This novel was a great perspective on the life of a child raised in an environment with no agency or privacy. It also speaks to issues that run deep in religious communities. Great story.

"The Book of Essie" is exactly what I needed to feed my mind while wondering about other celebrities with the same type of television show. Weir's writing is personal and emotional and I could feel myself becoming engrossed in the lives of the characters. I was emotionally attached to Essie and wanted so badly for things to work out for her. I was engrossed in the scandal and continuously wondering what would happen next. This book is a compelling story about what fame can do to people's lives and how it can control the reality of those involved.

As per usual, I had to read 2 other books in the middle of trying to read this one...so it was a bit trying to put it down and pick it back up...I think that’s the reason I had any issue with this..well, that’s not exactly accurate..it’s not a perfect book but I found Essie and Roarke to be likeable..The plot was well paced for me once I got back into the swing of it..I thought the question of what happened and how it was going to resolve was interesting and had enough questions to keep me interested...overall, I think it was well done..it’s definitely good for book discussions, good for those who have a particular fondness for culty/religious based storylines...

17-year-old Esther "Essie" Hicks has grown-up on television, her evangelical family has been broadcasting live since before she was born. So when Essie becomes pregnant her mother needs to find a way to wrap this up and marrying Essie off is the most seamless way to do it, but to whom? Roarke Richards is the best candidate, he's handsome, he's smart - a senior about to graduate as his classes valedictorian, and his family is having serious financial problems. Essie knows all of this, she also knows that Roarke has a secret of his own which is why she has made sure that her mother has come up with the plan to marry her off to Roarke on her own. Essie's pregnancy is not a happy one and helping her navigate her plan for her and Roarke's escape from the lives they are forced to live is, Liberty Bell, a reporter trying to navigate a life as a former religious extremist.

I thought this book was well written. i loved reading about the evangelical reality show. I could not put it down and will definitely recommend it and look forward to reading new books by this author.

I thought this book was fantastic. Addressed a lot of current social issues. Reality TV WILL take down America. I'm pretty sure of it.

The premise of this book was interesting and the story was well executed. I couldn’t put it down due to my curiosity as to how Essie would resolve her situation. The ending was abrupt but satisfying.

I loved the complexity of this book. On one hand it seems like a thinly veiled commentary on popular reality shows and the headlines we see related to the celebrities, but it goes so much deeper. The story weaves deep and sensitive topics together with an element of surprise. While I'm not sure I think Essie and the "arranged marriage" would have happened so quickly or with such ease, you can feel the desperation with which her mother tries to keep things in tact for "the image." It reminded me of how so many people live a life that appears to be one way on social media, but the scenarios behind closed doors are very carefully sheltered. I recommended this on a faculty reading list for the summer so I hope many of the people I work with took time to read a novel that is both engaging and very timely.

I was graciously offered a copy of The Book of Essie through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

When the teenage daughter of an evangelical reality TV show family turns up pregnant, the family sets about deciding how to handle the situation, but Essie takes matters into her own hands.

There was so much hype online about this book so I decided to give it a try, and OH MY GOD IT WAS AMAZING. Essie was born into an evangelical family with their own reality TV show somewhat reminiscent of the Duggars. There are so many issues broached in this book that it made it so hard for me to put down. I devoured and savored all of this.

This was a great book that incorporated our culture’s obsession with reality television with a look behind the scenes and the true cost of our entertainment.

I could not get into this book. Not sure I understand all the rave reviews. Too much faux religion for my taste, and the characters unappealing.

As a sufferer of past trauma, I really appreciate how the character handles what happens to her, and it's awesome to see her grow in both strength and maturity. As I person deeply rooted in organized religion and conservatism, I also appreciated the author's take on the hypocrisy present in the Church, as well as its reaction to immoral dilemmas. Add to that the ins and outs of reality television, and this has been made one fascinating saga. I cannot wait to read more from this author, and I consider this one a truly phenomenal book. I can't recommend it enough.

