4 Great YAs About Cults and Communes

Vivian Apple at the End of the World, by Katie Coyle
Viv isn’t a Believer. Unlike her parents and a large portion of the country, she doesn’t subscribe to the Church of America’s idea that the world is on the verge of ending, and that only obeying the teachings of the prophet Beaton Frick will save them. So when her parents and a host of other Believers suddenly disappear, seemingly “raptured,” Viv goes on a quest for the truth. Along for the ride are her best friend, Harp (who’s one of my new favorite YA BFFs), and Peter, a guy with his own dark reasons for joining the anti-crusade. As the group makes their way across the country, relationships change, emotional secrets and truths are revealed, and twists and turns I did not see coming hit hard. A really interesting and thoughtful read that has me craving September’s sequel, Vivian Apple Needs a Miracle, yesterday.

Gated, by Amy Christine Parker
In the community of Mandrodage Meadows, learning how to use a gun is mandatory, the end times are nigh, and a man they refer to as Pioneer is king. Lyla hasn’t quite mastered the gun part, but everything else she’s ever wanted is inside the development’s walls…until she meets an outsider, and everything she thought she knew about the worlds both outside and in begins to crumble. As she begins to internalize the realities of the manipulation, threats, and violence that define her current lifestyle, she realizes she and those she loves aren’t in the safe space they thought they were. But Pioneer didn’t become a leader by being an idiot, and a head-to-head battle between the two is one Lyla cannot win, if she survives it at all. Truly creepy and thrilling, particularly with chapter-opening quotes by both Pioneer and real-life cult leaders from recent history that serve exceptionally well to bring reality home.

The Violet Hour, by Whitney Miller
Cult meets gory horror in a major way in this series opener featuring a cult leader’s daughter fighting a secret compulsion to kill. Taking readers from Tokyo to Beijing and down to Harlow’s birthplace of Cambodia, Miller’s debut is bloody, fast-paced, and delightfully terror-inducing. It’s also got an ending that’ll leave your jaw on the floor and have you clamoring for the newly released sequel, The Crimson Gate, which takes Harlow back to China and pulls her into Russia.

The Patron Saint of Butterflies, by Cecilia Galante
Learning there’s more beyond a commune’s walls is one thing, but what happens when someone forces you to leave the only world you know for good? That’s what happens to Agnes when her grandmother drops by the religious commune she calls home and learns about the abuse happening there. Suddenly, Agnes, her brother, and her best friend are living on the outside, trying to make sense of both their new surroundings and the truth about where they came from. But the harshest lesson for Agnes is yet to come, and the heartbreak in this book comes fast and furious. The fact that the author herself grew up in such a commune makes this already poignant book all the more so, and the conversation with her at the back of the book is not to be missed.