Whoa.
Please tell me at least one of you thought of Joey Lawrence.
If a book can be said to be both dreadful and wonderful at the same time, then Gather the Daughters is one such book. Set in a unknown period after a fire destroys civilization, an island community is formed by ten men desiring a deeply patriarchical society. These men, now known as the ancestors, made a list of things a person shalt not do and those are the rules that govern their small society. Now the men farm, or carve, or labor outside the home, while the women keep house. Females submit to their father until they are married, and then they submit to their husbands. When their child has a child, they take their final draught. The shalt-nots are never questioned, and if women were to question them, well, bleeding out is very common in childbirth.
Janey, Amanda, Caitlin, and Vanessa are four girls living in this rustic island community. Desperate to avoid coming of age, but yearning to get away from their fathers, each girl feels trapped and helpless. They begin to question the rules that govern their lives, and that is a very, very dangerous thing to do. When one of the girls is murdered for her desire for something better for her own daughter, the girls begin a resistance.
Eerie, bleak, and full of dread, Jennie Melamed’s debut novel is excellent. Her beautiful prose balances the grim existence of the characters, and the multiple narrators works to flesh out life on the island. For those who enjoy dystopian fiction, this will be my go-to recommendation of the summer.
(Also, that cover.)
*I received a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.
flannel and folklore 
Wasn’t it amazing?! I loved the subtlety at the beginning of the book. It allowed me to get fully into the story before knowing for certain the relationship between fathers and daughters- by which time I was already hooked. I loved Janey and Rosie.
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