The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir

Rating

4/5 stars

Genre
Fiction - Contemporary

Summary

The Hicks have made quite a name for themselves as an upstanding, virtuous family with their own reality show, Six for Hicks. Father is the leader of a mega church; Mother gives off the image of perfection and maintains control in all situations. Their spotless reputation is suddenly at risk when Essie, their youngest daughter, winds up pregnant. Essie's mother, Celia, begins concocting up ideas of how to handle the "situation." Abortion? Arranged marriage? They'll do anything to cover it up and keep their image. However, Essie has her own idea of the direction this could possibly go and, with that, she stands to both lose and gain immensely. It turns out this isn't the only secret the Hicks family is trying to hide.

Review

I have to admit that the first thing that drew me to this book was the presumed similarity to the Duggar family and their television shows. This book was full of many surprises that kept me reading, wondering what could possibly happen next. Each character is either really quite lovable or painstakingly reprehensible, and they each have their own compelling perspective. I enjoyed this book greatly; however, there are a few difficult themes discussed throughout that some individuals may have an issue with. If you are planning to read this, be aware that it contains topics of abuse as well as different aspects of faith and beliefs. Overall, I found The Book of Essie to be enlightening, heartfelt, and captivating.

Author Meghan MacLean Weir's website