a personal thing.

Abby’s writing is so accomplished and she certainly knows how to write a great book. I was very satisfied with the ending as I didn’t expect it!

Another great book, go and buy it! 📕 📚
Thanks to @netgalley and @harpercollinsuk for the ARC

The Cult is a dark and disturbing thriller by the Author of one of my favourite books ‘Mother Loves Me’.

I really liked the Eternal Life Community/ ‘The Cult’. The Vampirism was a great detail along with the Ceremonies, Masks and the Scythe! I got real Riverdale Season 3 ‘The Farm’ vibes - so I definitely pictured Uncle Saviour as Chad Michael Murray. I would have loved to have read more about The Cult and the daily goings on - maybe I also have a very dark mind 🙈

I wasn’t a fan of Lily, I understand why she was doing what she did and I felt
terribly sorry for her, but I felt that her Character was over established and I didn’t think it was needed (in my opinion).

Overall I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend to others to read!

I really enjoyed this book. It is split between the past and the present and both plots are so interesting, you just want to keep reading to find out what will happen next. A couple of times I didn’t think the characters reactions were totally believable, and I don’t think having the parts about Pearline added much to the story, but they didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the book. I definitely recommend this, thank you #net galley

Two children go missing having left the house in the night. The action moves between past and present and between the timelines and emotions of a circle of protagonists . I found it hard to have much sympathy for any of the characters and didn’t really feel involved. Not one for me I’m afraid though I’ve seen very positive reviews from others.