As a sociology student, I was particularly enthralled by the concept of this book; ‘Seed’ gives young adult 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 mindset of a character, which is completely different from watching a documentary, which is simply telling you or recounting the facts.
Seed is centred around 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 foolish, 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 foolish when she knows nothing of the outside world? If anything she’s just naive; 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.
— Guardian News & Media Ltd.
