Glenda glass is a dropout graduate student she was going to school for middle age literature but the best job she can get is working at a renaissance fair that is probably because when we first meet Glenda she is showing up at a job that is way out of her genre and skill set soaking wet dressed in her winch outfit from the fair with a soaking wet resume then she couldn’t remember the interviewers name. Needless to say she doesn’t get the job. Her mom belongs to a cult that she joined after the loss of her beloved husband and Although Glenda and her little sister west try to come up with reasons to make her skip the meetings her mom is diligent. So much so that she announces her an arm on the cult leader or getting married. Needless to say this is something Glenda and her sisters are definitely against she has another sister named Dorothy that in the beginning of the story isn’t talking to Glenda do to the atrocious and selfish acts she committed. Glenda is a very selfish person and I mean extremely selfish she litters she’s rude and egotistical. She’s always saying “I’ll take care of it,“ but in the end take care of nothing. I didn’t like her from the beginning and although I could see where the author wanted to go with the story and the character of Glenda but the only one in the book that was even likable was troy and even he had his issues. I mean he offered Glenda ffeared de oh pizza but what is even more surprising is that she ate it… OK gross! I really really wanted to like this book and hate to say bad things about anyone’s Hardwork I do think the author is talented and should definitely not give up but this one was a definite miss for me. I want to thank alcove press and net galley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for gifting me the debut novel by Lauren Danhof - 4 stars!

Glinda Glass is back living with her mom after dropping out of her graduate school program. She's spending her days working in the dunking booth at the local Renaissance fair with her only friend, Troy. But Glinda is desperately trying to keep everything from falling apart - after their father's sudden death, her mom has joined a cult and is totally obsessed with its leader, Arlon. Glinda's twin sister, Dorothy, isn't speaking to her and their younger sister, West is not happy with her either. Then Glinda learns that the cult is taking over their family home and making it into their commune. Glinda is desperate to save her mom and their home, but she'll need help.

While this book covers lots of heavy subjects - grief, cults, abuse - it does so in a humorous, quirky way. It is more focused on trying to heal relationships by being open and honest, and needing other people to get by in this world.
Glinda continues trying her best but everything always seems to turn out wrong - you'll be rooting for things to finally go right for her. This was an engaging, story and I can't wait to read more from this author!

I love consuming media about cults it’s always so fascinating to me so just the title was enough to pique my interest.

Off the bat I enjoyed the story though the main character did sometimes get on my nerves, my only true gripe with this storyline was that sometimes I couldn’t predict where the author was taking it. Overall an enjoyable read

Cute and funny to start, but certainly takes a dark and serious turn that I wasn't quite expecting since the beginning was quite lighthearted and joking like. I enjoyed it overall.

Glinda is doing the best she can with her mom, who has joined a cult, and her job at the drench-a-wench tent. When she learns the cult is taking over her family home, she takes matters into her own hands.

I loved this book for the family drama and the quirkiness. You have never met a character like Glinda, or the other cast of interesting individuals you’ll be introduced to. While there are some heavy topics involved: grief, drug addiction, sibling rivalry, the story is hilarious all the way through. I loved this one and wish I had more.

“Why did one think I was strong enough? To tell my sisters, to bear our collective broken heart?! I wasn’t even strong enough to bear my own.”

It’s Not a Cult comes out 8/22.

It’s Not a Cult. Actually, it is. I had to give it a few days in order to write a review because the book was not what was advertised. It is neither Bunny nor Kimmy. So I was disappointed that I didn’t get what I thought would be a truly weird experiment in novel form.

But I want to judge the book and not the bad descriptions. The book was about a girl trying to keep her mother from giving the family farm and money to a cult. She’s already been in the cult, but we all know cults aren’t satisfied until they have everything. The book itself had funny and touching family moments. These people have some issues.

In the end, I never became immersed and invested. It was a good book though. I wanted the Glinda to find happiness. I cared for the characters on some level.

