Agnes at the End of the World by Kelly McWilliams

Agnes at the End of the World by Kelly McWilliams was an engrossing and tense read that will keep you on the edge of your seat.  In a novel about faith, family,  and trust, McWilliams gives a strong and powerful female lead.  Through Agnes we learn about the cruelties that people (especially women) face inside a cult.  We learn about the strength and determination it takes to leave and the faith it takes to come back. 

Agnes has always been the faithful servant in her small Red Creek community.  She does the right thing and is obedient to her father and the Prophet.  Except when it comes to her little brother Ezekiel.  Ezekiel depends on a monthly supply of insulin from the outside world and nobody knows that Agnes has been receiving this forbidden medicine from an Outsider.  When she realizes that life in Red Creek isn't the paradise she has been led to believe, Agnes makes the courageous decision to leave for the Outside.  But what she finds is shocking.  The Outside is caught in an apocalyptic pandemic and things are deteriorating quickly.  But through this chaos, Agnes discovers she has more power than she ever thought.  She may just be the answer to saving her family and many others from the illness that is ravaging the planet.  Now she has to decide if she is strong enough to once again face Red Creek and the world she thought she had escaped. 

From Amazon:

The Handmaid's Tale meets Wilder Girls in this genre-defying novel about a girl who escapes a terrifying cult only to discover that the world Outside has succumbed to a viral apocalypse.

Agnes loves her home of Red Creek -- its quiet, sunny mornings, its dusty roads, and its God. There, she cares tirelessly for her younger siblings and follows the town's strict laws. What she doesn't know is that Red Creek is a cult, controlled by a madman who calls himself a prophet.

Then Agnes meets Danny, an Outsider boy, and begins to question what is and isn't a sin. Her younger brother, Ezekiel, will die without the insulin she barters for once a month, even though medicine is considered outlawed. Is she a sinner for saving him? Is her sister, Beth, a sinner for dreaming of the world beyond Red Creek?

As the Prophet grows more dangerous, Agnes realizes she must escape with Ezekiel and leave everyone else, including Beth, behind. But it isn't safe Outside, either: A viral pandemic is burning through the population at a terrifying rate. As Agnes ventures forth, a mysterious connection grows between her and the Virus. But in a world where faith, miracles, and cruelty have long been indistinguishable, will Agnes be able to choose between saving her family and saving the world?