This was a very odd book. Essentially the main character is trying to rescue her mother from an increasingly sinister cult. The main character was EXTREMELY unlikeable. Like, she was a real B. And yet somehow I found the story compelling enough to continue reading. Towards the end it becomes almost thriller-ish with an action-filled climax.

The hardest part of this book for me was how awful the main character was. It was hard to root for her. Other characters would tell her what a self centred B she was and I got the sense we were meant to feel outraged on her behalf? But in fact I was like... um yeah, they're right?

Somehow her personal issues were meant to make it understandable for her to treat other people like absolute garbage and I just couldn't find any sympathy for her.

The story was interesting and different though. Just an odd reading experience overall.

A quirky and dark look at a woman who seems a bit lost in her life path gets caught up in a "lifestyle community", and now needs to save her mom from its clutches! This was a fairly quick read, although dragged at times and felt like you were waiting around for some action to start.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you, Alcove Press and NetGalley, for the advanced copy of It's Not A Cult.

This book has mystery, laughter, and love in it. While I didn't always agree with the actions of our main character, it helps to remember that she's in her early twenties, and sometimes twenty-somethings can be quite stupid. I read some reviews that said they just didn't like the main character for this reason or that reason, but I found the growth of the main character throughout the novel quite realistic. Good people do bad things sometimes, and that's okay. It's what happens on the other side that counts. This book is a good reminder of that.

I mean, let's face it: Glinda's parents were already a little cooky. They named their daughters Glinda, Dorothy, and West. But when Glinda's dad passes away, her mom seeks solace in the welcoming group called the Starlight Pioneer Society. When Arlon, the group's leader, chooses Glinda's mom to be his wife so that he can take control of their family home and land, Glinda tries to get her sisters and friend to help her save her mother. The problem is that Glinda has done (or been accused of doing) despicable things to break up her twin's relationship and continues to push everyone away. This novel takes us on the journey of Glinda trying to fix the past and do what she can to put the pieces of her family back together.

It’s Not a Cult was a quick read that made you laugh & cry. Glinda’s love her family was amazing and held the story together.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Alcove press for the digital review copy!

It's Not a Cult follows Glinda, who is a bit of a mess as she tries to hold herself and her family together. Her mother has joined a cult (which she insists is not a cult), and Glinda is desperate to save her before things go too far. Unfortunately, she's made a bit of a mess of her relationships with her sisters, so she's short on allies... and increasingly short on time before her mom makes a leap that might not be so easy to come back from.

Honestly, I don't know what to even say except this book! Easily one of my favorite reads of the year so far, which is high praise for a debut.

Told from Glinda's perspective, with alternating scenes from past and present, this story will keep you on your toes. I absolutely devoured it over the course of two days, scolding my husband any time he interrupted my reading experience because I had to know what was going to happen.

Glinda isn't the most likeable protagonist. She makes mistakes, and we slowly learn more and more about her troubled past throughout the course of the novel. Yet, somehow, I found myself rooting for her and wanting her to succeed.

This book has some dark humor threaded throughout, which helps to balance out the disturbing realities of the cult activity a bit. Glinda and her family have been through it, and keep going through it throughout the course of the novel, meaning there are some challenging topics throughout. There definitely is some creepy stuff that happens on page, and part of the reason I finished so fast is that I had to know how everything wound up because there's a good bit of suspense.

In all, It's Not a Cult was a gripping story that kept me on the edge of the seat from start to finish. I highly recommend this to fans of stories about cults and unlikeable female protagonists who don't quite have their stuff together.

ARC REVIEW

It's not a Cult
by Lauren Danhoff

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 rounded up to 4/ 5

Publishing date: 8/22/23

Glinda is working at a Renaissance fair, her father has died, she is living in her childhood home, and her mother is in a cult.  ( Even though her mother insists it's NOT a cult, but it totally is)...What else could possibly go wrong? Perhaps the fact that her mother has announced she is going to marry Arlon, the NON cult leader, and move the entire cult community into her home....which is also where Glinda and her 17 years old sister live.....wait...WHAT?!

To make matters worse, Dorthy, Glindas twin hasn't talked to her in over a year and a half. When Glinda's mother refuses to accept that Arlon is anything more than genuince, Glinda decides to head to Oklahoma to talk to her sister in person. 

Will Glinda be able to reconcile with her sister and stop her mother from destroying their lives and losing everything their father left behind?

Review:
I enjoyed it! The cult aspect was super fun.  If you like cult-ish stuff, this was def a book you should add to your TBR. 

I will admit, I got a little bored about halfway through. I felt like the Glinda/Dorothy and James drama was a bit long and could have been wrapped up a teeeeeny bit faster.

