What do you think?
Rate this book
The Reformation of Marli Meade
Born and raised on an isolated Appalachian mountain, sixteen-year-old Marli Meade yearns to break free from her father's diabolical church but fears its clutches are so deep she may never escape.
When she meets local boy Nate Porter, though, she realizes the life she craves is worth fighting for even with the grave risk that fight would entail.
As her two worlds collide, exposing buried church secrets more sinister than she imagined and unknown facts about her mother's death, Marli must decide if she has the courage to fight for her future or if time has run out on her chance to live.
When she meets local boy Nate Porter, though, she realizes the life she craves is worth fighting for even with the grave risk that fight would entail.
As her two worlds collide, exposing buried church secrets more sinister than she imagined and unknown facts about her mother's death, Marli must decide if she has the courage to fight for her future or if time has run out on her chance to live.
- GenresYoung AdultCult Classics
232 pages, Paperback
Published December 1, 2016
3 people are currently reading
3964 people want to read
About the author
Tracy Hewitt Meyer
11 books90 followersI am the award-winning author of YA and contemporary fiction, and gothic thrillers.
When not writing, I work as a mental health therapist.
I love to write almost as much as I love to read. Sometimes more. Life is a story. Hang on and enjoy the ride!
Cheers, Tracy
When not writing, I work as a mental health therapist.
I love to write almost as much as I love to read. Sometimes more. Life is a story. Hang on and enjoy the ride!
Cheers, Tracy
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 17, 2022
where to start with this. I honestly found this book by trying to find something to fit a prompt in a reading challenge. And man, am I glad I found it.
This book is a young adult.. style read with some romance added in in my opinion.
We follow our FMC Marli whom belongs to a cult-like church. Her father Charles is the preacher of this crazy church. Her entire life revolves around church, prayer, and school where doesn't exactly have a lot of friends. Her home life is... dire. Her dad and grandma are abusive and thinks she needs to be cleansed of all her sins... all the time. Her main sin? looking like her mother whom has passed away. With all books like this, Marli finds herself a boy.... Nate. Nate has his own issues and neglect/abuse as well. With Nate, she finds romance, companionship, and doesn't feel as alone.
Overall, this book was good. It kept me wanting to read more and really rooting for Marli to escape and live a better life.
This book is a young adult.. style read with some romance added in in my opinion.
We follow our FMC Marli whom belongs to a cult-like church. Her father Charles is the preacher of this crazy church. Her entire life revolves around church, prayer, and school where doesn't exactly have a lot of friends. Her home life is... dire. Her dad and grandma are abusive and thinks she needs to be cleansed of all her sins... all the time. Her main sin? looking like her mother whom has passed away. With all books like this, Marli finds herself a boy.... Nate. Nate has his own issues and neglect/abuse as well. With Nate, she finds romance, companionship, and doesn't feel as alone.
Overall, this book was good. It kept me wanting to read more and really rooting for Marli to escape and live a better life.
April 20, 2019
A fast paced, entertaining YA read, about a girl in a cult, or rather cult like church and she is at her limit and then she meets Nate. The story has a little romance, I would have liked more it would have been a beak from some of the tension and terrible things that happen, the story is well written and unpredictable, a really good read
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion
January 22, 2018
i really loved it , it was a great read from start to finish i could not put it down
October 30, 2023
Meyer is a competent writer, and this book even contains a few clever little insights like the way a nervous teenager flattens spaghetti into a pancake with the back of a fork. I requested this book because it sounded as if it might be good.
It's not. The corrupt satanic church, as found in novels like Harvest Home, Tuppenny, even in The Dark Tower with the "sisters" who are shapeshifting vampires, is nothing new in horror fiction or in cautionary satire. Meyer's first page, which situates the satanic church on "Ophidian Mount" and calls attention to the serpent carved around its cross, starts out like a bit of mild horror fiction for young adults. Nothing wrong with that...except that Meyer insists that a whole network of satanic, serpent-worshipping churches are actively burying murdered believers all over the Appalachian Mountains.
