O Sinners is about Faraq Zaidi, a young journalist investigating a cult, following the death of his father. While living with the cult, Faraq crossed the line between journalist and cult member, especially with female in the cult. The book had several subplots and jumped from one to another. The cult leader's experiences as a soldier during the Vietnam War were not clear as the reader has no idea which soldier of several he was. Another subplot resembled a news feed or documentary about a fundamentalist religious group in Texas that had a past conflict with the cult. I did not see the relevance. I struggled to feel connected to Faraq, or any of the chatacters. I found the story to be long with little clarity of where it was going. If you have an interest in cults, especially how new members are groomed or enticed to join, this may be a read for you. Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for the ARC of O Sonners.

This story sounded so interesting to me-a guy (Faruq) heads out to live with a sorta-cult called "the nameless" to write an article about them after having seen a documentary about them. Faruq is both pulled in by it all but also skeptical, but is that because he's dealing with a lot of grief and might have come here at the wrong/right time? The story cycles between Faruq's POV, clips from the documentary, and flashbacks to Vietnam during the war.

I was sucked into this story so fast. Cults, creepy coincidences, grief commentary, and the documentary bits really had me. The writing was good, the story seemed like it was going somewhere, and I enjoyed it! But then there was the ending, and the ending just kinda gave nothing. I wouldn't say questions were left unanswered, I would say questions were forgotten. I expected there to be a point, or some kind of finality, to the story, and then there just wasn't. Bummer.

Still recommend, and I do think some readers would like the way it ends. Just not me!

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House One World for the e-ARC!

O Sinners!
Nicole Cuffy

Faruq Zaidi is a respected journalist, who has been tasked with infiltrating The Nameless. Faruq and his boss, Anita, aren’t worried about the possibility that this encounter could have a lasting effect on Faruq.

The Nameless is a an eccentric group of people that have an infinity for beauty. They bask in the beauty of the arts, themselves, each other and most importantly Odo, as an extension of Vutu. You see Vutu as their supreme being. Although, the followers of the 18 utterances don’t believe they’re in a cult even though it’s clear as day. Their actions exhibit the basic characteristics of a cult.

Odo provides a pseudo-parental landing pad for those who need it. But, it shouldn’t be ignored that Odo enjoys the attention and greatly benefits from the adoration and loyalty of his followers.

Three storylines are told simultaneously: Faruq’s analysis, Odo’s wartime story, and the recount of a documentary script about The Nameless.

I’ll break down my interpretation for each storyline and then how they connect.

Faruq is still dealing with the grief of his father‘s death. That grief further ignites the pangs that his mother‘s death caused 15 years prior. There is no place that feels completely his own. He’s living in the essence of his parents limitations. His extended family tries to show that they care but often overstep his boundaries. Farooq is both lost and hiding in the pain of those losses. In many ways, being with The Nameless forces him to stop hiding and stop running.

During Odo’s in Vietnam, he lost a lot of friends. Forced to engage in a battle that would not benefit him when he came home. I don’t think it’s far-fetched to understand why or how Odo has the wherewithal to lean into an establishment like The Nameless. Yes, I think it has a lot to do with wanting a safe space for himself after dealing with so much death and horror.

Lastly, the unfortunate events that occurred in Texas shown through the documentary script, provided context. It would appear that Odo
and his followers were merely exercising their free rights. Only attaching themselves to people that wanted to be involved in what they were doing. But the church took issue with their approach.

Nevertheless, I think the real or another underlining perspective is of this cycle in life. There are points when a person is inquisitive about life or has hit a unthreaded path. They seek comfort of like-minded people. Even when those beliefs are challenge by others that are outside of that circle or group of beliefs, they have to push pass whatever is comfortable to really find out what makes sense for themselves or what they may gain from this situation, perspectively.

I thoroughly enjoy this novel. It forces me to think about how I do or don’t process grief. Thank #netgalley and #randomhousepublishinggroup for the ARC.

