(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

GATHER THE DAUGHTERS tells the story of an end-of-the-world cult founded years ago when ten men colonised an island. It's a society in which men reign supreme, breeding is controlled, and knowledge of the outside world is kept to a minimum. Girls are wives-in-training: at the first sign of puberty, they must marry and have children. But until that point, every summer, island tradition dictates that the children live wildly: running free, making camps, sleeping on the beach. And it is at the end of one such summer that one of the youngest girls sees something so horrifying that life on the island can never be the same again.

Definitely conflicted about this book. So much to love - and so much to be decidedly uncomfortable with.

But let's start with the positive: what a brilliant writer. 350 pages and not a wasted word on any of them. Everything meant something. The way the author drew me in from the very start with probably one of the smartest openings I have read recently. The relationships between the characters - while definitely on the ikky-creepy side - was still fascinating from a story-telling POV. I bought into that whole male-domination narrative because it is so easy to believe.

However, the biggest disappointment for me was that I just didn't connect with the characters. It's hard to explain. I guess the voices of Vanessa, Amanda, Caitlin and Janey just didn't engage me as I expected. Also, for me, there was no clear resolution. I felt like nothing changed, that everything was going to continue as it was. So, what really was the point of the story? A glimpse into a art-mimics-life scenario? Mot sure, but it certainly left me disappointed. But, it has to be said that the author must be congratulated for not going down the easy path and allowing the revolution to lead to flowers and ponies either. That, too, would have been unpalatable.

On the whole, I still recommend it. There are some very heavy themes (rape, incest, domestic violence) and they are handled very skilfully. However, if you are looking for that "happy ending", this may not be the one for you!


Paul
ARH

Gather the Daughters is an example of a book with something to say but no real resolution. Drawing comparisons with ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is irresistible as it is the story of the multitude of ways that women and girls are abused in a highly insular and patriarchal society and their rebellions in ways both small and large. As soon as the girls begin to resist the social order starts to crumble.
This is not one of the many books of the genre where a teenage girl realises that she exists in a repressive society and decides to do something about it by starting the revolution. Instead, while the male authorities struggle to tighten their grip with increasing desperation, the girls find their own versions of freedom, individual and bittersweet with the narrowing choices available to them. Initially I was left unsatisfied by this book as I realised that it would not follow the traditional redemptive victory arc but it lingered with me and I found it developed in my mind. Ultimately I felt that it took a more interesting turn, allowing that sometimes small escapes mean everything and the only power you have is over your own destiny and to take your choices over the body that you have left. This was a thought-provoking book, unusual and disturbing. Please note that this book contains descriptions of child and spousal abuse as well as animal cruelty that could be distressing to some readers.

Full review + quotes at:
http://magazine.100percentrock.com/reviews/book-reviews/201708/233645

The moment a blurb mentions the word “cult”, I am in.

Unfortunately, so often these books are a letdown. They cover the same ground over and over again, or they handle things in such an unrealistic way as to really challenge the reader’s suspension or disbelief.

Gather the Daughters, while producing a story that doesn’t exactly break the mold (at least when it comes to books about fictional cults), presents a scenario and characters that are so well-built the reader can’t help but cheer these girls on, while at the same time worried about reading of their potentially terrible fates.

Melamed – who has experience working as a psychiatric nurse with traumatized children and has researched anthropological, biological, and cultural aspects of child abuse – brings her knowledge to this literary-style cult novel, which isn’t so much about the plot as the way the cult affects the girls as they go through the different stages of womanhood on their male-dominated island.

The only major qualm with this novel was that it could be confusing to tell which characters were related two which other characters, and in what way. Perhaps this was intentional on Melamed’s part, to show readers just how mixed up and inbred the bloodlines had become (as also evidenced by the high numbers of defective births), but it doesn’t make it any easier to form a full image of the people on the island or even how many of them there really are. This could have been helped quite a lot with a family tree at the start or end of the novel (or both!), so that readers would have the option to familiarise themselves and check back if they grew confused in the course of the reading.

All in all this is a bleak and worrying scenario, delivered in such a way that readers are able to figure out some of what’s going on before anyone comes right out and says it. Melamed handles these delicate situations in a way that stops the writing from being distasteful, even while discussing distasteful events.

But it’s not just about the cult or the island. Gather the Daughters is more about these girls who, though raised to be kept under the thumb, despite being raised into these awful conditions with these awful things treated as “normal”, still manage to find a backbone, rebel, and make it known that they’re not okay with what’s going on.

Even if there’s no clear way for them to get off the island, or any proof that there’s anything beyond their island, anyway.

I honestly don't know how I feel about this book.
There were a few main things that really sold this book to me: the writing was beautiful and I loved the characters - The story is told from the perspective of four different girls who live on the island; there is a distinct dystopian feel to this book, a genre that I love and Melamed did well to develop the setting of the book, I could vividly picture the island this book take place.
However, this was such a hard read, it was so bleak, and dark and there was hardly any hope. I also feel the book just went on a bit too long, some of the scenes could have been two pages rather than chapters long.
Overall this was a really interesting read, I can definitely see this book becoming quite a popular book club book, it deals with some heavy topics and would definitely allow for some big discussions.

I found Gather The Daughters deeply disturbing, partly because there's actually nothing here that hasn't already happened in one or more society around the world. Life on the island is primitive, incestuous, debauched and simultaneously highly prescriptive (for adults) and anarchic (for children).

Jennie Melamed shows what we consider 'normal' is so fluid and dependent on our surroundings and what we're taught. Remove any knowledge or possibility of an alternative way of life and people will tend to be complicit in their own abuse.

The positive note in this dark story is Janey, who bucks against the status quo and inspires others to follow her. Melamed makes it clear, however, that even Janey can't effect change on her own.

It's only when we work together with others that regimes can be challenged - and even then, only with great sacrifice.

Gather The Daughters is not a novel to be enjoyed, but it's certainly one to make you think, especially in the current political climate where some societies are attempting to isolate themselves and nations debate over whether to take action on apparently barbaric foreign cultural practices.

Gather the Daughters was a compelling read. I enjoyed the multiple narrations--seeing things from the points of view of different girls in the community. The story was well paced and kept me turning the pages from start to finish, wanting to know how things would play out. The only small issue I had was the ending, which felt a tad abrupt after the slow build-up, despite being mostly satisfying. Overall, though, it was a thoughtful and captivating read.

So, so creepy and infuriating - I couldn't think about anything else when I was reading it. If The Handmaid's Tale, The Natural Way of Things and Lord of the Flies had a literary baby, this would be it.

This book was simultaneously awful and amazing. Melamed's writing is nuanced - it's descriptive, it evokes such imagery from a few sparse words, and she captures the eerie atmosphere completely. At the same time, the subject matter is awful - and how the girls deal with it, as if it's normal, is abhorrent. Overall, it was a fascinating read.