Demons of the past aren\u2019t easily left behind\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n At Sunnyside, women serve in silence.\u00a0Mae\u2014an outspoken, rebellious outcast\u2014has a penchant for getting in trouble. Her only ally is\u00a0Lily, the perfect follower. When their husband dies and the cult\u2019s new leader claims Lily as his bride, the facade of peace crumbles. Mysterious deaths haunt the commune, and Mae\u2019s attempts to protect Lily only get her banished to the woods, leaving Lily vulnerable without her protection.<\/em><\/p>\n Faced with a heartbreaking choice, Mae makes a desperate decision the night before Lily\u2019s wedding and escapes the cult. But the past clings to her like a shadow. Heartbroken and alone, Mae meets\u00a0Charlotte, a true-crime podcaster obsessed with uncovering the dark secrets of Sunnyside. Charlotte offers Mae a chance to start over, but only if she\u2019s willing to t<\/em>alk.<\/p>\n As Mae begins to reveal the cult\u2019s sinister secrets, she comes dangerously close to admitting the truth about what happened the night she fled\u2014something far more twisted than anyone can possibly imagine. And it\u2019s only a matter of time before the past catches up to her and she\u2019s forced to confront the nightmare she thought she\u2019d left behind\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n My Review<\/strong><\/p>\n Killing Lily<\/em> was absolutely brilliant. I love anything to do with cults and this certainly did not disappoint. It has always fascinated me how people get sucked in, but for Mae and Lily, they were born at Sunnyside, so didn\u2019t know anything about life \u2018outside\u2019. That is, until true crime podcaster-posing-as-dove-breeder Charlotte arrives the day before Lily\u2019s wedding.<\/p>\n At Sunnyside there are \u2018good\u2019 women and \u2018bad\u2019 women. Good women will find eternal salvation in heaven, while bad women will go straight to hell. Lily is good, while Mae is bad. Bad women suffer punishment at the hands of the terrifying Lou, including beatings and Thought Correction. If anyone leaves, their possessions are ceremoniously burnt.<\/p>\n The men, or Orators, can do and say what they like within the confines of The Sunnyside Scriptures, while women must be subservient \u2013 I am sweet, I am gentle, I am happy<\/em>, I am blessed<\/em>. The Scriptures come from the one true parent known as Father God. It\u2019s all so crazy and mixed up.<\/p>\n The story is told from two points of view \u2013 Lily before the wedding, and Mae after she escapes. Charlotte\u2019s housemates don\u2019t exactly represent a perfect religious family, so Mae is thrown into a life totally opposite from the one she is used to. Plenty of drinking and swearing for starters, neither of which Mae has been exposed to before, especially when it\u2019s mostly the women!<\/p>\n Totally brainwashed from birth, Lily and Mae both really believe they will be damned for all eternity \u2013 Lily because she knows she can\u2019t be the perfect wife and Mae because she is breaking every rule in the Sunnyside book. How I wept for the two women and what they were going through. I must also say that the twist at the end was mind-blowing. I didn\u2019t expect anything like it.<\/p>\n Many thanks to\u00a0@lovebookstours<\/a>\u00a0for inviting me to be part of the #KillingLily blog tour.<\/p>\n About the Author<\/strong><\/p>\n Jillian has been crafting stories in her mind ever since she was a child, but she didn\u2019t write her first novel until the month before her thirtieth birthday. She told herself she would write one book and get it out of her system. Many years and manuscripts later, Jillian can\u2019t imagine a world in which she\u2019s not pouring words onto the page.<\/p>\n Her love of books comes from her mother, an author herself and avid reader. Jillian enjoys reading most genres, but psychological thrillers are her favorite because she loves guessing plot twists (and she\u2019s often wildly wrong).<\/p>\n KitKats and coffee are her preferred treats while she\u2019s writing and editing\u2014although she\u2019d never say no to Twizzlers. Jillian lives in Northern California with her husband, two children, and four overflowing bookshelves.<\/p>\n Buy Links<\/strong> Goodreads<\/strong> Handles\/Tags<\/strong> Instagram\u00a0<\/strong> Threads<\/strong> Facebook<\/strong> TikTok<\/strong>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cookiebiscuit.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/week-one-killing-lily-.png\")
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