"This situation, well, it was a crisis. The girl I loved was in a cult--and that's what it is, I thought, a cult."
The Incendiaries, is a must read that focuses on the “issues of religion” but also the matter of is what we are reading the actual truth. I must say I did like the aspect every other two chapters being told from different perspectives of the three main characters in the book. One thing that I adored of R.O. Kwon writing is how the story starts off, we start reading the heightened incident that happens in the book right in the beginning which does nothing but intrigue the reader to a) be confused as to what is happening and b) to want to know what is happening and what lead to this point.
This story takes place over a couple years between the characters (I’m assuming somewhere between 1-3 years). As stated I love that the story is being given in 3 different perspectives however the main storyline is coming from one perspective, Will. Which after finishing this novel a part of me is convinced that not everything Will was telling in his perspective was the full truth due to it being from his perspective. I did like how you can correlate from the other perspectives of their timeline compared to the “actual” timeline. I was, for sure, trustworthy of Will. I knew what he was saying was the truth and that he was a good guy but when I got halfway through the novel I was completely finished with Will and I love how the writing in the story is able to have me flip my thoughts and feelings toward a character before even finishing the book.
I would have like to receive more back story as to why maybe Phoebe wanted to become a classical pianist, although I feel I have a solid reason to believe maybe why it would’ve been nice to have a firm answer to know. I believe that she wanted to have control over her life to where something positive can come out of it. She feels that the reasoning behind her mother’s death is her fault, and having that control over becoming a pianist and maybe choosing what she gets to play is giving her the control she wished she would had have the night of the accident.
There were so may controversies that were being acknowledged in this book: religion (cult), abortion, rape, over-sexualizing women, but also stigmas within races. With the release of this book in 2018, I’m glad that these topics weren’t sugarcoated in the book due to the timing of these controversies. For instance, the #metoo movement being in the spotlight starting I believe the end of 2017 - early 2018 deals a lot with the raping of Phoebe. Will and Phoebe were a couple in love, at least through Will’s eyes, he was in love with a girl who could do no wrong. However, the night he raped her he says he couldn’t let her go because he had waited so long to have sex with her again after returning from his trip that when Phoebe told him to stop he didn’t want to “let her go.” At that point in the book Will had already over-sexualized Phoebe from the moment he laid eyes on her at the party he was already imagining having sex with her, talk about creepy!
While there were so many topics being discussed, I feel the major theme that played a part in this novel would be religion. We’re introduced to Will, a ex-Christian, who went to a Christian school and was teaching the word of God to any and all who would listen but after seeing his mother get sick (who at first seems is described as if she passed but it still alive? That was weird to me) started to wonder if there really was a God. Then we’re introduced to John Leal, a half Korean, who is basically a cult leader. Unfortunately, Phoebe ends up becoming a part of this cult after being told repeatedly by Will what she was getting herself into but didn’t want to listen to him. There are many ways to determine whether you’re in a cult: losing connection with friends and family, having to devote so much time with so called group, absurd punishment when not abiding the rules, etc. If you want more information to the signs of being a cult, just click here. Without spoiling the end of the novel, I think that Phoebe was told to plant the bombing of the clinic and that it wasn’t her idea. The way it was brought to Will’s attention made it seem very off, but then again since it’s being told in Will’s perspective maybe that’s how we’re supposed to see it? Are we supposed to see Phoebe as this innocent girl because Will does and that we’re blinded by their love as well to see who she really is? Will is definitely an unreliable character in this story, however it's very interesting to see that it's told through his point of view. I wonder if that's the reason Kwon choose to have the story be told through Will's perspectives to trick the reader into what they may be thinking is what is going on but it's not. With every story there's 3 parts: your version, they're version, and the truth. Once again this a must read book despite your religion, views, etc. it’s a novel that requires you to think for sure.