Circumstances have Glinda working as a 'drench a wench' at the local renaissance fair. She is back living in her childhood home, with her mother who is in a cult, and her teenage 'baby of the family' bit of a terror sister West. When her mother is selected to marry the cult leader and their house will be turned into a commune, Glinda decides she needs to save her family and take the cult down.

The narrative has a friendly, quirky, 'I'm opening up to you' quality. Sucked me in with the funny and kept me with its emotional integrity and sense of a mission. I adored its wry humor, bringing in the 'this can't be happening to me' flair.

The protagonist is relatable with her clumsy attitude, the way she often speaks before she thinks. A bit of a temper, a touch of sarcastic, both defense mechanisms. You can understand her anti-relationship conviction with what she has endured. That difficult family dynamics color her behavior. You will enjoy the shy and kind character of Troy. The awkwardness between him and Glinda. Their conversations that are grounded and soul-searching though simultaneously fun and unexpected.

Some ideas or events needed more fleshing out. The story does go in a different direction than expected in the middle of the book, which sometimes I liked, sometimes I didn't. It seems to veer off track and take its time with other things which is aggravating, needed more of the cult. But I was invested. I think the unbelievable things that happen fuelled that, so I needed to read on to see where it would lead. Some jaw-droppers along the way and an interesting road to the ending rewarded me.

It is basically about our fundamental need as people to belong. About being okay with yourself and it's okay to be yourself. Love doesn't mean you have to lose yourself. This is a getting over your trauma and trusting people again story disguised as one about a cult and dressed with wit and feeling.

This is my first time reading Lauren Danhof and I enjoyed every second of it. This witty book kept me entertained and disappointed when I reached the end, I didn't want to put this book down and I didn't want it to be over with.

MY REVIEW: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
👉 I love a cult book and this cult is one you DON'T want to mess with—Danhof did a great job with building up the big bad cult (it's like, really not good).
👉 I was kind of expecting this to be closer to a thriller and maybe a little 2D, but it was emotional, funny, and so sweet, in between the all the action!
👉 I do feel like there was somewhat of a disconnect between all of the drama around Glinda, and while some of her actions did piss me off, my biggest gripe was how the family (and basically everyone) treated her… BUT the story and book as a whole delivered on exactly what I wanted 👀
👉 Overall, very fast, darkly comedic read that you gotta pick up if you're into cults, women tryna figure out their lives, and family drama.

Um, it's definitely a cult. This book deals with some dark themes but handles it with a smart-aleck protagonist, who is also NOT ok. The Glass family seems to need a lot of healing after the loss of their patriarch from a sudden heart attack. Glinda can't seem to finish her Masters, her twin, Dorothy hasn't spoken to her in 18 months and her mother, Julie, has joined a cult. There is a ton of trauma and a completely deranged villain but eventually all's well that ends well.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for this e-arc.*

📚 𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰- It's Not A Cult⁣
𝘉𝘺 Lauren Danhof⁣
(𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘈𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝟸𝟸𝘯𝘥)⁣
⭐⭐⭐️⭐️ (4.5/5)⁣⁣⁣ ⁣
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𝐓𝐡𝐞 "𝐆𝐢𝐬𝐭": Glinda just lost her job, everyone in her family hates her, and her mom is in a cult. No big deal, right? 🤣 Can Glinda make good on her promise to "take care of everything" and reunite her family, before her brainwashed mother marries the cult leader and moves the entire congregation into their home? Here's hoping! 🤞⁣
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𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 💭: If you're in a reading slump and unsure what book to reach for next, I guarantee this one will have something to satisfy every reader! ⁣
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Unique settings that draw you in, quirky characters, laugh-out-loud dialogue (I especially loved the banter between Glinda and her little sister, West), romance, trauma, legitimate suspense, family drama, and the cult.....😱...oooooo, the cult!⁣
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Beginning to end, this book was a treat. I will definitely be buying a physical copy when it releases on August 22nd through @alcovepress !⁣
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Huge thanks to @netgalley, the author, and the publisher for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review. ⁣
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This book is not to be missed!⁣
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𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐟 📖: You like: Cult stories; novels with a bit of everything; the Renaissance Faire⁣
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𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: R (for language and adult situations)

I wanted to love this book. The premise sounded right up my alley but unfortunately it didn't quite land for me.