O Sinners! (and the title means nothing because it only appears once in a song, one of many songs sung throughout the book) is the story, more or less, of a cult that claims (like most cults) to be THE TRUTH. It is told through three recurrent viewpoints - a photojournalist of Arab-American descent, four young Black soldiers serving in Vietnam, and a middle-aged Vietnamese-American filmmaker.
Faruq leaves his home in New York City to investigate a group known as the nameless. He an atheist whose devout Muslim father has just died. His mother died many years before, under strange and tragic circumstances. Faruq travels to the Forbidden City, a nameless community in the woods of Northern California, to meet the group's leader, Odo, and learn enough to write an article about the nameless. He plans to spend six weeks in the Forbidden City.
The soldiers - Preach, Crazy Horse, Silk, and Bigger - are still in their late teens, and unprepared for the experience of war. All are used to poverty and racism, but they have never encountered anything like Vietnam. It took me several chapters to realize that Odo was one of the soldiers (this is NOT a spoiler, because his identity is not revealed until the end of the book) His real name is unimportant.
Minh-An is the creator of "Nero," a documentary about the nameless and their experience in a small Texas town where the pastor of a Christian fundamentalist church decides that Odo is the Anti-Christ. Minh-An identifies herself as a follower of the nameless.
The idea behind O Sinners! is compelling and the book is beautifully written, but it goes on for too long. About half-way through, I felt that I really didn't need to hear any more about Vietnam or the Forbidden City. I got the point of both situations and felt like I was treading water for the rest of the book. The documentary sections were briefer and less repetitive, but I found it a bit frustrating to follow footnotes that listed sound effects ("SILENCE") and musical selections that I could not appreciate unless I stopped reading and looked them up on YouTube. There are also Instagram posts that I chose to ignore.
There are a few loose ends (the character of Zephyr, the origin of Odo's name -I thought it was a Star Trek Deep Space Nine reference!- and who was actually moving stuff around in Faruq's rooms) that bothered me, but I suppose the nameless would see that as proof of my Distortion.
O Sinners! is an interesting book that could have been much better if it were tighter.
I am grateful to NetGalley and One World for the opportunity to read a free advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading O Sinners by Nicole Cuffy. This captivating book is brilliantly written, thought-provoking, and quite fascinating. I read the author’s previous book, and loved it. I was so excited to have the opportunity to read her latest effort. This book totally surpassed my eagerness, and expectation. I continued thinking about the story long after I finished it. A huge thank you to One World, the author and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy of the book.

The premise of this searing, cult-focused novel is told from three perspectives. Faruq Zaidi, a young journalist who has just recently lost, and had to bury his father, a devout Muslim man. Faruq has never been as dutiful in his own religious practice, so as he grapples with the loss, and grief of his father’s death he becomes swept up in investigating, and then gets fully involved with a cult called the nameless. Base in the California redwoods. This cult is led by Odo, who was once a Black infantryman that served during the Vietnam War, and there is a documentary script that depicts the fight between the nameless and a Texas fundamentalist church. Even though Faruq is skeptical of the nameless cult’s unorthodox beliefs and teachings, he continues to find himself more entangled within the cult, determined to figure out their mystery. But as he does so, Faruq finds himself steadily drawn to Odo’s magnetism, he begins to spiral, fall apart and has to deal with his own issues.

O Sinners is an exhilarating, highly engaging, immersive masterpiece. Nicole Cuffy does an exceptional job of really differentiating between each of the various perspectives and timelines. The story explores religion, family, loss, grief, spirituality, politics, violence, racism, longing and belonging. O Sinners raises the question: What happens when we relinquish control, and truly find our own place in the world? This lyrically, penetrating book is a must read.

3.5 This was fun. I enjoy a good cult book, and this one was no different; its psychological, its spooky, its revelatory. I enjoyed the way the story was told through three interwoven narratives. I feel like the scrip and the insta posts could have been tightened up a little, but otherwise is was a fresh and interesting way to tell the story. I think there were times pacing could have been tightened up and some of the characters and their backdrops could have been more nuanced and polished, but overall I enjoyed. recommend!

This was well written but the plot was ultimately disappointing for me. I was bored and all of the characters were written in such a way that they were extremely hard to understand or like. I was unhappy reading this but I hope you have better luck!

O Sinners! comes out next week on March 18, 2025, and you can purchase HERE.

"I need answers."
"To what? What're you asking?"
"I don't know-nothing new. The same thing everyone asks: Why? What's the meaning?"
"Nah, don't do that-stay inside yourself. What are you asking? What are you trying to get to?"
"The truth, I guess."
"What truth?"
"I don't know, general truth, truth of the world, of my life?"
"And what's the truth gonna do for you? Hold you down?
Anchor you? Give you some promise that makes all the shit worth living through? Make you feel like what you've lost, you haven't lost in vain?" Odo chuckled. "You believe in Nothing, scholar. And I mean that with a capital N. But you ain't comfortable with it. Nah. You trying to fill all that Nothing with truth."