If someone from the Soviet Union had written a novel like this based on "research" from antichristian propaganda, that might be pardonable. Meyer lives in Virginia and has enough experience to know, as I well know, that although most of the "nondenominational community churches" that were organized about a hundred years ago may be vulnerable to gossip and snobbery and even embezzlement, or characterized by uninformed interpretations of the Bible, they are generally places of good will where teenagers should only be so lucky as to find an escape from abusive schools, doctors, and foster parents who use them to experiment with medical treatments for diseases they don't have.
There's not much going on in this novel. A few images repeat throughout. Snakes are never natural animals, objects of perverted worship and instruments of murder, never natural animals. Homemade clothes symbolize oppression. Lipstick symbolizes liberation. And the church on Ophidian Mount symbolizes a kind of hate that's being deliberately encouraged, among semi-educated people, to demonize all things rural, independent, individual, out of the mainstream, or off the grid. Anyone so perverse as to imagine that women can dress themselves without regard to "fashion" has to have buried a few murder victims in the woods somewhere.
I call foul. I think this novel was written in bad faith, with evil intentions, and nobody should ever buy it.
It's not. The corrupt satanic church, as found in novels like Harvest Home, Tuppenny, even in The Dark Tower with the "sisters" who are shapeshifting vampires, is nothing new in horror fiction or in cautionary satire. Meyer's first page, which situates the satanic church on "Ophidian Mount" and calls attention to the serpent carved around its cross, starts out like a bit of mild horror fiction for young adults. Nothing wrong with that...except that Meyer insists that a whole network of satanic, serpent-worshipping churches are actively burying murdered believers all over the Appalachian Mountains.
If someone from the Soviet Union had written a novel like this based on "research" from antichristian propaganda, that might be pardonable. Meyer lives in Virginia and has enough experience to know, as I well know, that although most of the "nondenominational community churches" that were organized about a hundred years ago may be vulnerable to gossip and snobbery and even embezzlement, or characterized by uninformed interpretations of the Bible, they are generally places of good will where teenagers should only be so lucky as to find an escape from abusive schools, doctors, and foster parents who use them to experiment with medical treatments for diseases they don't have.
There's not much going on in this novel. A few images repeat throughout. Snakes are never natural animals, objects of perverted worship and instruments of murder, never natural animals. Homemade clothes symbolize oppression. Lipstick symbolizes liberation. And the church on Ophidian Mount symbolizes a kind of hate that's being deliberately encouraged, among semi-educated people, to demonize all things rural, independent, individual, out of the mainstream, or off the grid. Anyone so perverse as to imagine that women can dress themselves without regard to "fashion" has to have buried a few murder victims in the woods somewhere.
I call foul. I think this novel was written in bad faith, with evil intentions, and nobody should ever buy it.
September 23, 2023
This is my first book by this author., however I am looking forward to reading more. Her writing is really compelling, and she dares to talk about those tough subjects with grace. I believe this story is relatable in so many ways. It is a touching coming of age story of one girl, realizing she wants more to her life then what she is born to become. She gets a taste of what that could be like with the help of one boy who sees her, not just this weird girl on the isolated mountain.
Marli is sixteen years old, born and raised on an isolated Appalachian Mountain in an oppressive home life. She is tired of all the rules and yearns to escape but fears she will never be able to. Until she meets a local boy Nate, and everything becomes possible through his eyes. She will need to fight for herself and the future she wants or give in to the control of her family.
Thank you to NetGalley and BHC for a copy of this book for my honest opinion.
Marli is sixteen years old, born and raised on an isolated Appalachian Mountain in an oppressive home life. She is tired of all the rules and yearns to escape but fears she will never be able to. Until she meets a local boy Nate, and everything becomes possible through his eyes. She will need to fight for herself and the future she wants or give in to the control of her family.
Thank you to NetGalley and BHC for a copy of this book for my honest opinion.
