This one kept me awake as it is very captivating. This novel is more or less two separate stories that connect in Wynter Roth. At the beginning of the novel Wynter is banned from the religious cult she grew up in and in Alaska a hog eats from a defrosted Caribou carcass.

One storyline is Wynter looking back on her life so far. As a young girl her mum took her daughters and joined a religious cult that runs a settlement and sells heirloom seeds. Through the eyes of a child and teenager we see the cracks in the veneer. This part of the novel was the most interesting and the best psychologically developed.

This story is woven into a pandemic disaster story. Some months after Wynter went to live with her late mother's best friend that lady's husband, a doctor, is called to research weird cases of early onset dementia that are popping up. One evening he calls them and warns them to leave the city as he expects a pandemic to happen. While the family sleeps in preparation of an early departure Wynter's sister rings the doorbell and hands Wynter a package related to the disease that was bought by the leader of the cult. From that moment on the story turns into an action thriller with Wynter crossing a country in chaos.

That action part of the story is very entertaining but lacks the depth of the other storyline. For instance I did not feel her grieve. But that might be due to the anti-anxiety medication she is still taking. But developing a serum is as far as I know quite time-consuming.

What is interesting to see is how the writer puts one religious man who is a prepper (someone who thinks the world will end soon and hordes food and supplies) but who is utterly selfish against another prepper who is religious in his actions (and named something sounding like Peter's son) who is a good person and utterly unselfish. I like it when in books religious people are not painted as all nutcases or people faking goodness.

I am wondering what the title mean. The fine line between good and bad? Or the line between the two stories? Or the line between the two sisters?


All in all a very entertaining book. A four stars out of five.

I really liked this book. At first I wasn't sure I would, with the back and forth between the past and present, I liked the virus and the end of the world action, I didn't like the past and the cult so much, though I can understand why it was needed, and it actually flowed really well. I just like the apocalyptic type books and the aftermath better, but that's just my personal preference. Once I got into the flow of past and present I was okay, the book flowed smoothly and the world building and characters were good. I want there to be a second one that continues on with what happens afterwards!

The Line Between was an exciting thrill ride that kept me on the edge of my seat. I was hooked from the very beginning and couldn't read it fast enough. I was completely sucked into the story. The walls of my bedroom faded away and I was right there in the thick of things alongside Wynter.

It switches between two time periods – the past which explores Wynter's life inside the cult of New Earth and then present day after Wynter is kicked out of the cult.

Wynter was a great character. She had a bit of a tough time readjusting to normal society. The teachings she learned in the cult seemed to torment her. She was constantly bombarded with things that were 'forbidden' and plagued with thinking that there was no saving her soul now. It was heartbreaking, but she's quite the resilient young lady. I really admired her bravery, strength, and determination to overcome it all.

I'll be thinking about this novel for a long time to come. It was quite terrifying because it's not out of the realm of possibility for something like what happens in the book to actually happen in real life. It's a scary thought, but it was such a compelling read. I can't wait for the sequel.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and comments are my honest opinion.

I was intrigued when I first read the premise for this book- a young woman leaves a cult around the same time a mysterious virus begins taking hold across America, causing people to literally lose their minds. Interesting, right? Well I am very glad I took a chance with this book because The Line Between by Tosca Lee was an amazingly good read!

Wynter Roth first enters New Earth, a doomsday cult, as a child along with her older sister and mother in an attempt to flee the girls' abusive father. All three members of the Roth family become enamored with the charismatic (aren't they all?) cult-leader, Magnus, a millionaire former CEO. However, we initially meet Wynter as she is being forcefully expelled from the cult, thrown out for some unknown misdeed.

Meanwhile, a pig farmer in Alaska is faced with the shocking and gruesome death of his prized pigs. Additionally, people throughout the country are coming down with rapid-onset dementia and officials have no idea what is causing this sudden hysteria. 

If it seems a bit weird to have two completely different plots going on, yes. I felt that too in the beginning. But it works, I promise. The two story lines come together brilliantly. Wynter is such a great character too- strong, traumatized from her years being brainwashed, full of love for her sister and her niece.  She is willing to do anything to keep them safe. 

A thriller through and through, this book had me guessing and second-guessing at every turn. I know apocalyptic thrillers are still quite the rage, and some are just terrible, but this one is so original and exciting. Tosca Lee does an amazing job exploring Wynter's transition from cult to normal life to panic outbreak, and I was fully captivated until the last page!

4.5 stars out of 5 for The Line Between by Tosca Lee, which comes out January 29th, 2019.

As always, thank you to NetGalley and Howard Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book keeps things moving along quickly, alternating chapters filling in Wynter's backstory with fast-paced action during a outbreak of apocalyptic proportions. I liked the characters and the story. Occasionally, things happened a little too neatly, but it didn't dampen my enjoyment. I raced through the book to find out what happens, for all the characters and the world.

This book was something else! I think it must be really hard to combine an apocalypse with a girl that gets cast out of a cult, but Lee does so beautifully. I opened the book and was immediately pulled in. This girl, Wynter, has been in this cult since she was 7 years old. She can remember life before but it isn't until her mother dies and her sister gets married to the Warren Jeffs of the compound that she begins to open her eyes - especially when homie wants to take a second wife....Wynter. I don't want to give much away, but dammmmn.

You guys, this book IS SOMETHING ELSE. I mean, some of it is a little reaching but for the most part it kept me going, interested from the first to last pages, and I have already recommended it to three people! Can't wait to buy the book for my shelf!

I read this book in less than 24 hours. It grabbed me right away.
There is something reminiscent to Margaret Atwood in this book.

Our protagonist Wynter, is a young woman banished from the cult-compound she has lived in since she was a child. Faced with the struggle of amalgamating back into society, as well as dealing with the heartbreak of leaving her family behind, Wynter finds herself in the middle of a major epidemic. People are getting sick all around her.

Tosca Lee's compelling story telling and likable characters makes this book a home run for me.

THE LINE BETWEEN by TOSCA LEE is a fictional apocalyptic story which gives the reader a great deal of food for thought. It shows very clearly man's inhumanity towards his fellow man, the dangers in getting involved with false prophets and religious cults, and the ends to which people will go in order to line their own pockets. Add to all this the resurgence of a centuries old disease which makes people go mad and is very contagious, plus loss of electricity countrywide, and you get a fast paced, exciting, thriller.
Wynter, who has lived behind the walls of the New Earth compound since the age of five and Chase, who she meets on the road as she is trying to get valuable specimens to someone who will be able to use them to make a vaccine against the killer disease, are two of the "good guys" who risk everything to complete their mission.
I really enjoyed the novel and could not put it down.
I was given a free copy of the book by Howard Books from NetGalley. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

The Line Between is an apocalyptic thriller about the outbreak of a disease believed to be extinct and a heroine with a background of a doomsday cult struggling to face the world she is presented with while trying to fight said disease. With a gripping plot and believable characters I found this a very enjoyable read. This certainly won't be my last book by Tosca Lee.