Seed – Lisa Heathfield

Fifteen-year-old Pearl has lived her whole life protected within the small community at Seed, where they worship nature and idolise their leader, Papa S. When some outsiders arrive, everything changes. Pearl experiences feelings that she never knew existed and begins to realise that there is darkness at the heart of Seed. A darkness from which she must escape, before it’s too late.

This book well and truly blew my mind. It is intriguing, terrifying and down right messed up. It is actually the first YA novel that I’ve read about cults. I’ve seen so many documentaries and TV series about cults but I had never read a novel about them. Lisa Heathfield has done such an excellent job of portraying the difficult topic and reality that is cults and being part of a cult.

All the character in Seed are fantastic in their own ways. I absolutely hated all of the elder men (Papa S, Kindred Smith, Kindred John, etc.) and I adored the younger characters so much. Pearl is such a fantastic main protagonist. You get to see Pearl’s naïvty in her storytelling and how she begins questioning everything once the Outsiders appear. We get to see Pearl grow as a character and a person throughout the novel and it is eye-opening to see. The secondary characters, especially Kate and Elizabeth, help Pearl with her growth and it is so lovely to see how they protect her.

The ending of this book is so explosive and wild that I just couldn’t put it down. It is full of action and drama all within such a short space of time. My eyes were so wide and my mouth was aghast for the last 20% of the book. It tackles the difficult topics of cults, sexual abuse and controlling relationships amazingly and with care, but without sugar coating it.

Overall, this book is amazing, shocking, creepy and heart-breaking and I cannot wait to read more by Lisa Heathfield in the future. If you have an interest in cults and thrilling stories this is the one for you.