A review by stitching_ghost
It's Not a Cult by Lauren Danhof

4.0

Glinda is a bit of a mess but she's a mess we can understand, she's a rape survivor and a recovering addict, she's grieving, she's trying her best but there's a lot of strain in her family relationships and she's being entirely blamed for it in a way that isn't entirely fair. Her only apparent ally appears to be her coworker/friend whom she isn't that nice to even though he is an adorable himbo seeming energy drink guzzling golden retriever energy having sweetie. She's a mess and she's ill equipped to but she has to extricate her mother and her home from the claws of a cult leader and mend relationships with her family.
It all sounds very bleak doesn't it? While there is sadness in this book the general tone isn't sad and it's really a thoroughly enjoyable and often funny read with compelling and if sometimes genuinely infuriating characters.
I found myself relating with Glinda a lot on how her intentions are almost always misinterpreted by her family, I don't know if it's because the author intended her to be read as neurodivergent (it's said that she had at least at some point a prescription for Adderall but ADHD people are more likely to forget to take their than to get addicted to it so I assume that if neurodivergence is implied it's not ADHD or there is a misunderstanding of the effect of Adderall on ADHD brains) or if it was just a side product of the strain addiction and grief can put on relationships but I liked that.
I received an eARC of this book from Alcove Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.