DNF - Althought I was eager to read this book, it didn't end up working for me in the end. I'm sure there is an audience out there who will appreciate the story for all that it holds.

Really struggled to get into this book and unfortunately couldn’t finish it as I didn’t understand what was going on. Definitely in the minority after looking at the reviews!

This a very original and compelling story centered on a cult called Atlas, led by a science prodigy named Sol. He tells his followers that he can lead them to an alternative universe where none of their bad decisions ever happened by leading them through "The Golden Door". The book is told through three viewpoints -- a reporter David, a former cult member Eve, and a young child Root. We slowly learn more about he cult and its beliefs and I was quickly drawn into the story and where it would all lead.

Im always drawn in by a cult-based novel, its endlessly fascinating how people find their way to it and how they react once they're in it. The main character of this book has a similar outlook as a journalist infiltrating the cult and finding out what makes them tick; he finds the cult is formed around a group of children ='sunbeams' , We meet a lot of the sunbeams in the story, as well as the adults who worship them and see them as the way to a better future.
Fascinating storytelling, skilfully told

A eyeopening read about cults. Told in two different pov's, one a journalist the other a child within the cult. Really well written. I did enjoy it and would recommend.

One of my all-time favourite authors, Beth Lewis has given us some incredible books. The Wolf Road is just stunning (go read it), and last year’s The Origins of Iris was wonderful (yes, read this one too). Dark, raw and startlingly original, it will linger long in the memory after you turn the last page. It took me a while to recover myself after reading.

So it was with some trepidation that I embarked on Children of the Sun. Could it be another instant favourite, pester people to read it book?

Yes. Stop reading this now and go and get yourself a copy from your favourite indie bookshop. Heck, buy two copies and give one to a friend.

It’s an incredible book about cults and family and belief and loss and second chances. Lewis’s writing is, as ever, just beautiful.

We follow the story through multiple viewpoints and across different timelines, and Lewis deftly weaves them together, sometimes answering questions, but often leading to more. The sense of tension in the cult’s camp just gradually notches up and up until you find yourself having stayed up entirely too late on a worknight, just to find out how the stories of James, Eve, Root and the enigmatic Sol will play out. I loved Root, as I’m sure you will too, such a unique character, beautifully written.

I don’t want to say too much more as I think it better if you go into this not knowing too much. Look, you trust me, right? You’ve read this far in the review. You know I only shout about the good stuff.

This, my friends, is the really good stuff. You want this, I promise.

Hugely recommended.

Children of the Sun is told through the eyes of three characters - James, Root, and Eve. Set in 1982 in "Atlas". James is a journalist who wants to write about the cult, Root's is a Sunbeam - a special child in the eyes of the Cult. Root's chapters are all choppy sentences, spoken in the third person, and full of language that's is specific to being a child raised as a special member of a cult. Eve is trying to find where Sol is before the solstice.

While this is a cult book...it is also not quite - it never goes as hard as you might expect a cult book to go - which I think adds to the idea that something isn't quite as it seems with the "cult" - Sol believes he is a scientist after all.

Children of the Sun is not primarily a book about a cult - but one about grief and the haunting of your biggest regret - and how we can move on from these (or how we never move on).

Can't wait to read more of Beth Lewis' books!

Well plotted, gripping and terrifiying at times. A book about a cult, different characters and voices.
The author is a talented storyteller and delivers a brilliant story.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Can Sol really open the Golden Door which will allow his adherents to have a second chance? It's the 1980s and James Morrow is a journalist who has come to Sol's place in the Adirondacks. What he finds is a cult of 300 people who want redemption- and some weird things, including children who are worshipped. This is told by multiple people, including Root and Eve, who is looking for Sol. There are several time lines and it's a bit twisty. in a way the reader might not appreciate until the end. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. An intriguing read.

I really liked the premise of this book, and really got sucked din, but when we got to Root's storyline it was hard to press on. It was incredibly awkward to read that storyline

I love stories centered around cults so I was really looking forward to reading this.

The premise of this story is that on the night of the eclipse the people belonging to 'Atlas' led by Sol will walk through a golden door (into an alternate reality) and be able to reunite with the people they have lost in their life.

