Reasons to Read: The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle + Giveaway

Reasons to Read (R2R) is a new feature at The Hiding Spot. This weekly post will give readers reasons to read (or pre-order, if the case may be) a specific title I've read and loved.   A giveaway of the weekly title may also occur.

The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle

September 25, 2012/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

1. The Hallowed Ones features a look at Amish life. I haven't read any other YA books that focus on this, so it was entirely new to me.
2. There is discussion of religion and individual beliefs, but it's not overbearing. I actually enjoyed it a lot, which was unexpected.
3. Katie, the MC, is a bit of a rebel, but maybe not in the way you might think. She's actually a "good girl,", but she's a very free thinker. She questions things instead of blindly accepting them, something not exactly encouraged in her community.
4. There's a touch of romance. I love that Katie and her love interest are very different in many ways, but similar at their core.
5. The monsters in the novel were unique. I've heard them referred to as vampires, and I suppose that they are a version of vamps, but I feel like they need their own name.
6. This book is intense. The themes, the gory murder scenes, the decisions made by the characters. Whoa.
7. There's a woman from the outside world that ends up taking shelter with the Amish as all hell breaks loose outside. The comparison of how she reacts to the situation and her views about life in general versus the way Katie's community reacts and thinks is fascinating. 

More about The Hallowed Ones:

Katie is on the verge of her Rumspringa, the time in Amish life when teenagers can get a taste of the real world. But the real world comes to her in this dystopian tale with a philosophical bent. Rumors of massive unrest on the “Outside” abound. Something murderous is out there. Amish elders make a rule: No one goes outside, and no outsiders come in. But when Katie finds a gravely injured young man, she can’t leave him to die. She smuggles him into her family’s barn—at what cost to her community? The suspense of this vividly told, truly horrific thriller will keep the pages turning.

Win an ARC of The Hallowed Ones by filling out the form below! 

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