March 2, 2017
Marli Meade is the only child of Charles, the preacher and leader of the scary and dark Church on the Mountain, situated on a bleak mountainside in the Appalachians. Her life is a grim cycle of church, prayer, and bullying at the local high school, where she’s picked on for her clothes, her hair, her life. Her home life is a misery of harsh neglect and emotional abuse at the hands of her taciturn father and his frightening mother, both of whom detest the title character and are determined to cleanse her of her many, nebulous sins, foremost of which seems to be that she was born looking like her dead mother
Into this situation comes Nate Porter, a breath of relative normalcy, though he carries his own emotional baggage in the form of an absent mother, an abusive brother, and a neglectful and ignorant father
When the book begins, Marli has already reached her emotional limit, feeling that there must be more to life than this miserable, horrifying existence, of being married off to a member of the church and living in its horrifying shadow for the rest of her life. In Nate, she finds romance, solace, and companionship, and begins to see that there might be an escape from her present circumstances.
The author, Tracy Hewitt Meyer, uses evocative imagery involving local plant life and snakes to set the mood, drawing thereader into Marli’s dreary world. It’s a grim life, with elements of the horrifying, and very little to alleviate the feeling of impending doom. There are brief flashes of “normal life” when she attends the local high school, but even there, one is reminded of the title character in Carrie, of how out of touch and attacked she felt, pretty much on a constant basis
There are moments of high tension, when the reader is pulled along, wondering what’s coming, and we do root for her; no one could read this and not want things to change for her
There are revelations regarding Marli’s mother, and the history of the Church which give the story a satisfying climax and ending. The author paints a vivid and stark picture of life in Appalachia
A little more character development would’ve made this an even more satisfying read; though the story is told in the first person POV, she is more acted upon by events and people around her, and she is revealed to us by her responses more than her actions. Even the decisions she made seemed to be more of the knee-jerk kind that anyone in her position would make, and less related to who she was, which wasn’t as clear as this reader would have wished. A little more of the romance would have been a nice palate cleanser as well, a nice counterbalance to the darkness of the world so graphically portrayed
Rating… 3 Stars
Review by Marie Hanes of www.readsandreels.com
Into this situation comes Nate Porter, a breath of relative normalcy, though he carries his own emotional baggage in the form of an absent mother, an abusive brother, and a neglectful and ignorant father
When the book begins, Marli has already reached her emotional limit, feeling that there must be more to life than this miserable, horrifying existence, of being married off to a member of the church and living in its horrifying shadow for the rest of her life. In Nate, she finds romance, solace, and companionship, and begins to see that there might be an escape from her present circumstances.
The author, Tracy Hewitt Meyer, uses evocative imagery involving local plant life and snakes to set the mood, drawing thereader into Marli’s dreary world. It’s a grim life, with elements of the horrifying, and very little to alleviate the feeling of impending doom. There are brief flashes of “normal life” when she attends the local high school, but even there, one is reminded of the title character in Carrie, of how out of touch and attacked she felt, pretty much on a constant basis
There are moments of high tension, when the reader is pulled along, wondering what’s coming, and we do root for her; no one could read this and not want things to change for her
There are revelations regarding Marli’s mother, and the history of the Church which give the story a satisfying climax and ending. The author paints a vivid and stark picture of life in Appalachia
A little more character development would’ve made this an even more satisfying read; though the story is told in the first person POV, she is more acted upon by events and people around her, and she is revealed to us by her responses more than her actions. Even the decisions she made seemed to be more of the knee-jerk kind that anyone in her position would make, and less related to who she was, which wasn’t as clear as this reader would have wished. A little more of the romance would have been a nice palate cleanser as well, a nice counterbalance to the darkness of the world so graphically portrayed
Rating… 3 Stars
Review by Marie Hanes of www.readsandreels.com
February 10, 2018
As I read "The Reformation of Marli Meade" I felt like I do when I watch dramas on the Hallmark channel: simply entertained. Tracy Hewitt Meyer writes with great skill as she describes the coming of age story of a sheltered teenage girl dominated by a strict church family in the Appalachian mountains who meets and falls for an outside boy that makes her question her life and yearn for more. The book was a very quick read and Meyer's writing keeps the pace flowing with just the right amount of descriptions and character development. It is simply an entertaining and quick read.
March 9, 2018
The book depicts Marli as being the daughter of the minister of a secluded sect in the Appalachian Mountains. Her life is mandated by the rigid rules of the church. However, when she meets outsider Nate Porter, the book turns (in my opinion) into a young adult romance book.
