This has been on my TBR for 8 years and last year I had been eyeing it every month on my shelf and I finally picked it up and it got me. I am not a big reader of books in verse and I figured this would be a quick read but this took me a week and I gave it a 4 star. The content is so hard to digest and fly through. I wanted to take my time and also speed because I needed to know what was going to happen to Pattyn and how she would deal with her situation.
Pattyn is our main character who is 17 and she is a Mormon. She is the eldest of 7 girls and her father wants a boy so damn badly. Her mom is described as a lazy breeder who doesn't fight back when Pattyn's father goes hitting. Her father is a former Vietnam vet who joined as soon as he could. He is now an abuser and an alcoholic who have the church leaders in his pocket because he is a man. The church believes that everything belongs to man and that his wife and daughters are property to do to as he pleases.
Pattyn starts having "impure" thoughts about boys and one day she is out shooting in the desert and one of the guys she has a crush on comes by with his girlfriend and his buddies. One of the buddies Derek gets close to Pattyn and they are an item for a couple weeks. She almost gives up her virginity and then her dad catches them in the desert while they are drunk and he threatens Derek. Derek ends up dumping Pattyn and getting with another girl named Carmen and it enrages Pattyn. She starts a fight and causes damage to the school. Her father decides to send her away to his sister's in the middle of no where and he thinks that will be a punishment, which it backfires because it becomes a saving grace and life changing summer for Pattyn.
She learns to question the world around her including her faith. She learns to drive instead of waiting for permission from a future husband if he wished her to learn. She learns to ride a horse and be free. She falls in love properly with a boy who is so perfect. Then the end of summer comes around and she has to go back to her old life. Her mom is pregnant finally with a son and Pattyn is getting physically abused by her father.
I will not spoil the ending because I was fliping through the book before I finished and sadly I spoiled myself and ruined the "twist". I have read another book this year with this same plot device and I honestly hate that plot device because what it includes is a phobia I have and it impacts my life on the daily.
I am going to be starting the sequel right after I publish this post because I need to know what happens to Pattyn and her family. I want to know what happens to Aunt J and if there will be any justice.
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