Book Review: Seed By Lisa Heathfield
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
As a sociology student, I was
particularly enthralled by the concept of this book; Seed gives YA readers an
insight into life in a cult, or from my studies I’d say it was more of a
sect.
I loved Seed! I found it so
interesting reading the book, and imagining being in the mind-set of a
character, which is completely different from watching a documentary which is
simply telling you or recounting the facts.
Seed is centred on a fifteen-year-old
girl called Pearl who has been raised at Seed. She knows nothing more than the
beautiful strawberry fields, the lake and all the nature she’s surrounded by.
In Seed, they worship Mother Nature, and even though she may be a young girl,
along with her family at Seed they idolise and follow the rules set by the
leader known as Papa S.
For many who don’t have an idea of
what a cult/sect can be like, they could perceive Pearl as stupid, as to
certain readers it is obvious that Seed was controlling and manipulating the
people within it. In actual fact Pearl and her family aren’t any of those
things – how can she be called stupid when she knows nothing of the outside
world? If anything she’s just naïve; not wrong, even if she isn’t right either.
Everything does have a pinnacle
changing point in the book, and I think other readers might disagree that it is
the beauty of the book. Each reader can have their own interpretation of the
plot that’s unfolding. I believe that the iconic point in this book was when
the family from the outside are brought in, by one of the Kindreds (who I can
only describe as Papa S’s minions). Pearl naturally has feelings that confuse
her; feelings that up until that point she had never known existed. Due to
this, she realises that the life she loves, trusts and knows isn’t what it
seems to be, and could all be rooted with darkness within.
Seed is different because rather than
just presenting cults and sects as the stereotypical, awful, weird concept many
think they are, it tries to educate young people by providing a platform where
they can attempt to gain understanding from a safe point of view. Not taking
into account any aspects of the media providing a mediated version of true
story or situation from the past. It’s simply fiction.
Overall, I’d encourage anyone my age
or even slightly older to consider having a read of the book. It made me cry
and empathise with the characters even though I shouldn’t be able to identify
with Pearl at all. Or is that the point? Is Lisa Heathfield trying to suggest
that we should think outside of this book and perhaps consider our real life
situations? To look at our daily lives and re-evaluate, is this what I want or
is it what I think I want? I could be completely wrong. Seed is innovative,
insightful and amazing. Such a great read! A stunning dramatic adventure with a
cheeky bit of coming of age
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