This is a tough book for me to rate. I enjoyed the experience of reading it and was intrigued to see where the story was leading, but ultimately, I was left unsatisfied. I didn't really understand the point of it, and I felt like there were so many loose ends.

There were certain plot points that were given a decent amount of focus (the wolf, the foals, the strange things happening to Faruq's belongings), but never truly explained.

There was a present day storyline and well as flashback storylines, one of which detailed the cult leader's experiences in Vietnam. However, while I expected the Vietnam flashbacks to explain how the cult leader was shaped into who he became, I didn't really feel that they did that (unless it totally went over my head, which is possible).

I don't think this was a bad book; as I said, it kept my interest throughout. I just would have liked some answers to the questions that were brought about through the course of the story, and I would've liked to have felt like there was more of a "point" to the story.

To be fair, though, I seem to do best with understanding things at face value. I suspect there is a lot of underlying meaning on inferences in this book that escaped me, simply because that's not the way my brain works. So I do think many others will love this book and rate it higher than I did. For anyone that is good at understanding implied meanings or reading between the lines, I think it'll be a well-loved read.

Thank you to Random House/OneWorld and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Real Rating: 3.5* of five

I am exactly the right audience for this story: I think cults are reprehensible, predatory horrors; I'm part of the generation defined by the Vietnam War and its aftermath; I'm a strong advocate of novels that tell stories complicated by memories a character needs to repress in order to make sense of their daily life.

After about the fifth time-switch I felt ping-ponged; after the repetitions of the 18 Utterances, I was not able to control my eyerolling. I just liked the story, yet didn't like the storytelling as much.

One World asks $13.99 for the ebook. I myownself would ask the library to get one.

A journalist grieving his father’s recent death is sent on an assignment to report on a cult in California. The story alternates between present day and the founder’s journey to establish the group starting in the 1960’s.

I found the present day storyline more compelling to read as were following Faruq try to report on the cult without getting pulled further into it. I did appreciate the format of the flashbacks, as part of it was written as a script of a documentary about the cult. Overall, I just couldn’t really get into the flashbacks, even though I understood that they were important in understanding the cult. It was interesting to see how the Vietnam War and race impacted the cult’s founding and its members since most content about cults centers white people and cults led by white men. I think if you are really into the psychology of cults, and particularly in the story of a cult leaders background, I would recommend this book to you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is doing a lot—and for the most part, I enjoyed it. The way it weaves together different POVs—jumping from Vietnam to the present, and even incorporating a documentary script—made for an engaging read. .

I also enjoyed how this book centers men characters in a way I don’t see often, especially with a Black man as the leader of a cult and explored religion outside of Christianity.

That said, the Vietnam flashbacks left me wanting more. I kept waiting for deeper insight into Odo. There was no charisma and the Vietnam flashbacks didn't offer a lot of insight into how that experience shaped him

Still, O, Sinners is such a unique read, and I appreciate how it pushes boundaries both in style and subject matter.

Nicole Cuffy’s O Sinners is a sharp, absorbing novel that digs into faith, grief, and the strange ways people seek meaning. At the center is Faruq, a journalist still reeling from his father’s death, who embeds himself in a secluded cult-like commune called the nameless. Led by the mysterious Odo, the group preaches radical ideas about beauty, suffering, and truth, concepts that feel both comforting and unsettling. As Faruq observes them, he finds himself drawn in, questioning not just the cult but his own past, identity, and beliefs.

What makes O Sinners so compelling to myself is how Cuffy captures the quiet seduction of belonging. The nameless aren’t just a warning about cults; they represent something deeper, the human need for purpose and connection, even when it leads us somewhere dangerous. The novel moves between different perspectives and timelines, adding layers to the story without ever losing its momentum. Cuffy’s writing is crisp and immersive, pulling you into Faruq’s mind as he struggles with what he sees and how it makes him feel. It doesn’t offer easy answers, but it lingers in the best way.

Overall this was a beautiful book. I had a lot of fun reading it, but I feel like a lot of loose ends were left. The ending did not leave me with that feeling of satisfaction that comes with reading a wholly amazing book, so I am giving this book a 3.5 stars on 5. there was so much potential with the various themes explored, but the culmination fell flat since only one of the development points was fleshed out. I wanted more clarity on the cult aspect, the supernatural/religious aspect, the WOLF? what was going on there. You could argue that this book is an exploration of grief and exploration of selfhood apart from parental figures, but it is not overly clear. The initial summary highlights themes and motifs that ended up not being the main piece in the story, therefore I feel a bit let down. The pacing was also challenging to get into, the back-and-forth at the beginning was jolting then there was a major slowdown at the 75% mark, which made me lose some momentum. So much potential here, i’m admittedly sad that the ending was not satisfying. Overall, a wonderful book with room to improve.

