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By: AUCK 406
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2025-02-17 13:00:58 |
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This book was loved by all and generated the most discussion we've ever had! |
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By: HAMIL 007
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2024-10-16 11:50:15 |
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Charity Norman has written a compelling novel woven around a significant social and cultural issue. Being of a certain demographic, some of us had strong memories of the cults and gurus that proliferated across the world in the 1970s. There were many examples in New Zealand, both home grown and international. In summary, it's a well-written book, a page turner in fact, and it's also highly informative and provides interesting perspectives on a phenomenon that is still with us today in various forms. |
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By: WELL 189
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2024-01-28 12:39:06 |
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Our group all really enjoyed this book. It was well-written, and the story unfolded so cleverly and kept us guessing at the ending all the way though. Each of the characters, from Cassy, to her parents and sisters and other community members were really well developed, and we empathised with their struggles and decisions. The Rotorua setting and the juxtaposition of the rural ideal of the community and Cassy and her family's "normal" suburban UK homelife was well-drawn. A great read, and we all wanted to read more from this author. |
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By: NELS 056
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2023-12-18 13:51:06 |
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Most of our group enjoyed the book. It is easy to read and thought-provoking, with an unpredictable ending. It gave us plenty to discuss with its connections to cults in N.Z, and the symbolic connections with the modern cult of social media. |
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By: NAP 034
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2023-10-01 10:36:54 |
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All members found this an easy read. Some loved it and some really did not like the writing style and story line. Overall, it was well received and engaging. |
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By: AUCK 412
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2023-09-25 22:16:38 |
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This was a very popular book with us all. It was very thought-provoking re how easily young, vulnerable people can end up in a cult-like situation. Heartbreaking for the parents and sister. We concurred that it was one of our best reads to date. |
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By: LEVIN 001
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2023-07-19 14:41:34 |
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Everyone enjoyed the book. Gave rise to interesting discussion regarding the definition of 'religion' and 'cult'. |
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By: NEWP 018
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2021-10-11 12:05:43 |
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Very engaging book. Our club has quite a large age difference and it captured all of us. It generated a lot of discussion with the conclusion that we were all astonished by. How easily any of us could be 'lured' into a cult situation. Very believable. |
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By: CHCH 240
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2021-04-26 10:33:19 |
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This book opened a great discussion and everyone loved reading it. Intriguing as to how someone could get 'sucked' into a cult, with many making comparisons to a 'group' here in NZ. Some found it disturbing learning about 'brain manipulation' but thought it compelling reading. All felt for the family and what they went through, asking "what would we have done...." |
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By: AUCK 255
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2020-08-19 12:19:07 |
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Stimulated a lot of discussion about manipulating people by diminishing or embellishing their self-worth. We particularly liked the excerpts from the cult leaders' manual. |
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By: PAIHIA 003
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2019-06-19 12:13:29 |
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Well-written. We felt that the author showed a good understanding of cults and the devastating effect that losing a child in this way would have on a family. Very believable. |
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By: ASHB 027
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2019-05-14 10:53:57 |
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Most of us enjoyed this as a good yarn and wanted to see how it turned out. The snippets of 'how to run a cult' were fascinating and it was nice to read about a NZ setting. We had a lot of discussion around cult vs religion, how believable it would be in an area like this was set in. Some of us felt the characterization was a bit lacking and it was difficult to gain a mental picture of characters because of this and their names within the cult. We recommend it with conditions. |
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By: HAMIL 029
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2019-05-09 09:59:29 |
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We all found this a very readable book, well-written with plenty of tension. We liked the way the techniques for bringing new members into the cult were laid out, explaining so much about how a cult works. The characters are rather stereotyped and lightly drawn but the book certainly holds the reader's attention. |
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By: HAMIL 063
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2019-04-16 21:21:22 |
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This led to lots of discussion about cults, and cults in New Zealand. Some of us thought it was a bit slow to start but great when you got into it and it seemed to end quickly. We did wonder if there was a sequel coming Lots of characters to keep track of, but overall an enjoyable read that we would recommend to others. |
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By: WANAK 008
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2019-04-15 10:03:43 |
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We rated 'See You in September highly, and it generated a great deal of discussion. |
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By: CHCH 468
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2019-04-15 10:02:34 |
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All members of the group enjoyed this book. The Cult Leader's manual at the beginning of every 2nd()chapter explained how a cult works and was very readable. It was a sign of a good read that we couldn't put it down. |
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By: TIMAR 020
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2019-04-03 15:02:02 |
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Led to lots of discussion. One of those "could not put it down" books. People in the group have already enjoyed Charity Norman books before and since. |
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By: WANAK 008
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2019-04-02 18:34:04 |
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We all gave this book the thumbs up although several found it somewhat disturbing. We thought the story was told in a very clever way that drew you in quite quickly. It provoked a lot of discussion about religious cults, travel, personality and family dynamics. We liked the New Zealand setting for the story. |
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By: NELS 043
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2019-02-18 13:28:28 |
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Our group collectively really enjoyed this book. We felt it was very well-written, very realistic and riveting. Highly recommended. |
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By: HAST 007
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2019-02-18 13:26:51 |
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A great read - loved by all. |
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By: CHCH 317
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2019-02-18 13:25:52 |
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This book provoked a lot of discussion. It was a significant insight into mind manipulation and how these cults develop and survive. The discussion involved cults around in NZ today. Most of the group found it disturbing but informative, and once into the body of the story, we found it hard to put down. |
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