There was a small slice of romance added into the story that I personally could have done without. I don't feel like it added anything to the story but it did give the plot a bit of variety.

Overall, decent read! Again, if cults interest you, give it a go next month when it is released. It shows you how easily people can fall into that world.

Thanks as always to @netgalley
And @alcovepress for the chance to read this one early!

This was a thrilling, silly, and insightful debut novel by Lauren Danhof. Our main character Glinda is Jo March meets Fleabag. In the wake of her father’s death, she’s desperate for things not to change. So of course, her twin sister becomes estranged to her, and her mom joins a cult. We follow Glinda Glass as she grapples with relationships, her sense of self, and an evil cult leader out to ruin her life. This adventurous and dramatic novel has a lot of heart, so if you’re looking for an engaging plot and exciting ensemble paired with a really great character study along the way, this is the book for you. It’s Not A Cult was a really fun and interesting romp into sad girl main character land, and I enjoyed it all.

The ending was incredibly satisfying with just the right amount of twists to surprise me, and this is definitely a new favorite of mine.

I think this is such a good book for:
* Fans of true crime that don’t like being tooo scared
* Therapy enthusiasts
* Grad students
* People who love to label troubled characters as babygirl
* Those who made Wicked the Musical their personality for a bit (sorry I don’t make the rules

It’s Not A Cult is out on August 22nd, but save it to your TBRs now and preorder this debut! Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for this eARC in exchange for an honest review <3.

I thought I’d like this one much more than I actually did. I started out liking the main character, Glinda, and her sarcastic attitude but then she went super toxic and while I wasn’t sure how to feel about the cult aspect, that’s the only part I ended up enjoying. Overall, this one is a very slow paced read and I would only recommend to a certain few to read.

Reading books about cults is a one of my favorite things. I also am a huge fan of Mona Awad’s fever dream writing and I was stoked when Alcove Press sent me a copy of Lauren Danhof’s It’s Not A Cult.

Glinda Glass’ mom is not in a cult, at least that’s what she keeps saying. When Mrs. Glass agrees to marry the leader of the Starlight Pioneer Society, Glinda is desperate to find a way to get her mother out of the society. But college dropout and current Renaissance Fair wrench Glinda isn’t known for her good ideas, and nothing is going as she planned.

I really wanted to love this story. I love quirky books and while this one can definitely be labelled quirky , which a comparison to Mona Awad’s Bunny, I expected so much more. I found most of the characters to be one dimensional and besides Glinda’s younger sister West, I never felt the need to root for any of our characters. Glinda in particular is frustrating with her flawed logic and rash decisions.

The base premise of the story is fascinating, but I kept waiting for it to get better, and it just never delivered for me. I wanted more from the cult aspect (the who, why, and when) and with that Bunny comparison I kept waiting for the fever dream writing to kick. If you’ve read Bunny you know the kind of weird and surreal writing I’m talking about, how this was every comparable to it is a mystery to me.

While the execution needed work, this was a cute story with a focus on how grief can tear a family apart. If you’re looking for a family saga/drama with witty and somewhat funny antics than you’ll enjoy this book.

It’s Not a Cult comes out August 22, 2023. Huge thank you to Alcove Press for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof.books.

A fun and thrilling read. The main character, Glinda, was infuriating but also relatable. the side characters were fully developed and the romance plot was just perfectly sprinkled in. This book has it all from humor, to action, to romance, to found family. Such an enjoyable read!

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for an early copy. This novel is out August 22nd.

This is such a bizarre little book about love, family and loss.

It’s Not A Cult goes from a very strange lighthearted and funny to high stakes and serious consequences. There’s a ren faire, bigfoot and a cult – what could go wrong?

Glinda finds herself out of work and back living at home where her recently widowed mother has embroiled herself in a cult. She has to convince her estranged family that her mother needs help but no one believes her due to her history and unfortunate actions in the past.

I really enjoyed the humour in this book – even when things got dark there was a lightheartedness to it that broke the tension. The characters were great and interactions between them felt real and honest.

Also, why did “you’re my bigfoot” hit so hard???

Glinda is working at a Renaissance Fair after dropping out of grad school. Her twin sister Dorothy (yes....Glinda and Dorothy) isn't speaking to her and her younger sister West is a typical teenager. Her mother is part of a 'society' that IS a cult.

When Glinda finds out that the 'society' is due to move into her childhood home and that her mother is going to marry the leader, she tries everything to stop the wedding and to save her home and her mother.
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While this book did have some very dry humor sections, overall, I found Glinda insufferable. She is selfish and truly only thinking about herself. There are constant references to an incident in college, but it's never fully fleshed out. While this book does explore the concept of grief, it drags a bit too long. There are time jumps to the past to expand the story a bit, but not enough to help redeem Glinda's attitude.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

One of the first things this book made me think of was "don't just tell me, show me." I didn't need the main character to tell me her mom was eccentric, I already knew it... because our main character is named Glinda, and she has a twin named Dorothy.