The story is narrated by three people. Firstly we meet James who is a reporter and is allowed to spend a week amongst the Atlas people, leading up to the Eclipse to write a story for his paper. Whilst there he becomes heavily influenced by the group however.
Next we meet Root who one of the special 'sunbeam' children born in to the group and vital to their success. He has a special diet and the other adults in the group are not allowed to interact with him.
Lastly we meet Eve who is intent on finding the group and seeking retribution from the leader, Sol for ruining her life.
I found this book an immersive and intriguing read. It really kept me guessing! The cult world was fascinating and trying to understand the people that lived within its walls kept me turning the pages. I really couldn't predict how this book would end! Was there going to be a mass suicide of cult members or could there be Science behind the theory? Was James going to join the group or expose them? What was going to happen to Root and the other sunbeams? Each narrator was quite unreliable so it was hard to know who/what to believe!!
There was a great twist at the end too!
Overall an entertaining an original thriller that I enjoyed!

Beth Lewis is such an exciting writer. The setting and characters will stay with me for a long time.

How far would you go for a second chance?

The year is 1982. The place is somewhere in the Adirondack Mountains. Reporter James Morrow secures an invitation to a secret community, founded by a charismatic man called Sol. More than 300 followers are awaiting the sun ellipse so they can step through the Golden Door, where they will be given a second chance and their past decisions never ended in tragedy.

James can relate. He lost his boyfriend a year ago. That's also partly why he is here. He is looking for a woman called Maria, who he holds responsible for his boyfriend's death. But this is one tight-knit community and nobody is talking. Or James is asking the wrong questions. There are so many that need answers too. Why are a few children treated like they're little gods, with their own special table, and their own special food? Why does the rest of the community not talk to them, or even look at them? Why are there iron strips that give off sparks of electricity embedded in the earth? What is behind the gates of Sol's private sanctuary?

Honestly, I saw the world "cult" and that was enough for me to decide I desperately wanted to read this new Beth Lewis book. Is this a cult though? Sol is first and foremost a scientist. He claims he has found a way to open a door between alternate realities. So while in this reality your child, for instance, has died because of something you did/said/didn't do/didn't say, they are very much still alive in the alternate reality where you opted for another decision. Your second chance at doing the right thing is just around the corner. Each and every one of Sol's member has a story to tell. One moment in time where they made the wrong decision that ended in tragedy and changed their lives forever. I'm sure many of us can relate. So if given the opportunity to step through the door and discover that alternate life ... what would you do?

The reader also meets Root. They are one of the special children and through their eyes you get a little bit of a feel for what goes on in the commune. I use they/them because Root's gender is indeterminable. Root is definitely special, a character to warm your heart from the second you meet them. Root is part of a group of children called the sunbeams and the sunbeams are the most important thing as they are the ones who will open that Golden Door. Just like James, you can never really shake off the feeling that Root and his pals just might be in danger, though.

Lastly, there is Eve. She is looking for the place where the commune used to be. She is desperate to find Sol, to vent her anger, maybe even to kill him. As interesting as her search for clues was, it did always leave me feeling a bit miffed at having to leave the camp, where James and Root were, behind. I was far more fascinated by what was happening there. Far more involved in the characters, and their fate.

The characterisation in this novel is just of a completely different level.Their pain and grief is almost palpable. There were moments where I could feel the tears stinging behind my eyes. The faith they have in Sol is hard to fathom, as it always is where cults are concerned. Why are they so blindly following a man who is so blatantly obviously going to get them killed?

Just when you think you've read all you can about cults, along comes Beth Lewis and turns the whole thing on its head.'Children of the Sun' is so incredibly cleverly plotted and while I had an inkling as to how some things were connected, it didn't matter at all. The setting is brilliant, the characters will just pull you into the story and not let go. Sometimes a chilling tale, but always utterly absorbing and I found it truly hard to put this novel down because I wanted to know what happened to these 300 something damaged souls.

'Children of the Sun' is most definitely another contender for my book of the year. It's a story about belief, and faith, and grief, and whatever the thing is that will guide us through the dark times to find the light again. I devoured it, I loved it, and I definitely recommend it.

What would you give to have a second chance?

James is a reporter who plans to write an exposé of an isolated cult he becomes aware of after losing a loved one.

During his time there he begins to fall under their spell, until he realises the barbaric truth and has to decide whether it is worth it.

It was with great anticipation that I approached Beth Lewis's latest character driven offering, it is utterly gripping, beautifully written, superbly plotted, dark and deeply unsettling, it speaks of having to confront the most challenging of circumstances a person can find themselves in, the bottomless pit of loss, grief, desperation, belief, and of love. It plunges the reader into a subject that gives me the chills and which I find creepy, the nature of cults, I simply cannot imagine myself in any circumstances where I would even entertain the idea of joining a cult, so I am fascinated by those that do. In this non-linear narrative, that shifts from past and present, where nothing is as it appears, it is the 198Os in upstate New York.

