No. of pages: 213
Rating: 8/10
Synopsis: Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in her isolated community without ever questioning the fact that her father has three wives and she has twenty brothers and sisters; without ever questioning the strict rules imposed by 'the Prophet' who leads them. But now Kyra has started keeping secrets. She reads books that are forbidden and sneaks away to meet Joshua, the boy she hopes to choose for herself, instead of having a husband chosen for her. Kyra knows that it's only a matter of time before her two secret loves are discovered. And when the Prophet decrees that she is to become the seventh wife of her sixty-year-old uncle, Kyra is forced to make a desperate choice. But saving herself means endangering everyone she's ever cared for. How far should she go for freedom?
Review: Kyra is thirteen, and has grown up in a polygamist sect where she has 3 mothers and 20 siblings. This is the norm on the compound where Kyra lives, but Kyra has secrets. Not only is she in love with a boy she is forbidden to have even noticed, she has also been sneaking off to get books, but any book other than the bible is not allowed. So when the Prophet tells Kyra she has been chosen to be the seventh wife to her 60 year old uncle, she is horrified and refuses. But on the compound, the Prophet's word is law...
This is one of those books that is hard to review, after all how can you say you enjoyed a book about a young girl being forced to marry her old uncle? It is after all, revolting. However, enjoy this book I did, Kyra was a strong and fiesty young woman, just born in to the wrong circumstances and I was drawn into her story immediately. It really opened my eyes to the kind of control that these people are under, how the 'prophet' rules everything. One thing that did make me think for a second was Kyra's dad. You imagine that the men in these places are just perverts who are too greedy to have just one woman, yet Kyra's dad truly loved all of his wives and children, and really did believe this was the only way in to heaven. The sad thing is though, that although this particular story is fiction, there are so many girls out there for who this kind of thing is reality, and it's almost unbelievable. It's a short book at just over 200 pages, but don't let that put you off, there is so much packed in to this story. It's definitely a book I would recommend, although it's not an easy read for those who are sensitive.
