Book Review: The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon

The IncendiariesThe Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Publication Date: July 31, 2018
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

Phoebe Lin and Will Kendall meet in their first month at prestigious Edwards University. Phoebe is a glamorous girl who doesn’t tell anyone she blames herself for her mother’s recent death. Will is a misfit scholarship boy who transfers to Edwards from Bible college, waiting tables to get by. What he knows for sure is that he loves Phoebe.

Grieving and guilt-ridden, Phoebe is drawn into a secretive cult founded by a charismatic former student with an enigmatic past. When the group commits a violent act in the name of faith, Will finds himself struggling to confront a new version of the fanaticism he’s worked so hard to escape. Haunting and intense, The Incendiaries is a fractured love story that explores what can befall those who lose what they love most.

The Incendiaries focuses on Will, a born-again Christian turned atheist and Phoebe, a lively party girl. They both harbor guilt about things in their past. Will helped convert his mother to a faith he no longer believes in and Phoebe blames herself for her mother’s death. When Phoebe is slowly drawn into a cult, Will tries his best to save her.

The Incendiaries was this month’s pick for my Moms group book club. We all agreed that the way the book started off is confusing. I got about 30 pages in and realized that I needed to start over. Once I reread the first 30 pages, I had a much better handle on what was going on. There are no quotation marks in the book, a device that I’m never fond of. Much of the book is Will speculating what Phoebe says in her confessions at cult meetings, making him an unreliable narrator at times.

Lack of quotation marks aside, I did enjoy this book. It explores loss in ways I hadn’t thought of previously. Not only is Phoebe mourning the loss of her mother, Will is mourning the loss of his religion. He’s sad that he doesn’t believe anymore. And I’m always intrigued by how a rational person can be drawn into and overtaken by a cult. Even though this is a slim novel at just over 200 pages, we found a lot to discuss in our book club meeting. Recommended.

November 30th, 2020 in Books
  • http://www.thecuecard.com Susan

    Oh glad you reviewed this one. I had picked it up at the library a few times but haven’t read it yet. Would you say it’s confusing throughout the book … or just near the start?

    • http://chaosisafriendofmine.com Rachel

      Just near the start. Once I figured out how the story was being told, I didn’t have any more problems.