The Good - I really liked grief as the impetus for joining the cult. It certainly resonated and thought that the initial sale of the cult seemed realistic. The sister dynamics also felt rooted in reality. I was interested enough in the topic that I wanted to read the whole book to see where it went.

The Not-so-Good - The heavy reliance on dialogue, especially when much of the dialogue was just similar fights between family members, made it tough to read. The various wild settings also made it feel cluttered. Trying to get to know and understand cult operations, the layout of a Renaissance Fair, and the workings of Bigfoot aficionados was all a bit much at once.

Glinda was such an engaging and quirky character, and her family kind of put 'fun' into dysfunctional!

Glinda knows she's selling herself short at her job as a wench at the local renaissance festival. But she's not one to blame anyone else for her problems, so she just keeps on keeping on. Within a short time, her life suffered several devastating blows, and she dropped out of college to just try and exist on a path that would help her exist without getting hurt any more. Living with her mom and younger sister, West, was less than ideal, but the price was right.

No one wants to believe her when she tells them that her mom is being seduced by cult-leader Arlon, or that they're about to lose their family home to the Starlight Pioneers that he leads. She personally knows it's a cult, but she also has some more guilt that it's gone as far as it has.

Finally, her co-worker Troy seems to trust her (and maybe more?) and is willing to get to the bottom of it with her, and even by dragging her older, estranged sister back into the loop. After trying to do nothing for so long, Glinda suddenly has to do something, and get others to help her, quickly!

This amusing read earned 4 out of 5 stars. With the varied characters, it felt like any reader to enjoy at least one. The family drama with a cult was hopefully unique for most, but the underlying relationships and traumas could ring true.

I requested Lauren Danhof’s new book It’s Not a Cult because I think cults and high-demand religions are very interesting. I went into this book not exactly sure what to expect.

It tells the story of Glinda Glass, a single, late 20’s woman who is down on her luck, living at home with her mother and younger sister. She is estranged from her twin sister for reasons that become clear as the novel progresses. Glinda’s mother is a member of a cult, though of course, everyone insists it’s not a cult.

This book is split between present-day narration and Glinda’s memories as she works to try and free her mother from this organization and figure out her own life. The Glass family has a lot going on—Dorothy and her partner have severed most contact and moved to Oklahoma to look for Bigfoot; North is just trying to finish high school and get away from her family, Glinda is working at a dunk tank at a Renaissance fair (but keeping it from her family), and their mom is heavily involved in her church and its leader Arlon. The one thing all these people have in common (besides being family) is their incredible inability to communicate clearly with each other.

I enjoyed the characters and felt that Danhof did a great job building believable characters with fairly believable problems. But the communication breakdowns between characters was sometimes maddening. I kept feeling that much of the conflict in the book could have been solved with a good conversation.

I also liked the premise of this book. It does a good job showing the ability that a particularly charismatic (and narcissistic) person can have to persuade normal people to believe things that at first seemed unbelievable. It shows the power of a cult leader, and how hard it can be to break away. And for most of the novel, this is done somewhat lightheartedly, but everything comes to a head near the end, and we see the true evil behind Arlon’s machinations.

My overall impression of this book is that it was entertaining, though frustrating at times. It highlights important things about high-control religions and family communication. It could be triggering for people who have suffered physical and emotional abuse.

4.25 stars

This book and the main character's situation in general stressed me out so much, I really had to sit and think about how I was going to rate it. But ultimately, I think that strong reaction is a mark of how good the writing is. But if reading desperate characters negatively impacts your mental health, skip this one (Mom, I'm talking to you.)

