Courtesy of Goodreads.com

Book Title: Into The Light
Author: Aleatha Romig
Series: The Light #1 (of 2)
Genres: Romantic Suspense, Thriller, Mystery, Cult Fiction, Contemporary
Goodreads

Date Read: 06/17/16
Pub Date: 06/14/16

5 STARS

Sara Adams awakes blind, unable to remember the most basic details of her life, but her darkness seems a blessing when she discovers the terrors of The Light.

Stella Montgomery investigates the news on the mean streets of Detroit, where she’s noticed a disturbing trend: young women are vanishing. When her best friend disappears, Stella investigates—despite warnings from her police detective boyfriend—following a twisted trail that leads her through the city’s most dangerous and forsaken precincts. There she uncovers something more sinister than she could have imagined: a shadowy organization known as The Light, led by the enigmatic Father Gabriel.

As Sara struggles to understand her place in the strange world she’s awakened to—an oppressive cult demanding unquestioning obedience—and her feelings for Jacob, the husband she can’t recall and whose harsh and tender attentions confuse and beguile her, Stella risks all to discover the truth. But enlightenment always comes with a price…

HOLY FANTASTICAL TOP 5 BOOK OF 2016!!!!!! Yes, I said it, this is definitely in my Top 5 of 2016 and hopefully will be in yours too! I wasn’t going to request anything else from NetGalley until I got through some of my current stack (who am I kidding???) but after my sister in law read this one I had to go ahead and request it so that we could discuss. 🙂 I didn’t know much about this book going into it, just that it involved a religious sect that resembled a cult and a journalist digging around where she shouldn’t to find her missing best friend.

“God gave us memory so that we may have roses in December.”
–J. M. Barrie

So this is one of those stories where all my guesses were on point with how the story would go, but it was totally ok, because it was THAT GOOD. This story didn’t need to hedge its bets on its multiple twists because the writing was spectacular. (BTW- the ending is a bit of a cliffhanger due to book #2 coming in October but it ended EXACTLY as I was hoping it would) The characters were strong, developed, and relatable. I usually run as far from romance as I can, but this wasn’t cheesy in the least. The relationships, especially that between Sara and Jacob was tasteful and classy, while straddling the line of abusive (I understand how insane that sounds). No, this is nothing like 50 Shades of Grey, so don’t get your panties in a wad. The storyline was perfect; it balanced a healthy amount of suspense among 3+ POVs all while managing to be easy to follow and not making me want to vomit from the lovey dovey scenes.

One of the best aspects of this book is how well done the research was on cults and how realistic this story was. This is the second book in a week that I’ve read on this topic, and while “The Girls” was more historical fiction and focused on themes of coming of age and freedom of sexuality, this one was the complete opposite. The characters in this book were portrayed with a focus on the control and brainwashing elements, which added more of the suspense element for me. There is also a whole separate layer to this story once you get going, but I can’t go into it here because spoilers. I don’t want to give away too much, but I also just want to keep saying how much I loved this book and how badly I want to get my hands on Book #2 “Away From The Dark” RIGHT NOW!!!!! This is one of those books you want to pick up when you’re not super busy since you won’t want to put it down. Recommended to everyone! Go buy it! NOW! Then read it immediately and join the remaining ranks of us chomping at the bits for book 2.

*I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review; they have yet to agree to cover the medical bills I’ll be incurring due to biting through my lip while in the midst of this nail biting suspense… Will keep you updated though. A copy of book two would work just as well…