Atlas is a organised and hidden community of a few hundred people living below the radar in the woods of the Adirondack Mountains. Under the leadership of Sol, this group of those that are broken are looking for answers, escaping into another type of life, they are planning and looking forward to what they are worked towards, the opening of the Golden Door, their final ceremony. We follow the different threads and characters that go on to interconnect, sceptical James Morrow, a traumatised reporter with his own backstory, wants to establish his reputation by investigating the cult. He obtains access to the cult that claims that people can leave if they want, on the premise he will be writing, informing and publicising the group to the outside world. With unreliable narrators, there are children seen as gods, raising the question what is their role, and we have Eve who has Sol in her sights, what lies behind his public persona? How will it all end?

Lewis writes a captivating novel that kept my attention from beginning to end, packed with suspense and tension, and some surprising twists along the way. As James gets closer to the cult, he begins to understand and relate to the members, with their own specific perspectives, whose lives had hit rock bottom. This is a intelligent, thought provoking, moving and shocking read, of the madness of cults, with skilfully drawn characters, it gives some answers as to what kind of people might find themselves drawn to cults. It is so good that I cannot recommend it highly enough! Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Why are people sucked into cults?

James Morrow is a reporter at the Post. He’d heard about a group who live off-grid and are waiting for the eclipse to occur so that they can return to the people who they’ve lost – through devastating accidents. It had taken a lot of challenging work for James to be invited by the leader of the group – Sol – to visit.

He stumbles into a cult of severely damaged adults who have experienced terrible losses of wives, children, husbands, and lovers. James can relate to the cases as his lover, Tony, was killed in a motor car accident.

Having been told that it was not a cult and that people are free to leave – James finds a different story once he arrives to interview the leader and his followers. What he finds shocking is the group of children living there called names like Root and Leaf. As it gets closer to the eclipse, he realises that the children have been “bred” to play a significant role so that the cult members can “move into another realm.”

Maybe because I’m a loner and very independent, I can’t understand how three hundred people could be sucked into this group. How they can start to feel they’re in a god-like presence and that, thanks to this “god,” they will get to see their departed loved ones once again.

Beth Lewis writes well and with characters well drawn. I didn’t enjoy the storyline.

Rony

Elite Group received a copy of the book to review.

This copy was recieved from NetGalley in exchange for an advance review.

Fast paced, this multi-character thriller takes a deep dive into the mind of a cult in 1980s rural America and looks at the key players involved. Beth Lewis is a skilled writer, capable of weaving the timelines; character journeys and finds a way to get inside the heads of the characters in the cult and why they made that decision well, through the eyes of a reporter following their journey as the book reaches its endgame.

Everything ramps up in a way that questions the reader's perspective on what's the truth and what isn't, the unreliable narrators are chosen carefully by Lewis who has you on tenderhooks - the big theme is wonderfully executed as a result of this and the characters like Root who we meet all have their own perspective and narrative: Root's narration opens with "I running", warped and different from those around them, and we don't truly know why until later in the book.

<i>Children of the Sun</i> feels very easy to read, well polished and crafted with the skill of a veteran thriller writer. I'll be reading more by Lewis as and when she releases them.

The narrative of this story about a cult is told between three characters:
James is a reporter invited to witness the great opening of the Golden Door that will allow Sol and his followers to enter an alternative reality to where their lost loved ones are still alive. He also has another reason for being there and a past that could see him possibly joining them.
Eve, is a woman looking for the site of their camp, Atlas. She has history with the cult and wants revenge on Sol.
Root is a young sunbeam who will open the Door along with other specially adapted children who have been brought up isolated from the rest of the group and are fed on a different diet...
As the day of the eclipse nears and the preparations for the opening of the Golden Door approaches the narratives coalesce to a gripping tense climax as you are never quite sure what will happen. James' investigations has him convinced that this is a mass suicide cult, whereas Eve's trail shows that the scientific theory may be true.
There is a clever unexpected reveal towards the end that nicely ties everything up to a satisfying conclusion.

Children of the sun explores the issue of life choices and how if a person had the opportunity to change just one choice, how things could be different. It is set with the backdrop of an off grid community in the U.S and a reporter with his own story is invited to interview and observe. Some nods to the cults we have heard about in the news but with an original take. Intriguing and original.

Told through the eyes of multiple characters, Children in the Sun tells of a cult who live secretly in the Adirondack Mountains, led by Sol (the typical cult leader) they are preparing for the Opening of the Door which they believe will take them elsewhere. A reporter is invited to write about them but also has an ulterior motive for being there. This is not quite the novel I was expecting.......I do wonder if an alternate ending would've made it more impactful.