Book Review
Title: Heretics Anonymous
Author: Katie Henry
Genre: YA/Comedy/Satire
Rating: *****
Review: I know several Booktubers including Emma Books who loved Heretics Anonymous and from the synopsis I am predicting this will be a 5-star read for me. We are introduced to Michael who is an atheist as he is due to start at a Catholic school, St. Clare’s. This isn’t the first time Michael has had to move school because of his father’s job but he is determined to hate St. Clare’s for many reasons not just the plaid ties. Immediately after arriving for the first day, he knows this is going to be a struggle, not just because he has transferred a month and a half into the semester but because he doesn’t want to address the teachers as Father and Sister, the morning prayer also freaks him out. Things don’t start well for Michael as he insults a girl who tells him he made the sign of the cross wrong and he talks about summoning the devil, but in another lesson a girl speaks up against the Sister teaching the History class and Michael knows this girl is going to be his new best friend. The girl in question, Lucy, takes Michael under her wing but she turns out to be a Catholic herself just not a stupid one like everyone else and she introduces him to Avi, who is Jewish. The opening of Heretics Anonymous was wildly funny and I can’t wait to see some of the antics these kids get up to.
As approach the ¼ mark in the novel, Michael gets invited to the secret group called Heretics Anonymous, where Lucy is the head of the group as she is a Catholic who wants to be priest, Avi is Jewish and gay and by far the most level headed of the group. There is also Eden who is pagan and Max, who in his insanely strange way is my spirit guide. We get to see Michael’s strained relationship with his father as his father promised they wouldn’t move again and that he could finish high school in the same place but broke this promise as soon as another job offer came along and it requires him to travel a lot, so Michael feels that he isn’t really part of the family and isn’t entitled to be a big part in his life which causes strain for the whole family. The next day at school he has a meltdown after being told off for forgetting his belt and calling God a dick which was an amazing move on his part. When the group meet again, he suggests doing something with their ideals, not revealing themselves as part of it but going public all the same. Michael suggest hijacked the sex education class and editing the DVD so when something untrue is said, they insert the truth and while there is some discontent among the group, they eventually decide to do it.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, the presentation goes amazingly for Heretics Anonymous, or horribly depending what side you are on. It was insanely funny to watch the nuns and Fathers run around like headless chickens to stop the presentation and then the efforts they made to wipe the event from the minds of the children afterwards although it doesn’t work as people like Connor say they are down with the group doing what they are doing. I have the feeling going forward the group are going to get up to more hijinks like this which I can’t wait to see. However, we do get two events other than the presentation, one is Michael realising he has some feelings for Lucy although her choice to follow religion still confuses him and he often makes comments or assessments that upset her, but he is trying. The second is an argument between Michael and his father at Thanksgiving and while I completely agree with Michael’s argument, I do sympathise with his father too. Watching Michael try weed from his cousin Alex was amusing especially when his father comes to tell him off and Michael begins to cry, not because he is upset but to keep himself from coughing and give away what he has been doing. However, Theresa is suspicious that Lucy had something to do with the presentation and is going to be keeping an eye on them.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, when the kids return to school, Eden and Max have come up with the idea that they should have a symbol to represent their group which ends up appearing all over the school, some are drawn by the group and some are not. Due to this the school is tightening their security as they install security cameras and are enforcing the rules more than ever, so the groups next project is to attack the dress code since Eden and Max are constantly being stopped from wearing things that make them unique, Eden’s pagan earrings and Max’s cloak. We also get some more background on Lucy as her mother has been away “travelling” for more than a year, but she believes that she won’t let down her younger brother and will return home for Christmas. Over the next couple of weeks, Heretics Anonymous drive the teachers mad with their antics attacking the dress code and school policies and while some try to fight back against them there are too many students to deal with. As Christmas approaches, they decide to have a Heretics Anonymous party at Avi’s since his parents are away and Michael convinces his parents to let him go but only after he has completed his homework which his father helps with. This scene was heart-breaking as Michael’s father explains he minored in chemistry and cooked for his mother when they were younger and they talk about fun stuff they did when Michael and his sister were younger before he makes the comment and her sister not missing her father because she was too young to remember the way he used to be. This is cut short when Lucy pays a visit to deliver Michael’s Christmas present which is a Bible annotated by her which he loves because it came from her but Michael also notes that Lucy looks sad which makes me think her mother didn’t come home like she promised but she brushes it off telling Michael he has until the party to get her a present.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, the school returns from Christmas break only for Avi to find out that a teacher has been fired because she got married to a woman and as the only known gay member of the group he is furious and wants to do something about it. This sparks an argument between Lucy and Avi as she doesn’t want to do anything extreme but Avi calls her out on it asking whether or not she truly supports a church that condones these things but Lucy sees the church as her home causing Max, Eden and Michael to step in and end the argument. However, Avi and Michael come across boxes of files containing information on the teachers and Michael decides to create posters calling out other teachers that have done things that the Catholic church condemns like divorce and much more. After Valentine’s day rolls around, Michael is still getting used to being in a relationship with Lucy and wants to do something really romantic for her which he does, but during their conversation he is beginning to realises that they can have separate beliefs and still really like each other but something needs to be done to change the school despite what some believe. After Avi calms down, they all agree that something needs to be done but as the school newspaper needs to be checked by one of the Fathers, they decide to start their own with everyone getting assigned a piece each.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, the paper comes out, but the response isn’t what the group were expecting, and they decide to take a break in order for everything to die down. However, when Michael’s father breaks the news that they are going to be moving to Belgium in August, Michael loses it. He heads to the concert where he knows Lucy is playing to tell her but gets distracted by the bulletin board along the way and decides now is the right time for the poster he made to go up and vandalises the school in order to do it. Lucy figures out what he has done and is extremely angry with him and upon returning to school the next day, he is called into a meeting with the teachers and confesses to everything but he takes sole responsibility in order to protect Lucy, Eden, Max and Avi from the same fate. Obviously, his parents are called, and Michael’s father is livid, but he isn’t expelled only given 4 days suspension and he has to pay for the damage. Upon returning home his father tries to talk to him, but both are angry, and Michael says some very hurtful things. Afterwards he tries to talk to Lucy, but she doesn’t want to be around him which causes them to get into an argument and he says some even more hurtful things to her. As he returns home, alone and upset, his father is waiting for him and clears some things up with Michael even apologising and he tells Michael that they aren’t going to move until he is finished with high school but this starts to bridge the gap between them but it does nothing to mend his relationship with Lucy and the others.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, Michael is dealing with the aftermath of what he confessed to and he is finding that he isn’t coping very well. He decides to try and make things right but goes about it in the wrong which he surprisingly learns from one of his classes. In his despair Michael ends up at the chapel where he talks to one of the Sisters and learns that she shares some of his views on the church and that she believes in evolution and has a degree in human genetics. In this brief conversation, Michael realises he was judging others as much as they were judging him and he finally knows how to earn Lucy’s forgiveness. In the chapel they perform a confession with Lucy in the role of priest and she tells him in needs to apologise to the others as well and he agrees but the second he mentions he read the Bible she gave him, he knows he is forgiven and he can make a start on living a better life, even if it is at St. Clare’s. Overall, Heretics Anonymous wasn’t what I was expecting, yes it was funny, but it was much more than that and more than once it almost made me cry. I would highly recommend this novel to all.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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