The Cresswell Plot by Eliza Wass Publisher: Disney Hyperion (2016 - June 7)
eARC (272 pages)
Via: NetGalley
Rating:
Reading Challenges: Read 2016
Synopsis
The woods were insane in the dark, terrifying and magical at the same time. But best of all were the stars, which trumpeted their light into the misty dark.
Castella Cresswell and her five siblings—Hannan, Caspar, Mortimer, Delvive, and Jerusalem—know what it’s like to be different. For years, their world has been confined to their ramshackle family home deep in the woods of upstate New York. They abide by the strict rule of God, whose messages come directly from their father.
Slowly, Castley and her siblings start to test the boundaries of the laws that bind them. But, at school, they’re still the freaks they’ve always been to the outside world. Marked by their plain clothing. Unexplained bruising. Utter isolation from their classmates. That is, until Castley is forced to partner with the totally irritating, totally normal George Gray, who offers her a glimpse of a life filled with freedom and choice.
Castley’s world rapidly expands beyond the woods she knows so well and the beliefs she once thought were the only truths. There is a future waiting for her if she can escape her father’s grasp, but Castley refuses to leave her siblings behind. Just as she begins to form a plan, her father makes a chilling announcement: the Cresswells will soon return to their home in heaven. With time running out on all of their lives, Castley must expose the depth of her father’s lies. The forest has buried the truth in darkness for far too long. Castley might be their last hope for salvation.
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My Review
The Cresswell Plot is a very unique book and definitely quite different from what I usually read. This is contemporary focusing on what is, basically, a cult.
Castely’s father believes he hears the voice of God. He believes that his family is the last of the pure humanity. In a twisted way, he seems to truly believe he is protecting his family and following God’s will by isolating his family and keeping them separate from society.
Castely has never known a regular life. She is part of a set of triplets where her brother, Hannan, is a football player and her sister, Delvive, is a stickler for the rules. Then there is another brother, Mortimer, who is a rebel and one, Caspar, who is the best of them all. Then, there is Castely’s youngest sister, Jerusalem, who no longer speaks.
This is such an odd family. Apparently their father has had a vision in which it was revealed that each of the siblings would have to marry one of their own siblings. This is, apparently, because the Cresswells are the last pure family on earth to follow God’s will.
You can kind of see where the story is heading from the beginning. The synopsis says, “her father makes a chilling announcement: the Cresswells will soon return to their home in heaven.” You can see where this plot is going to end, but how it gets to that point is interesting.
There were parts of this novel where I was reading as fast as I could to see what happened next. Then, there were parts that seemed to drag. It was as if there was a pacing issue. Sure, the more boring bits gave some context but it wasn’t super interesting all the time.
Then, there was the ending. It worked, but I wanted more. It was as if there was a chapter missing that would answer how exactly we got to that ending.
While I did enjoy parts of The Cresswell Plot and it was interesting, I didn’t love it. There were parts that seemed unnecessary and the ending definitely needed more, in my opinion.
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley for
review consideration. This in no way affects my opinion of the title
nor the content of this review.
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