FORBIDDEN

Absorbing inside perspective of life in a cult, told in a first-person limited voice. Fifteen-year-old Elinor has been told for as long as she can remember that she is “lucky. So lucky.” True Cause Followers live without phones, electricity, newspapers or laughter; they eat fruit and rice; sleep in sheds outside the grounds of their savior’s massive mansion; and work to convert Outsiders before the world’s imminent Endtime. Elinor is one of the Chosen, set to become Bonded to the savior as one of his Brides. But when she accidentally meets an Outsider in the woods, tiny flashes of memory arise and seeds of doubt spring up. Waite sticks faithfully to Elinor’s perspective; when readers guess Elinor’s history earlier than she does, it’s because she’s been so sheltered and never taught to think critically. Her thoughts break away from repetitive cult mantras and then spring back as she struggles to find the truth. Not particularly subtle, but gripping and memorable. (Fiction. YA)