Beautifully written but ultimately depressing.

I loved this book from the beginning. Ninah is a wonderful character, the entire eccentric community of The Church of Fire and Brimstone and God's Almighty Baptizing Wind is peopled by wonderful characters. The story is lively and fresh, and not as dark or brutal as one fears when they read the back of the book. However, the end seemed to just fray apart like a woven rug that is taken off the loom unfinished. I was disappointed by this, but I do recommend this book and would read it again, readily.

I'm sorry. I couldn't get through this one. It just wasn't my cup of tea. I'm passing it on to others, though. Maybe they will like it better.

This book was frustrating for me and the ending was stupid. Maybe I just didn't get it.

Even within religious cults, there are a variety of personalities and faith. In the religious cult in this book, there are many believers who completely accept what their leader preaches. But there are also skeptics who question or are embarrassed by the dictums they are asked to live by. Particularly odious are the punishments meted out to those who have "sinned" in some way. These punishments include whipping, sleeping in beds filled with nettles, sleeping on graves, a type of water boarding (dunkings), castration, and banishment.

The main narrator is a 13-year-old girl who becomes pregnant from her prayer partner. Fearing what the religious leaders will do to him, he commits suicide. She avoids immediate punishment by claiming she is having a virgin birth. When her son is born with his hands joined by a thin strip of skin as if he is praying, the community hales him as a messiah. His teen mother is not initially allowed to raise him, but the cult's leader is descending into dementia and a leadership struggle and significant changes may be imminent.

I am not in any way religious, but this book was moderately interesting to me to see how people accept and challenge the rules their communities place on them.

I forgot the title of this book but read it a long time ago. Unfortunately I read it for a book group. If I were to read the jacket, I most likely would not have picked it up.

This book moved me so much! I was immediately drawn to the character of Ninah and her story. She is being raised in a religious cult and is extremely naive, but never in an eye-rolling way. It is her coming of age story and we watch as she learns to think independently and finds her inner strength.
Goodreads has this categorized as fiction and then religion, but this is not a religious book or a book about religion.

My only negative was that the ending came too quickly and felt a bit abrupt. It was one of the books that had me starting to panic as I had fewer and fewer pages left. I was so invested that I wasn’t ready for the book to end or to say goodbye to Ninah. I wanted her whole life story which (spoiler) we don’t get. It left me feeling a little bereft and disappointed. However, after pondering it for a few days, I can appreciate the ending more. Instead of giving us all the details, it leaves us with hope for a future filled with all kinds of possibilities.


“There's only so much room in one heart. You can fill it up with love or you can fill it with resentment. But every bit of resentment you hold takes space away from the love. And the resentment don't do no good noway, but look what love can do.”

10/10 ~IGN

This is a very powerful story of a rapture Christian community who must be more faithful to their charismatic leader than to God. Overall, I think this was a sympathetic portrayal of the community, and I loved the main character Ninah’s relationship with her grandmother. Some people who identify as Christian may be offended by some things in this book, but in my opinion, this book portrays religious extremism more than Christian faith, and even the picture it paints of this community is not unsympathetic or simplistic. I found the second half of this story extremely captivating and the writing was excellent throughout. Another great book from Sheri Reynolds

Just plain weird. Those of you who liked it are going to have to explain why! I liked the ending more or less....but overall was unimpressed with the book. Maybe I'm not smart enough to "get it". :)

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but I was drawn in by the strangeness of the main character's situation.

The setting is modern day Virginia. But teenage Ninah lives in a rural religious community that seems like something out of a previous century. The enclave is made up almost entirely of her own relatives, with her grandfather making up the rules for everyone, doling out punishments ranging from prayer and fasting, to beatings, to being forced to spend a night in a grave. The kids face culture shock every day when they ride the bus to the public school in town, where their unusually modest clothes and hairstyles set them apart, and where, by mutual agreement, they wear gym shorts when required but make a pact never to tell the grownups at home, since shorts are considered sinful and they fear their grandfather's wrath. Besides, they couldn't bear the embarrassment of having a delegation of their parents descend on the school to complain.

Ninah is a sweet, obedient, naive kid. She doesn't always understand or agree with her grandpa's iron rules, but she goes along because she's afraid of his punishments, but also because she believes what she's been told about being tortured by demons after the Rapture if she isn't deemed worthy of salvation. Her grandmother -- who also questions the community's rules, but only in private --
is Ninah's one safe sounding board. If she spoke honestly with anyone else about her doubts, she'd risk severe sanctions.

But now Ninah is confused. She's having feelings for James, who is technically her nephew, though he's a bit older than she is, and is related only by marriage. And James seems to return her feelings. When her grandmother arranges for the two to be made "prayer buddies," they start spending more time alone, and go way beyond praying, and no matter how much Ninah tries to tell herself it's God's will, she knows she's playing with fire. And brimstone.

This would be a good book if Sheri Reynolds could write. Iam not going to finish this dribble.