ICSA TODAY 26
Book Review
The Family
By Marissa Kennerson
Full Fathom Five Digital (fullfathomfive.com). 2014.
ISBN-10: 1633700178 ISBN-13: 978-1633700178 320
(paperback). $3.99 (Amazon Kindle, amazon.com) $6.99
(digital, http://store.fullfathomfive.com/?product=the-
family).
Review by Ashley Allen
A young-adult novel, The Family explores the world of a
17-year-old girl raised in a cult. It takes a certain level of skill
to craft a story of a child’s experience in a cult and retain
the complexity of that experience. It is easy to create a
sensationalized story where the world inside the cult is evil
and the world outside is good. But Kennerson presents Twig
and her world in such a way that readers can relate to her
struggles and are invested in her search for understanding.
Kennerson expertly avoids the trap of developing characters
and worlds that we either love or hate. Instead, she builds
relationships that are filled with a variety of emotions and
conflicts, some of which are resolved and some of which are
not.
The story centers on Twig, who has been raised in an isolated
community in the jungles of Costa Rica. Twig is introduced as
a fairly typical teenager. She questions some aspects of life
within the cult, but in general feels happy, safe, and secure.
However, once the group’s leader, Adam, announces that Twig
will be his new wife, her life as she has known it begins to
unravel. Through a series of events, she begins to have limited
contact with the outside world. The resulting story is both one
of a girl questioning the very foundation of the only life she
has ever known, and a love story with a boy she meets outside
of the group.
The author developed the internal world of the cult in such a
way that the reader understands Twig’s world as “normal.” Twig
and the group have a structure, daily routine, recreation, and
relationships with each other. Twig finds value in the idea of
the needs of the collective over the needs of the individual. It
is only gradually that Kennerson first unveils the cost of this
idealistic society and eventually unravels the true purpose of
the group.
The Family explores the
world of a 17-year-old girl
raised in a cult.
Book Review
The Family
By Marissa Kennerson
Full Fathom Five Digital (fullfathomfive.com). 2014.
ISBN-10: 1633700178 ISBN-13: 978-1633700178 320
(paperback). $3.99 (Amazon Kindle, amazon.com) $6.99
(digital, http://store.fullfathomfive.com/?product=the-
family).
Review by Ashley Allen
A young-adult novel, The Family explores the world of a
17-year-old girl raised in a cult. It takes a certain level of skill
to craft a story of a child’s experience in a cult and retain
the complexity of that experience. It is easy to create a
sensationalized story where the world inside the cult is evil
and the world outside is good. But Kennerson presents Twig
and her world in such a way that readers can relate to her
struggles and are invested in her search for understanding.
Kennerson expertly avoids the trap of developing characters
and worlds that we either love or hate. Instead, she builds
relationships that are filled with a variety of emotions and
conflicts, some of which are resolved and some of which are
not.
The story centers on Twig, who has been raised in an isolated
community in the jungles of Costa Rica. Twig is introduced as
a fairly typical teenager. She questions some aspects of life
within the cult, but in general feels happy, safe, and secure.
However, once the group’s leader, Adam, announces that Twig
will be his new wife, her life as she has known it begins to
unravel. Through a series of events, she begins to have limited
contact with the outside world. The resulting story is both one
of a girl questioning the very foundation of the only life she
has ever known, and a love story with a boy she meets outside
of the group.
The author developed the internal world of the cult in such a
way that the reader understands Twig’s world as “normal.” Twig
and the group have a structure, daily routine, recreation, and
relationships with each other. Twig finds value in the idea of
the needs of the collective over the needs of the individual. It
is only gradually that Kennerson first unveils the cost of this
idealistic society and eventually unravels the true purpose of
the group.
The Family explores the
world of a 17-year-old girl
raised in a cult.
