Originally published on Goodreads.
With a unique premise and a compelling narrative, Bethany Mangle’s debut novel Prepped fulfills its goal of presenting an ultimately-hopeful tale of escape, freedom, and autonomy. Along the way, Mangle supplies the narrative with a dynamic cast and a host of complications that make the climax particularly gripping. And while the nature of this novel, at times, hinges too much on teenage attitudes of naivete and arrogance, it is all around an enjoyable read that would appeal to a youthful audience in search of a story that is at once rooted in reality and, for most of us, a far cry from the everyday.
In Prepped, Becca Aldaine is a legacy child, born into a family that has taken doomsday preparedness seriously for two consecutive generations. The neighborhood has expanded over time, and while they haven’t walled themselves in, they are relatively secular. With two underground bunkers on their collective property, a private greenhouse, and a surplus of live ammunition, the community devotes much of their money and energy to preparing for the worst possibility: the end of the world. Betrothed to Roy Kang, the only eligible boy her age, Becca has become disillusioned with the guiding philosophies of the community and dreams of escape, imagining a future where she can study physics at her favorite teacher’s alma mater: Carnegie Mellon University. Beyond the simple issue that this future would never be approved by her community, the other main issue with this plan is Becca’s younger sister, Katie, who Becca does not want to abandon. Still, Becca entertains thoughts of an independent future, working hard to keep her grades up, aiming to earn the salutatorian title, and applying to CMU in spite of the many obstacles in her way.
Of course, Becca’s family doesn’t know about any of this, and for most of her life, she’s been led to believe that Roy buys into the neighborhood’s ideology. By the time Becca’s 18th birthday rolls around, however, she learns that, for years, Roy has been playing the part of the dedicated, indoctrinated son when, in reality, he has been saving lunch money for years to prepare for escape. She learns, too, that Roy has no intention of leaving her behind; he loves her, has no expectations of reciprocation, and wants her to leave, too.
Throughout the novel, Mangle highlights the toxic nature of this community, honing in on the physical, financial, and emotional abuse as well as the cruel ideological beliefs. She routinely references the question of what is essential to survival; the community, including Becca’s parents (and especially her mother, Karen, whose name is fitting) believe that accounting for physical needs, such as food and shelter, are all that can be considered essential, but Becca has her doubts, considering the possibility that love, support, and kinship are also required. Becca’s attitudes toward the community’s beliefs and practices—from the arrogance that arises among individuals who believe they will outlast everyone else to the cruel and abusive training tactics that force children into dangerous situations (with lessons including “how to survive submersion in icy waters” and “how to escape a car wreck” that are taught through immersion)—drive her to desire something greater than what is designed for her.
At times, Becca is not a particularly likeable character, but you can’t help but root for her even when her sardonic tone and dark humor feels overbearing. What this novel does best is appropriately vilifying abusive behavior without attempting to justify it from a narrative perspective; though Karen Aldaine routinely makes an effort to defend her behavior and parenting choices, Becca consistently rejects this, holding fast to her stance. There are moments when Becca struggles with her feelings toward her parents, but it is this complicated attitude that makes Becca particularly sympathetic.
One area in which Mangle particularly excels in this novel is with characterization. As much as Becca can wallow in teen angst (enhanced by her unique, trauma-based circumstances), she has a strong, distinct voice that carries the story. Beyond Becca, the other characters are incredible. At the beginning, Roy’s obedience and over-enthusiastic act makes way for a considerate, detail-oriented, and empathetic character after he reveals his true nature. We can’t ignore his eagerness to participate in the neighborhood’s rituals (including his tendency to play up the romance between Becca and himself, even without her consent), but his true nature is sincere and shows the scars incurred by a lifetime of trauma and abuse. Roy is patient where Becca is anxious, but Becca is energetic where Roy might be content to lay low. They complement one another nicely.
The side characters especially shine. Personally, I rarely enjoy sharing my first name with a fictional character, and I can’t recall a character with my namesake that I didn’t hate—until now, actually. Sydney is spunky, unique, witty, and kind. She comes from the neighborhood across the street from the doomsday folks and befriends Becca and Roy with relative ease. In spite of her social standing, she doesn’t look down on Becca and Roy, and she doesn’t hold grudges (seeing as Becca elbowed her in the face and broke her eye socket during a critical event in the first half of the book). Her energy was utterly compelling, and her role—giving Roy and Becca a means of connecting with kids outside their families, encouraging them to pursue their dreams, taking on responsibility to help them survive—was delightfully well-done. On the other hand, the quirky Ms. Garcia, Becca’s favorite teacher, was pleasantly smart, compassionate, playful, and sincere. She was maternal in Karen’s absence, and her presence goes to show just how much impact a kind, dedicated adult can have on a child’s life.
Was this novel perfect? No, but what is? Becca’s musings bordered on irritating if only due to her tendency to ooze bitter quips at every opportunity, but through the narration and dialogue, Mangle provided a thorough look at the way Becca views the world and how her humor and attitude reflect that. Some of the characterization shifts throughout (such as Karen’s decent into bitchdom and Roy’s rapid change from obedient doomsday son-in-law-to-be to quiet, anarchist rebel) felt sudden and lacked an appropriate amount of foreshadowing; with Karen, for instance, Becca initially believed that, as a nurse, she was compassionate and caring and simply bought into the doomsday ideology for the sake of her parents and husband, and we saw very little to challenge that save for a preference for the professional over emotional during the cold water training.
But as with all books, there is very little point reflecting on what could have been. Instead, I try to choose to focus on what is. And with Prepped, what we have is an optimistic novel about breaking abuse cycles, pursuing independent paths and goals that have meaning, and the importance of love and compassion as a necessity for life.
I received an advanced copy of this book from the publishers to provide an honest review.