Book Description 

The things I’ve seen are burned into me, like scars that refuse to fade.

Before, she lived inside the fence. Before, she was never allowed to leave the property, never allowed to talk to Outsiders, never allowed to speak her mind. Because Father John controlled everything—and Father John liked rules. Disobeying Father John came with terrible consequences.

But there are lies behind Father John’s words. Outside, there are different truths.

Then came the fire.

My Review 

Moonbeam is a teenage girl who spent almost her entire life living in a religious compound with virtually no access to the outside world. Everything is controlled by the mercurial Father John, whose whims affect every aspect of the lives of the members of the group.  

As the story begins, her group has experienced a catastrophic event reminiscent to this adult reader of the incident in Waco. Most of the adult members have been killed in the standoff and the children have been brought to a facility where they can process not only the incident that brought them there, but also the disparities between their perception of the secular world and the realities. 

The narrative shifts between the present day and vignettes of Moonbeam’s life on the compound that provide background into the problematic policies that culminated with disaster. 

As much as I liked this book, I found Moonbeam to be too insightful considering that she spent almost her entire life with the religious group. Her foil, a boy who is almost the same age as her, is a true believer and warns the other children not to trust the serpents of the secular world. I can suspend my disbelief and accept Moonbeam’s skepticism, but she doesn’t seem to struggle to adjust to life away from the compound as much as one might expect. 

I would recommend After the Fire. This is an interesting young adult book that would make a great limited series on a streaming service. 

I received a digital ARC of this book from Sourcebooks/NetGalley.