The Incendiaries

A Novel

By: R. O. Kwon

Narrated by: Keong Sim

Now a National Bestseller

"Religion, politics, and love collide in this slim but powerful novel reminiscent of Donna Tartt's The Secret History, with menace and mystery lurking in every corner." --People Magazine

"The most buzzed-about debut of the summer, as it should be...unusual and enticing ... The Incendiaries arrives at precisely the right moment." --The Washington Post

"Radiant...A dark, absorbing story of how first love can be as intoxicating and dangerous as religious fundamentalism." --New York Times Book Review

A powerful, darkly glittering novel of violence, love, faith, and loss, as a young woman at an elite American university is drawn into a cult's acts of terrorism.

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.

Interesting topic but slow

Hard to get into the book at the beginning as you don’t feel much of a connection to the characters. Interesting discussion points and topic but didn’t keep my attention the entire time.

Interesting idea with poetic writing

The idea of this book was intriguing and R.O. Kwon has a beautiful writing style. However, after completing the book, I was left feeling disappointed that the story wasn’t quite finished and that there just wasn’t enough depth to the John Leal character. Overall, a well performed reading and an interesting choice. Just left me wanting.

A beautiful story that sticks with you

I heard some good buzz about this book and the cult theme interested me, but this book runs deeper than that. Being someone who grew out of religion myself, I connected with the one character moving further from religion and the other moving closer to it. There is also their relationship that ebbs and flows as relationships do. The motivations for their actions are as real as any novel I have read in a long time.

Chilling

It will leave you feeling pretty disturbed. What great characters. I heard the author interviewed twice before reading this, and I get what all the buzz was about.

3.55 stars

The Incendiaries is an average audiobook. The story is somewhat difficult to follow in the beginning, but it becomes easier as the story progresses. There's a lot of colorful language in this one, and some of it fits, though there's a few cases where it misses the mark. In the Audible description, People Magazine compares this novel to Donna Tartt's The Secret History, which is one of my favorites. The Incendiaries is not of the same caliber, not even close. The narrator of this recording does a respectable job.

Overall rating: 3.55 stars