Synopsis from Goodreads:
A chilling, compulsive debut about group mentality, superstition and betrayal – and a utopian commune gone badly wrong.
We were the Family, and Foxlowe was our home.
There was me – my name is Green – and my little sister, Blue. There was October, who we called Toby, and Ellensia, Dylan, Liberty, Pet and Egg. There was Richard, of course, who was one of the Founders. And there was Freya.
We were the Family, but we weren’t just an ordinary family. We were a new, better kind of family.
We didn’t need to go to school, because we had a new, better kind of education. We shared everything. We were close to the ancient way of living and the ancient landscape. We knew the moors, and the standing stones. We celebrated the solstice in the correct way, with honey and fruit and garlands of fresh flowers. We knew the Bad and we knew how to keep it away.
And we had Foxlowe, our home. Where we were free.
There really was no reason for anyone to want to leave.
Review:
I'll admit it, I had cover lust and that's what initially drew me to Foxlowe. I love a mysterious, dark cover. Combine that with a hodgepodge family living segregated from society by choice, well ... you have the makings of a potentially creeptastic story.
I was a little let down on the creep factor but it was chock full of weirdness and mystery and depravity. Foxlowe belonged to Richard and his family before him. I don't recall why he decided to start a commune on Foxlowe's grounds. Green was the only Foxlowe member that knew nothing of the Outside. She was born and raised in Foxlowe and was one of Freya's main obligations, concerns, items of interest, whatever you want to call it. Freya made Green take Spike Walks to leak out the Bad. Basically, Freya made Green walk down a hallway with nails sticking out on both sides forcing her to cut her arms on the nails until she literally bled. Freya was sadistic and abusive but Green felt mostly love for her. Even though she didn't like taking the Spike Walks, Green did them willingly any way because that was the way Foxlowe worked.
As the story progresses and Blue enters the picture, the reader begins to see just how much Freya's actions have influenced Green. I won't go into detail to prevent spoilers but I will say it's not easy to see right away.
The substance of the writing was good but the style of it threw me off. There weren't any quotations used when someone was speaking so, in some conversations, it was difficult to tell where the speaking stopped and the thoughts began. Also, there were gaps in time that threw me off. I don't know if it was done to create an air of mystery or to edit the novel to make it more manageable. Either way, I wanted to know what happened during those gaps.
Even though I stayed confused during the reading of the novel, I understand why it was written the way it was (referring to the gaps, not the missing quotations) and it ended up staying with me. The more I think of it, the more I'm growing to like it. So, even though it wasn't as riveting as I'd like it to have been while reading it, it is a novel I'd recommend to readers who enjoy a slow mind f*ck.
*A NetGalley copy was provided by the publicist at Viking/Penguin Books in exchange for an honest review.