History of Wolves

Note that, despite having a teenage protagonist, this is not a YA novel. It's a dark, ambiguous, subtly-written story about isolation, faith, memory, and the difference between what you do and what you think.

There's no way I can describe this book that does it justice. It packs a lot into under 500 pages, so it has to be read slowly.

I wasn't sure how I felt about it at the end, but I ended up writing over 1000 words in my notes app trying to analyse it, so I guess that means I loved it.

The way this story unfolds is a bit slow at first, but eventually picks up speed in a way that made it hard to put down. The central theme is the line between what you believe and what actions you take; what you want to believe about yourself and who you really are. The main character is complex and compelling, and a convincing teenager. Also, I’m old enough to remember “Christian Science Reading Rooms” being a thing in suburban strip malls, and the “Christian Science Monitor” being a mainstream publication, but I don’t think I actually knew what Christian Science was before I looked it up on Wikipedia while reading this book. I’d highly recommend doing so, because the fact that this is a real-life cult made the story all the more creepy.