Additional information on my substack review!

This won't be for anyone -it's a challenging read that moves back and forth between a cult in the present and the Vietnam war. Faruq, a journalist in mourning, heads out to investigate the Nameless, a California based cult run by the mysterious Odo. That's fairly straightforward but then there are the flashbacks to the War, where you will find yourself focused on figuring out which of the soldiers survive and which of them is Odo. And then there's the documentary. I admired this more than enjoyed it. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For fans of literary fiction.

I love a cult book. I REALLY love a well-done cult book. This....is not that.

Three perspectives, same storyline, in some way, but also interspersed with Instagram posts? It's a little too....now for me. The choice to make Faruq a Muslim and to put all of the stereotypes that are often assigned to Muslim characters was....a choice. I just....sometimes I just....why? How does this advance a story?

War flashbacks, the fake script?

Nothing worked. NOTHING worked for me.

Thanks anyway?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review!

O Sinners! has a lot going for it that I usually like—cults, journalism, family drama. For whatever reason, it just didn’t suck me in like I expected it to. I think the opening was slower than I wanted it to be and the parts that really sang were buried in an obtuse narrative that didn’t move the reader along at the right pace.

Readers should also know that this book has some experimental parts and structures, like instagram posts and parts of scripts. Again, usually as a reader this doesn’t bother me but here it did feel a little jolting and detracting from the overall plot—but maybe that’s part of the point?

I would say that this is for a reader who is willing to work with the author to get at the heart of the story—your efforts will be rewarded!

I had trouble following the plot for this story. I enjoyed the chapters that reflected on the character's experiences during the Vietnam War and also the time spent at the compound in the woods. The sections that were written as script or as interviews and posts threw me off the trail for a bit.
Thanks so much to Random House Publishing Group-Random House for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date is March 18, 2025.

I was drawn to this book because I pretty much eat up anything about cults and I loved the eye-catching cover. It had a few issues that bugged me but not enough to take away my overall enjoyment of the work.

"O, Sinners!" is Nicole Cuffy's sophomore effort that takes a literary look at a spiritual movement that may or may not be a cult through the eyes of a reporter who specializes in immersive journalism. It moves between present day, alt text of social media posts, the script of a documentary filmed about the movement, and cult leader Odo's Vietnam War experiences. I found the social media posts and the script chapters hard to read because they felt clunky in ebook format; it probably would be even weirder in audio book. This book is likely best read as a physical copy.

Faruq, the journalist, embeds with the cult in their compound in Northern California. Another quibble: The geography kind of got to me, a beach so close a different type of environment, but that's just from someone who's been there. Anyway, he's grieving his dead parents - a strict, religious Muslim father who drove away his mother, who killed herself years before. Probably not the best state of mind to investigate a cult specializing in emotional manipulation, so for that I forgive him some of his journalism faux pas.

Once in California, Faruq finds a community of people who are expert social media influencers who take in people who have experienced trauma, most of whom are conventionally attractive. He keeps getting the feeling that something's not quite right there even as he finds himself drawn to their ways to help process his grief and extends his stay from six weeks to three months. He's long convinced there's something nefarious just under the surface but he can never quite find it, and his general aversion to religion makes him biased.

As a journalist I found Faruq annoying, since I'm a former journalist myself. He only ever asked soft leading questions, he didn't ask obvious questions, he let himself become part of the story and he let his emotions get the better of him. But that was also the point. In a vulnerable position, he fell for the cult's tactics, even as he denied it to the end.

I found this refreshing because the cult was a group of hippie progressives and it was entirely plausible that a movement like this could exist in real life. I also found it refreshing that the question of whether it was a harmful cult or just a spiritual movement that brought people peace was never quite resolved.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I didn't like this as much as I'd expected :( this has all the makings of a book I'd love but I found it super hard to follow for too long which just really lowered my enjoyment of the whole thing.

Some of this really worked for me some of it really didn’t. So it sits right in the middle.

Faruq is a journalist going to investigate a cult. (Loved) we also have snippets of a documentary about the cult(meh) and then flashbacks of the cult leader’s time in the Vietnam war. (Could have left this out)

I think Faruq was a an interesting character and had some heartbreaking backstory. I think leaving the focus of the book on him would have felt less jarring.
Thanks to netgalley and random house for an eARC