Glinda and Dorothy are around 25, and both had gone to grad school. They have a younger sister - West - who is still in high school. A few years ago, their dad died unexpectedly.

While grieving, Glinda and her mom attended a support group-like meeting they thought might help them. Glinda instantly saw it as a scam, but her mom loved it. So much so that she's recently agreed to marry the leader, and let the group use her house and property as its new headquarters!

The cult leader, Arlon, now has control of the finances, and shuts off the family's phone service. So, even when Glinda and West hightail it to Oklahoma to find Dorothy - any time they get into trouble, they have no recourse to get help. And trust me, their entourage finds plenty of trouble, both with the cult members and out in the wilderness.

Glinda has a lot of issues. For one, she used to be addicted to Adderall. She also once tried to break up Dorothy and her boyfriend, which is why Dorothy currently isn't talking to her. Even though Glinda claims to be clean now, her family doesn't really trust her judgement. This creates a situation where, even as she tries to convince people that Arlon and his group of "Pioneers" are dangerous, people often think she's just exaggerating.

This story hits the ground running, and then fills in the family history via flashbacks. These are clearly labeled, so there is nothing confusing about using this method of storytelling. I felt like there was a lot of action, and also some lines that made me laugh out loud. I was worried at first, with Glinda's history, that we might end up with an "unreliable narrator" twist - but we do not.

If you're in the mood for a fast-paced, sometimes funny and sometimes frustrating contemporary fiction read, this one should be on your list.

Told with humor and panache, this title is a quick read. Funny, quirky and ultimately interesting, readers will enjoy this as a break from the usual thriller or romance.

This one just wasn’t for me. I didn’t care for the writing, but I was going to tolerate that. The thing that really killed this one for me was the way the characters behaved. These sisters treated each other worse than most teenagers I know, and we are talking about grown ass women (two of them at least). It just really wasn’t for me. The humor was not as funny as I’d hoped, and the characters were like caricatures of real people.

3.5/5. Thanks to Netgalley and Alcove Press for the advanced copy of this book! This was WILD and a true page turner that barely slows down for a second. I really wish there was a bit more ebb and flow though, because as exciting as this was, it was incredibly high energy with characters fighting and not listening to each other constantly the entire way through. It’s both fun and frustrating, which also applies to the main character, Glinda. It’s certainly the point that she’s complicated and truly terrible (and it’s also fully explained due to her trauma), but it’s still exhausting to live the story through her eyes. I also was hoping for a bit more lore and history about the cult itself.

I still consider this a good book overall because it’s completely fascinating and full of drama. It’s nowhere near boring, and that itself makes for a good read. If anything, I think this story would make an excellent movie!

This book was different to my usual reads, and not at all what I was expecting. It was quirky and campy and filled with a lot of interesting characters.

Glinda is a grad school dropout who can't seem to catch a break in her streak of bad situations. Not only is she struggling grief and her life choices, but her mother has become enamoured by a cult leader. The cult has brainwashed her mother and they are slowly taking over her family's home.

This book touches on several topics such as grief, sexual assault, family conflict, and of course, joining a cult. This was a breeze to read; the perfect book to read while travelling or on a plane. The characters aren't too fleshed out and the plot isn't so serious, but also makes light of these serious topics. It is interesting to see the snowball effect of Glinda's poor choices, and how this plays out in the end.

Thank you to Netgalley and Alcove Press for an advance reader copy in exchange for a review.

The writing style and authorial voice didn't work for me in Danhof's novel. The issues at play are extremely important, and knowledge of the dangers of high demand groups was very clear, however the transference of these facts into a fiction narrative setting felt overwrought and clumsy. The first chapter alone felt like an info dump on the BITE Model. All in all, the core themes were there but the execution lacked.

A book about grief, forgiveness and looking after family. I had tears of laughter streaming in my eyes. The characters are all believable.

Thanks NetGalley and Alcove Press for this arc.

3.75/5 stars

The last half of this book was infinitely better than the first half. I very seriously considered dnf'ing it around 55% because I just couldn't take everyone's rude bullshit anymore, especially the main character Glinda. Her angst and self loathing was nearly too much to take, but she did eventually have some growth, as with most other characters.

This book was not bad. I read it in a day, and have been really into reading about cults lately so this definitely scratched that itch, lol. It almost feels more of a YA/New Adult book than adult fiction, because of all the excessive ANGST. I know the mc was around 25, but damn she sure didn't act like it.