3.5 Stars
“So many lives destroyed, and for what? So one man could be king of a patch of desert full of men and women who desperately wanted to believe in something.”
I’m running out of days of the year so let’s knock another review out real quick. Basically, After the Fire is a fictionalization of what is an absolutely unforgettable moment in history to people my age . . . . .
The story takes place literally “after the fire” when the compound burned down and focuses on a 17-year old survivor named Moonbeam. The setting is the hospital where she and other survivors are being cared for and in intense therapy to try and help them not only get through the immediate trauma they just experienced, but that they have incurred their entire life while living in a religious cult. I thought this was a very well done Young Adult book which tackled a moment in time that should not be forgotten. It handled more risqué subject matter (like the plural marriage of the leader) with kid gloves where no details were given and the wives all had to be 18, but it didn’t shy away from addressing questions my generation will always have about the actual event . . . . .
“You have to understand how an investigation of this scale works. The priority was gathering the necessary evidence for federal firearms and conspiracy indictments. They were building cases of illegal imprisonment and assault and pursuing about a dozen other charges at the same time, but it was the automatic weapons and blasting caps that were going to put John Parson away for the rest of his life.”
“So in the meantime, they just watched people get hurt? They just let it happen?”
I’d recommend this one to high schoolers looking for a more “true crime” type of experience while still reading a fictional story.
I’m running out of days of the year so let’s knock another review out real quick. Basically, After the Fire is a fictionalization of what is an absolutely unforgettable moment in history to people my age . . . . .
The story takes place literally “after the fire” when the compound burned down and focuses on a 17-year old survivor named Moonbeam. The setting is the hospital where she and other survivors are being cared for and in intense therapy to try and help them not only get through the immediate trauma they just experienced, but that they have incurred their entire life while living in a religious cult. I thought this was a very well done Young Adult book which tackled a moment in time that should not be forgotten. It handled more risqué subject matter (like the plural marriage of the leader) with kid gloves where no details were given and the wives all had to be 18, but it didn’t shy away from addressing questions my generation will always have about the actual event . . . . .
“You have to understand how an investigation of this scale works. The priority was gathering the necessary evidence for federal firearms and conspiracy indictments. They were building cases of illegal imprisonment and assault and pursuing about a dozen other charges at the same time, but it was the automatic weapons and blasting caps that were going to put John Parson away for the rest of his life.”
“So in the meantime, they just watched people get hurt? They just let it happen?”
I’d recommend this one to high schoolers looking for a more “true crime” type of experience while still reading a fictional story.
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