Glinda has dropped out of grad school and moved back in with her mom and 17-year-old sister, West, and the only job she's been able to get is at the Renaissance Faire. Her coworker at the Dunk the Wench booth, Troy, is just happy to be there and deserves the world. I will not be taking questions on this.
Glinda's whole family has been struggling to process their grief after her father's death, and her mom's way of coping was to join the Starlight Pioneer Society. Don't let the book title fool you, it is in fact a cult. 

Glinda is happy to ignore her mom's quirky way of coping when it's just burning incense to illuminate their inner light, but when suddenly the cult leader is about to become her new stepdad and the family house is being turned into a commune, she has to do something. 

The humor in this book was great, which I expected, but the emotional weight of this story surprised me. The portrayal of grief was well-done, and I got choked up at a couple of parts, but mainly I just found myself just so stressed out for Glinda. She is a pretty unlikable FMC, but the way her loved ones kept writing off her concerns about the cult and her mom had me on her side anyway. I was gaslit FOR her. By the end of the book, I was hard-pressed to think of a reason why she should talk to most of these people ever again. But maybe that's a me problem...

I would definitely read more from this author, though!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, & the author for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Yes, the Starlight Power Society is a cult. And Arlon is its leader who is about to marry Glinda's mom. Glinda, who, you gotta know in advance, is deeply unlikable, is determined to stop him, in part because she doesn't want him to take her house, There's something about a group of sisters named after Wizard of Oz characters that makes you wonder what inside jokes you are missing but that's ok. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC, This is one of those quirky novels that might be a love it or hate it proposition for some readers, It all will depend on how you take Glinda.

I chose this book because it was compared to Mona Awad's Bunny and The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. However, it isn't like either of those, it's its own thing and I am so glad for that!

There's a bit of dark humor but mostly this is a family drama. It just so happens that part of that drama is a mother being sucked into a cult and her three daughters' reactions to that. The sisters relationships with each other are pivotal to the story as well. Seeing the inner workings of the cult was fascinating.

This is a very moving novel and I enjoyed everything about it. My favorite part was following our narrator Glinda, who is quite unlikable at times. All of the humans we encounter in the book are flawed and I liked that because it makes them believable and relatable.

I highly recommend this novel for readers of dark humor and contemporary fiction who like unique stories. I will definitely look for more from this author.

There was a lot going on with this book. The main characters are all names after Wizard of Oz characters (Glinda, Dorothy, West…as in wicked witch of), they have a mom who is in a cult but says it’s not a cult, the main character Glinda is a hot mess and cannot hold a job, or her relationships with her sisters. Glinda has had some bad experiences in her past that make her do dumb stuff but no one in her family seems to get it. Then things go off the rails when Glinda tried to save her mom from the cult. It’s very hijinx plus. It’s weird because it was definitely too much for me but I still read to wondering how it was all going to come together. Entertaining but not one that will be a fave.

3.5/5 ⭐️
Glinda’s mom has always been eccentric, but lately things have taken a turn for the worse as she has joined a cult. Moreover, she announces that she will be marrying the cult leader and the cult will be moving into the house where Glinda still lives. Glinda must recruit her estranged sister Dorothy and some others to help rescue her mom.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I thought that the story was good. My big problems with it were that a lot of the characters are unlikeable for soo long. It takes Glinda a while to get any character development and her sisters same. There were also times when I felt the writing was slow. However, I think it was still worth the read.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

I don’t mind an unlikeable main character, but maybe it would have worked better if she wasn’t also the narrator. She is clearly stunted and there is some stuff going on there that could be investigated and still be funny, but this felt like I read a whole book written by Chandler Bing, which would also not be enjoyable at all. Maybe Glinda is the side character and West is the main character? She is also stunted, but she is also only 17 so maybe it would work better. I am glad a lot of people like this, but it was a miss for me.