Devoted

By: Jennifer 
Location: FIC MAT
Genre: I am Esther USA Styles. 

A novel that could come out of Gloriavale!

An empowering, feminist coming-of-age story about self-discovery, from the author of MOXIE 

A list of quotes gives a great summary of this book

"He'll want a women who submits to his authority." 

"Why do Mom and Dad believe in doctors for our bodies and not for our minds? After all, our brains are part of our bodies."

"Why did God give me a brain if he didn't want me to use it to learn about anything I wanted to learn about?" 

"But why? Because a bunch of men who chose to interpret the Bible in a super-specific super-ridiculous say decide that to love God and Jesus you can never be sad or mad or angry?" 
"If I'm not supposed to notice his looks, I'm not sure why God made him so noticeable."
"My body that belonged to me and wasn't just something to cover up so I didn't tempt men." 


Rachel Walker's family and community have turned away from the world.

Every part of Rachel's life is controlled, from what she reads to where she goes and what she wears. Her parents dictate how her life must be: marriage, modesty, children and obedience to her future husband. But when a former member of her community, a girl who escaped, moves back to her small Texas town, Rachel's world turns upside down.

She realises that her life is her own. But can she find the courage to fight for it?

"This novel caused me to experience a myriad of emotions, from frustration over Rachel's family restricting her (when Rachel wasn't doing anything wrong), to Rachel's desire to pursue her dreams, to her ability to keep her faith regardless of negative influences. Thus, Devoted ends on a triumphant note: the Christian community isn't demonized, Lauren isn't hailed as a hero just for losing her faith, and Rachel doesn't become a wild child. It was a perfectly balanced story, deep with rich emotion that avoids being sappy or overdone, with realistic characters that weren't tropes. In short, this YA novel really impressed me with how it deftly, and respectfully, handled what could have been a touchy subject. And for that, I give Mathieu a great deal of credit." Nicole