In The Book of Essie, Meghan MacLean Weir seamlessly and brilliantly exposes what we see everyday in reality television and in the news media. Essie's story is eerily similarly to a well-known reality family scandal, but MacLean Weir gives her young heroine an astuteness and a resilience that we seldom see in reality, on screen or off.
Essie is the epitome of the perfect daughter, a compliant piece of the huge money making machine that is her parent's church nationally viewed tv show. But Essie has a huge secret to hide, a pregnancy that is a liability to her family if allowed to be made public. Not wanting to be a spectator of her own life any longer, Essie puts a plan in motion that involves one of her classmates Roarke Richards and Liberty Bell, an ambitious journalist, both with secrets of their own.
MacLean Weir has created a heroine in Essie for those who want to break free of injustice and abuse, much like Katniss Everdeen was for District 12. Despite her youth, Essie gains our respect by wanting to take control of her life and her freedom.

Entertaining, but not as thought-provoking as it could be. The issues that get brought up are intense and very real, the characters somewhat dynamic, but the complications are quickly and easily resolved, ending in a saccharine Happily Ever After.

I loved this! The main character of Essie .was so believable! The relationship between her and her meet up fiancé was also amazing and felt very realistic to me. The setting being in a reality TV style, but also very unique and very appealing. It felt like a social commentary on what is going on in today’s world. I will be recommending this to my fellow book club members, as well as through my Goodreads account.

Essie and her siblings have been raised in the public eye on their parents' reality television show.  Their dad is a famous televangelist and their mother is a very calculating, cunning woman who is raising her family as a "brand".  Nothing imperfect allowed.  But Essie has a plan...will she be able to pull it off?

I absolutely loved this book.  The storyline was unique and made a strong statement about the hypocrisy of religious extremists and how [white] men and boys are viewed by our society and especially by our judicial system.  I loved so many of the characters and my heart broke for Essie.  I also despised some characters, Celia is a character you love to hate and want to see her get what is coming to her.

I am currently OBSESSED with the Handmaid's Tale on Hulu.  There were some themes in this novel that reminded me of The Handmaid's Tale, in terms of a very conservative religious organization.  Toward the end of the novel, Meghan MacLean Weir quotes lines for Margaret Atwood's Variation on the Word Sleep, which is one of my favorite poems and a beautiful poem about true love.  It was so perfect to quote Margaret Atwood that I got chills and tears in my eyes.  I think Meghan MacLean Weir did a wonderful job with this topic in this novel. 

I recommend this novel to anyone who likes Handmaid's Tale or to anyone who is interested in really looking at some of the issues with religious extremism in America.  This book explores two different types of religious extremism: a cult that follows a man who predicts that the Messiah will rise again in a cave and an evangelical minister and his family who have their own reality TV series and espouse racism and homophobia, among other things.

An absolutely incredible read. I was hooked from the very beginning. I had the twist figured out, but it didn't matter because the follow through was so good.

I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for a fair review.

To begin with, I've recently experienced a pretty messy break from the evangelical church, so I wasn't sure I wanted to read this. Fortunately, I am swayed by a book that generates a great deal of buzz, so I gave in. There is a lot about this book to like. Essie and Roark are compelling characters with many secrets and everything to lose. To pair them together against the religious world may seem campy, but it doesn't mean it doesn't work. I was rooting for both of them with all my heart.

Like a few other reviewers, I did want to see the deeper issues raised by this book handled with a bit more depth. Hypocrisy, sexual abuse, misuse of donations, hyper-focus on image, LGBTQ+ community and the church, these are real issues that damage many people emotionally and physically in the evangelical world. However, I also understand that a mainstream novel may not be the best platform to truly dissect what is happening in many churches today. So while I was occasionally frustrated by the shallow exploration of complex issues, I think doing so may have made the book too weighty.

I too raced through the book and found most of the twists and turns believable despite their sensational nature. Ultimately I enjoyed the journey, sympathized with the characters and was very pleased to have decided to read this.

I recieved a free galley of this book by @prhinternational. This is an independent and honest review.

This book really sucked me in at first. The story and the themes were interesting, and I was curious about the characters.

After a while though, the book wasn’t really that interesting anymore. My main problems with the book was that it brought up a lot of serious themes which I wish was explored deeper. Instead, since the book tries to cover perhaps too many themes, it only scratches the surface of them. The same goes for the characters, the author doesn’t explore them enough in my opinion. The plot it self was very predictable, and also very recognizable if you’ve watched for instance the Duggar family’s TV show.

Still, The Book of Essie was a quick and easy read, and it kept me interested enough for me to finish it, so I ended up giving it 3 stars.