Hello Beautiful People! Welcome to a new review! For this one, I get into The Liar’s Daughter by Megan Cooley Peterson a book that looks into the past and present of a dangerous cult and the people, teens, and children who were a part of it.
Main Characters:
- Piper: Our main character and only perspective in the book, has her world thrown apart when she is taken from her parents, siblings, and their community
- Caspian: A boy that Piper is raised within her community, the two end up creating a romantic relationship
- Jeannine: The person Piper is placed with after she and her siblings are removed from the cult
My Review
I was originally pulled into The Liars Daughter by Megan Cooley Peterson when I read a blurb of it on Goodreads. Overall I found it to be an okay book but I honestly almost didn’t finish it. I figured out the big secret in the book really early on and it kind of made the rest of the book a bit of a drag. I won’t say that it’s glaringly obvious because I saw lots of other reviews where other people didn’t figure it out until the end, but I honestly think the reason I figured it out is because of my line of work. I’ll get into it a bit more later on, but it will include spoilers so look out for the warning if you don’t want the end spoiled for you.
I gave the book a 6/10 rating as an adult. I ended up realising that the book is a young adult book as I started to get into it and I think if I could pretend I am in my teens again without the knowledge that I have as an adult I would probably have given it an 8/10 rating. I don’t say that in any meaning that if you adult and don’t realize the ending you have the mind of a teenager but I am just thinking in the context of myself and what I knew as a teen as compared to what I now know as an adult. I don’t think you have to be a teenager to enjoy this book but I would say that it’s definitely more geared to that age range.
As I mentioned before Piper is the main character in the book and the perspective we get throughout. Despite Piper’s awareness of it, we the reader quickly see that she and her siblings are a part of a cult. Not only are they a part of a cult but their parents specifically their father are the leader of the group. Based on Piper’s descriptions we can see that she and her siblings are not aware they are in a cult because it’s the only life they have ever known. They know nothing else other than their father’s teachings, and that’s about how scary the outside world is. Pipers ‘brothers’ (I say this in quotes because it’s the word they often use at the start until Piper creates a romantic relationship with one of them) Caspian and Thomas joined the family after their parents who were once members were no longer able to take care of the children. The boys were raised with Piper and her brothers and sisters. The two are the only ones who have a sense of the outside world, but even then it was so long ago and they were so young that they don’t have a great memory of it. It’s clear through Piper’s descriptions that this is a very radical cult, one that believes everyone not with them is against them. It doesn’t seem like a religious one – well kinda – it seems like her father is the ‘godly’ one of the group who provides teachings and such. The teachings are just very conservative radical ideas, like the government is using phones to spy and cause cancer, and they are poisoning people in the food and water and whatnot and much more. To any outsider, it’s clear he just removes anything from his followers that would take away his control and their ability to think for themselves.
I think a factor that I personally struggled with in this book as well is I didn’t really end up liking any of the characters much. Piper had her okay moments, but a lot of the time I found her to be excruciatingly naive (which isn’t all her fault don’t get me wrong) and lacking a lot of common sense. I was aware that it could have to do with her trauma but I just found myself getting a bit frustrated with her at parts. I also didn’t really like Caspian all that much. Similar to Piper I found him to be naïve and also just confusing in terms of what type of person he is. He had endearing parts but there were a few times later in the book when I was a bit frustrated with him for feeding Piper’s delusions on things and just pandering to her because he loved her. I’ll be real though I also found their love to be a bit cringy. Maybe it’s because they are teenagers but I just found myself rolling my eyes a lot and just wishing we would move on. I think having the awareness that a lot of these characters are the way they are because of how they were raised helps it all make sense a bit more. It doesn’t make the characters any more likeable however in my opinion.
I did enjoy the ending and how the whole story came together. Once Piper and her siblings are removed from their home by the authorities Piper is on this journey to discover who she is without her family to guide her. The ending was a softer end to the dark plot of the story and I felt like it wrapped up everything nicely. I think some realistic parts were left out, but given that it’s a YA book it made sense, and honestly, the message of hope was a nice one. I think in any situation whether it’s a domestic violence situation or a cult, you can always find yourself again after you’ve had to conform to someone else’s views for survival. It was sad to see how much of herself Piper had given up to conform to her family’s views and needs, and it was nice to see her act her age at parts. I would often forget she was as young as she was based on how she acted in the first part of the book (very adult-like, took on a lot of the care for the younger kids) so it was nice for her to finally see who she really was and what she wanted from life.
*** This next section will have spoilers so watch out if you don’t want to know the big secret***
So, let’s get into how I personally figured out the secret early on in the book. Piper gives the reader a perspective from the past and the present. In the present, she is living with Jeannie and her family, and in the past, she is on the cult compound with her siblings and parents.
I am a social worker during the day, so in the present early on in the book when Piper is placed with Jeannie I knew something was up. Piper is the only one out of her siblings with Jeannie, despite the destruction and chaos she causes in Jeannie’s home she continues to stay there. Piper is outraged that she’s taken away from her family, specifically her siblings, and being a social worker I knew there had to be a reason that she was placed somewhere without them. Jeannie had to be a family member of some type or Piper wouldn’t be with her. I quickly realized based on how Jeannie was with her that Jeannie had to be her mother. The whole secret is that Piper was not her parent’s child, she was kidnapped as a small child and raised to think she was. She was really Jeannie’s child.
As I said before I figured this all out pretty early on in the book, but I really think that if you don’t work in a field like I do you won’t notice these things. Given that this is a YA book that’s why I said if I was a teenager I really don’t think I would have caught onto these things. I think most teenagers unless being in the foster system wouldn’t know how placements are dictated in terms of safe next of kin getting the child before they go to foster.
I spoiled the big secret for myself, but based on other reviews, many people didn’t know the secret until the end, so it depends on each person.
Have you checked out The Liar’s Daughter by Megan Cooley Peterson before? What did you think?
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