A slow burn of a realistic situation, this novel will take you on an emotional roller coaster. When Avery and Colt are caught shoplifting, its discovered that they are missing children who were stolen by a cult. Cole is returned to his parents, and as an adult, Avery is forced into a women's shelter. In the shelter Avery thinks back to the night of the fire, when she and Colt escaped and what really happened. This novel is about trauma as much is about cults and it's not for the faint hearted! If you like cult survivor stories this novel is for you!
#sourcebooks #Sourcebookslandmark

This was a disturbing but intriguing and important read. Avery has escaped from the cult that kidnapped and held her captive, and with her brother Cole begin to discover everything that was withheld from them. This was an emotional story with realistic and poignant elements. Definitely worth the read.

This was a disturbing book, it reads like a true story but I am assuming it is not. A young woman escapes from a survivalist cult with her brother and begins the healing/reclaiming herself process. Worth the read

I wish to thank NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark Publishing for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love a book that grabs you in the first paragraph and never lets go. This is a powerful novel about life in a survivalist cult made up as a family of mother and father and their children. It totally involves the reader in their day to day life and difficulties surviving. They are told not to leave the compound and never to talk to people about their lives. There is abuse both emotional and physical, total control, and fear every day. I do not want to tell you the story just invite you to read it and learn. I read it in one day because I simply could not put it down. The story is woven in such a way that you feel the pain of each of the children. The main characters are Avery and Cole but you feel a part of the family from the very beginning. They are repeatedly told they were “chosen” and indeed they were.

I have never been stolen but this story shared all the heartaches that surround such a thing and I applaud the author for her beautiful writing style. It drew me deeply into the story. She wrote about disturbing events in a gentle way. I highly recommend this book. I look forward to reading more by this author

Such a thrill! Loved the characters the plot and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time! For sure will read more by this author!

After We Were A Stolen is a story about young children and the aftermath of a deadly fire at a cult like compound. As they make their way into the world outside they're going to be met with the unknown including learning that they aren't who they were raised to be.
The guilt and loss will cause them a lot of pain as they try and figure out where they belong.
This is an emotional story with some hard to read situations of abuse.
Overall the story is very interesting.

Thank you #NetGalley #SourceBooks for this ARC

My review will appear in Booklist. This one was not your typical cult book - the cult here is basically an entire family, with the kids being controlled by their abusive father. The main character, Avery, goes through a lot of trauma, so it may be tough for some readers. I was enthralled, pulled along by the smooth prose through Avery's journey.

Such a good book, I think people are gonna really love this one. Keep me wanting more the whole way through. Thank you!

Cult stories are always something that pull me in. I enjoyed this thrill ride of a book. It was emotional and kept me engaged!

Thank you for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are completely my own.

I read another book this year where a young woman/girl escapes a cult after a fire. Is there something in the air? This one took a turn where the woman ended up in a woman’s shelter but I couldn’t shake the feeling i literally had read this before. It was cult escape meets Maid. It wasn’t bad but it didn’t seem very original.

Avery is 19 years old, living in a compound with her parents and 9 siblings. They believe that they are the chosen people and will survive when the outside world is dying. They are survivalists with a cult mentality. Their parents lead and parent by using abuse and threats to the other children in the family. After a fire breaks out, Avery and her brother Cole are the only ones to escape from the family. When they are caught by the police, it is discovered that the “family” they were raised in, is not actually their family and they are kidnapped children. What follows is Avery’s journey through PTSD and acclimating to a world outside of the compound. I highly recommend this book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Name of Book: After We Were Stolen
Author: Brooke Beyfuss ~ Debut Author
Genre: Family Drama, Cult
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Pub Date: July 19, 2022
My Rating: 4 Stars!

Avery is nineteen years old and the oldest child living in the compound with her Mother, Father, and nine siblings ~ Seth, Amaris, Hannah, Jane, Peter, Sarah, Candace, Benjamin and Cole. She and her siblings have been taught and believe they are the chosen people and those living outside were dying. The father is abusive with strict rules. There is danger to the other children if one should try to escape.
However, Avery and her sixteen year-old bother Cole do escape when a fire destroys the compound. They are sure the others have not survived and run as far as they can. They know they are homeless but are trying to make the best of it….but are caught shoplifting. When authorities investigate who they are, they turn them over to Child Protective Agency and discover both Avery and Cole are really Celeste Bishop and Noah Reid Pierce who went missing fifteen years ago, and were stolen by a cult. Cole is not Avery’s brother and is returned to his biological parents but Avery was placed in a women’s shelter.
That sentence sounds so simple but Cole/Noah being return to his biological parent is a very emotional experience.
Story moved on to Avery/Celeste’s experiences in the Women’s Shelter.

This story kept me glued to my seat ~ but ~ it was not a fun enjoyable read.
It is a story of resilience and the strength of the human spirit.

There is no doubt it will make for interesting book club discussion!
There is a great ‘Reading Group Guide’ included, which certainly added to my reading experience!!