I would like to have read more about the church and the diabolic treatment of the parishioners. (I am morbid).
As I mentioned this is a young adult book, it is well written, and it was an entertaining read.
Great cover and interior design.
I would like to have read more about the church and the diabolic treatment of the parishioners. (I am morbid).
As I mentioned this is a young adult book, it is well written, and it was an entertaining read.
Great cover and interior design.
March 10, 2018
I really enjoyed this YA novel about 16-year-old Marli Meade and her cult like church. The book starts very prescriptive: repressed girl meets boy, girl forced by church to do things unimaginable, girl wants out, and boy tries to help. The natural expected progression is refreshing rather than stale, and then as the story heats up Marli’s situation becomes much more dire and far less prescriptive than the start. The climactic ending just keeps hitting and continues to grab you long after you think things are settling down.
This was a faced paced, fun read and I highly recommend it.
This was a faced paced, fun read and I highly recommend it.
August 31, 2021
The Reformation of Marli Meade was not what I expected, but better. The first book I have read from this author and hoping to read more. In this story we find Marli Meade yearning to break free from her father's crazy church. She is only 16 years old and has never left the isolated Appalachian mountains in her life.
Her interests are with local boy Nate Porter. However, soon she realizes there is more to the church than she imagined and even unknown facts about her mother's death. This book was provided by Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion. What a great read!
Her interests are with local boy Nate Porter. However, soon she realizes there is more to the church than she imagined and even unknown facts about her mother's death. This book was provided by Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion. What a great read!
March 16, 2020
Actually, I had read this book once before, but didn't remember the finale, so re-reading it was just as enjoyable as last time. The characters are great, some in their innocence, some in their ignorance, and horrible actions. I hate to think there are really groups as depicted in this novel, but shockingly, we ready about this in the news.
February 10, 2018
Marli leaps off the page and into your heart. She’ll be with me a long, long time.
November 8, 2023
So good! I actually won an autographed copy from a give-away and wasn’t sure about it before I started!
December 20, 2023
Fast paced good story.
July 31, 2017
This book will really make you think about life, that wierd girl at school, and how nobody's live is perfect. Marli is quite a character. An outcast in her cult-like church's community for not being docile enough, and an outcast in mainstream society for being part of a cult-like church community. She doesn't fit in anywhere. But she has an inner strength that carries her above what is going on around her. She manages to hold her head high and roll with the punches until things really start to spin out of control at home.
The trigger for this is Nate Porter. Nate is a troubled young man that has been in and out of trouble. But he sees something in Marli that he can't seem to resist. We have a very slight case of insta-attraction, but it isn't acted on which makes it much easier for me to go with. It's one thing to be attracted at first sight - quite another to fall in love. Both teenagers are intrugued by each other and become unexpectedly close friends.
As Marli and Nate become closer, Marli's family and church are going round the bend into serious crazy town. We're talking life and death crazy town and I just couldn't put this down until I found out how everything ended. And it does end in quite a big blow-out fashion. Your heart will be racing and you'll start to wonder if any good will come of it at all.
This is a book young adult fans must read! It has it all - amazing characters, great plot, and a conflict that just blew me away.
The trigger for this is Nate Porter. Nate is a troubled young man that has been in and out of trouble. But he sees something in Marli that he can't seem to resist. We have a very slight case of insta-attraction, but it isn't acted on which makes it much easier for me to go with. It's one thing to be attracted at first sight - quite another to fall in love. Both teenagers are intrugued by each other and become unexpectedly close friends.
As Marli and Nate become closer, Marli's family and church are going round the bend into serious crazy town. We're talking life and death crazy town and I just couldn't put this down until I found out how everything ended. And it does end in quite a big blow-out fashion. Your heart will be racing and you'll start to wonder if any good will come of it at all.
This is a book young adult fans must read! It has it all - amazing characters, great plot, and a conflict that just blew me away.
April 3, 2017
This novel’s narrative breaks out of the gate strong.
Read full review in the 2017 April issue of InD'tale Magazine.
Read full review in the 2017 April issue of InD'tale Magazine.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews