The Word by Mary G. Thompson

Summary:

After her parents split up, seven-year-old Lisa’s father convinces her to leave out the window in the middle of the night. After all, according to their religion, she belongs to him, and it is her duty to obey him. Ever the dutiful daughter, at least on the outside, and confused about the sinful changes in her mother (she’s cut her hair, there’s a new man around, she’s had a baby with him), Lisa complies.

She spends the next nine years on the run before the police finally catch up with her father, and she is returned to a mother who is “dead” in the eyes of their religion. But her father always had a plan for when the law came and took what was his―a plan that was set in motion the moment the police arrived at their home.

Now Lisa must make a follow the plan and go home again with the hope that she’ll see her brother and father again, or risk everything to figure out what life could be when she makes her own choices. (Goodreads)

Thoughts:

The Word, by Mary G. Thompson, is a thrilling story of personal growth, family, and even a bit of romance. Kidnapped at the age of seven and kept in a cult for more than nine years, Lisa finally returns to her mother’s home in Oregon. However, years of life led in controversial beliefs has completely changed who she is. Through a rollercoaster of ups and downs, Lisa finally sees past her father’s plans for her future and starts making her own decisions. 

The pacing of The Word was mostly satisfactory with thrilling sections to make up for the handful of dull moments. An example would be when Lisa mysteriously collapsed upon entering her childhood home after a pretty long and boring section explaining her feelings and emotions about returning back to Oregon. Furthermore, the rise to the climax and the climax itself was definitely lacking. The events signifying the ascent to the pinnacle of the story sped by particularly fast, like when Lisa revealed her secret plot with the poisonous yogurt in the most cryptic way possible. I had not even realized the climax had been reached until it had ended. The point of it was almost lost entirely, as the usual excitement was basically nonexistent. 

Most of the characters were well thought out and down-to-earth, especially Becca. She was your average teenage girl who loved TV shows and reading. In fact, her presence in the story gave a well deserved break to all of the emotional trauma dumped onto the protagonist by her father. One downside to all the characters, though, were their absent backstories. After reading the entire book, I learned basically nothing about any of their past except for the protagonist, yet that was still limited. For example, Carlo, Lisa’s ‘brother’, appeared out of the blue in the beginning chapters, and was never provided with any information. It was never explained how he got there, why he was there, or who he even was before everything happened. Lisa’s boyfriend, Tree, was introduced in relatively the same way. He appeared near the end of the book, and basically no information was provided to who he was. Perhaps even one little mention of a backstory would have made the characters more realistic and human instead of entities who appear solely for the sake of the plot. 

Speaking of the plot, though it was engaging and interesting for the most part, the jumps between time periods were quite confusing to follow along with. One chapter could be talking about Lisa’s predicament readjusting in her childhood home, and the next would be travelling seven years back into the past where she was getting lectured by her extremely religious father. Not only did this occur quite frequently, the time periods seemed to advance with no relation to the present whatsoever. Half of the chapters in The Word were relatively useless, and did not contribute to the plot development at all. The topic of the story was also rather scandalous to certain religious groups, especially Christians, because it undermines the many beliefs of Christianity. Not only did Lisa’s father talk about everything wrong in the current Christian religion, he was also part of a vast cult that completely changed the perspective of it and viewed all Christians as mistaken when it came to Jesus. Though it certainly helps develop an interesting plot, I feel that this little addition and all the scandalous phrases stated were really not necessary. 

The theme of the book is a great target for teens and teenagers, as Lisa is the perfect example of rebellious and naive. The self-growth she went through was quite admirable, but certainly a little dull to read about. The romance near the end was also a perfect addition to show the protagonist’s growth throughout the book even though it took, quite frankly, ages to occur. Lisa was extremely disconnected with her family, and did not particularly adore her father, either. She spent a good part of the book sulking about crude family history when she could have been improving on reforming ties with her mother. The Word is a perfect example of what not to do as a self-entitled youth. 

Altogether, The Word had great potential to become a deep and gripping story, yet did not quite reach its target. The pacing was good, the characters well thought out, and the themes intense. However, most of the content provided did little to boost the story forward, especially towards the end, which is why I rate it a 2.5/5. Overall, with further improvement on the plot, it would have proved a much more exhilarating and profound read.

Reviewed by Angela Liu

November 4, 2024