Additionally the …’A Conversation with the Author’ is awesome!

Personal Thoughts on the questions:
Question …Why are folks fascinated with ‘Cults’? Her answer is ~ the ‘Otherness”. That in itself is worthy of a discussion!
Another question ~ Do you develop an outline for your story ~ her answer is no and I nearly jumped up and down with excitement as I hated to have to submit an outline when required in any of my college writing classes.
To top off my enjoyment of reading this Q & A is when she was asked what books influenced her writing and she answered Wally Lamb’s “I Know This Much is True" and "She’s Come Undone".
Awww these two books were major hits with my book club discussions.

I always enjoy the ‘Acknowledgements’ and/or Author Notes etc. (I understand this is a time consuming and a bit stressful for many authors ~ but something I love to read.)
Ms. Beyfuss stated writing this book wasn’t the most fun she ever had ~ research involved going through a lot of disturbing material. I appreciate this answer. Story is great!


Want to thank NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for an honest professional review.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for July 19, 2022.

This was a quick, emotion packed read. A young girl and her brother escape a fire that kills there entire ‘prepper family’ which turns out to be a modern day cult that was very abusive. The brother and sister venture out into the world and become further traumatized by it. I felt Avery truly survived her ordeal and I was glad to be on that journey with her.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc

What I liked about this one was that it's not just another cult book, it's really about the aftermath. After a devastating fire in the home of her family of doomsday preppers, Avery and her brother Cole find their way back to society. Cole goes back to the family who never stopped searching for him, but Avery isn't so lucky. Surrounded by journalists and struggling to put together a life outside, she is still haunted by her former life and what really happened to her family.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to receive an Advance readers copy- all thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.


First and foremost- thank you to Brooke for putting trigger warnings at the beginning of this novel- I feel like this should become the new normal. This book, while fiction, held such well thought out cult research within that made it feel real. Made it even heavier than it was. This was a wonderful book, I know it’ll be a top book club book, a big hitter for my true crime friends and friends who like cults and thrillers. This one has it all. I couldn’t put it down!

This book had me hooked from the first page! I devoured it!

I just love a book that keeps me huddled under the covers (waaaay too late, might I add!) Although it had some difficult to read topics, I still found myself thinking about the characters during the day, wondering what was going on,

My one gripe, or thought that came to me a few times throughout the book, was how the authority figures didn't seem to be very trauma informed. Maybe it's just me since we deal with trauma informed practice in my line of work, but some of the interactions between Avery, Cole and the police made me cringe a little.

So I started out really liking this book, but I got about half way through and I just couldn't get into it anymore. I tried several times but it just wasn't for me so unfortunately I had to DNF this one. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Hooked from the first page! The author's descriptions of Avery's life on the family compound set a chilling tone for the book and have you rooting for Avery the entire way. Her ability to survive the harshest, most devastating events make her a solid character, and while I never really "liked" her, I did admire her tenacity. This book will stay with you long after you've read the last page.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC

After We Were Stolen had me hooked from page one! I felt like I was on an emotional roller coaster as I read about what Avery had to endure in the cult. The journey that she and Cole undertake after leaving the compound had me on the edge of my seat. There were many heart wrenching moments throughout the book.
Overall, this was an excellent book! I loved the characters and did not want the book to end.
This is the first book I've read by Brooke Beyfuss but it will not be the last! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of After We Were Stolen. All opinions are my own.

A good synopsis should make you excited about a story without giving its secrets away. It shouldn’t summarize the book while spoiling major plot points.

Unfortunately, After We Were Stolen does not have a good synopsis.

I’m not the type who can go blindly into a book. I need something to convince me it’s a story that might work for me. I erroneously assumed the synopsis for this was simply introducing the beginning of the book, rather than revealing things that would happen much, much later. Knowing so much of what was to come completely killed the tension of the story.

The main thing you need to know is that this is a cult book. With it being such a popular trope trend lately, that might be enough to lure you in. I will add that the cruel patriarch of this particular cult/family has made escape nearly impossible for the abused children, but he’s crossed a line with the narrator (Avery) that makes her desperate to get away.

Admittedly, I don’t think I would have liked this much more without the spoilers. While it was frustrating that the first half never involved a curiosity of what was to come, I had other gripes outside of that. I thought the story was a very superficial look at cults and trauma. I always find a lack of complex emotional development within troubling storylines dissatisfying. I also found, especially in the second half, that there was a great deal of repetitiveness. Lastly, the grand shock at the end was not remotely surprising, but it would have been a disappointing revelation either way.

I’ve seen other reviewers note that After We Were Stolen was powerful and emotional. I do expect depth in stories like this, but I didn’t feel that strength in the narrative. Clearly, this view is subjective and it’s worth considering the other perspectives if you’re interested in this book.

I am immensely grateful to Sourcebooks Landmark for my digital review copy through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

After We Were Stolen is due out in July 2022.