Scan barcode
A review by ihateprozac
In The Clearing by J.P. Pomare
4.0
This was so enthralling. If you like thrillers about cults, pick this up!
There are two storylines at play here. The first POV is Amy, a young girl who's been indoctrinated into a cult and is helping to bring other children in. The second POV is Freya, a mother living in regional Victoria who's untangling a dangerous web of exes, a past connection being released from jail, and someone creeping around her property. It's fascinating trying to theorise how the two storylines might converge if at all!
Both narrators are really interesting. I highly recommend listening via audiobook if only for Amy's narration, as the younger narrator really heightens your sense of revulsion and unease for this young girl. Freya herself was an interesting combination of unreliable narrator and toxic mother. You want to root for her but you know she did something bad to her first son, and it makes for an interesting exploration into motherhood, unresolved trauma, and starting over.
I love a cult thriller and I love an isolation thriller and this gave me the best (or worst?) of both worlds! You'll oscillate between fear for Amy at the hands of adults, and a sense of hopelessness and anxiety for Freya as things go awry at her rural property. In The Clearing is tense, enthralling, and had me physically gasping as I listened along.
This was my first JP Pomare but it won't be my last!
CW: child abuse, murder, pedophilia,
There are two storylines at play here. The first POV is Amy, a young girl who's been indoctrinated into a cult and is helping to bring other children in. The second POV is Freya, a mother living in regional Victoria who's untangling a dangerous web of exes, a past connection being released from jail, and someone creeping around her property. It's fascinating trying to theorise how the two storylines might converge if at all!
Both narrators are really interesting. I highly recommend listening via audiobook if only for Amy's narration, as the younger narrator really heightens your sense of revulsion and unease for this young girl. Freya herself was an interesting combination of unreliable narrator and toxic mother. You want to root for her but you know she did something bad to her first son, and it makes for an interesting exploration into motherhood, unresolved trauma, and starting over.
I love a cult thriller and I love an isolation thriller and this gave me the best (or worst?) of both worlds! You'll oscillate between fear for Amy at the hands of adults, and a sense of hopelessness and anxiety for Freya as things go awry at her rural property. In The Clearing is tense, enthralling, and had me physically gasping as I listened along.
This was my first JP Pomare but it won't be my last!
CW: child abuse, murder, pedophilia,