purple-pink cover of HERETIC, with title in neon letters and A MEMOIR subtitle in chalk hand lettering

Heretic: a memoir

PEOPLE Best New Books Fall 2022
Electric Literature Favorite Nonfiction 2022
SELF Magazine Best Books of 2022
Autostraddle Best Queer Books of 2022


“Brilliant and well-read, Kadlec braved the emotional tides of religious trauma, divorce, and coming out as queer all before her thirtieth birthday. … Giving a voice to past and present evangelicals Kadlec invites readers to hold a mirror to the evangelical-political hydra that threatens to overthrow true American freedom.” — Booklist (starred review)

"What Kadlec suggests is something more exciting — not a revision but a restoration of the Christian faith. Is Kadlec a heretic? Or is she the true believer?" — Los Angeles Times

 "A woman reckons with the religious trauma of her upbringing and embarks on a process of self-discovery in this searing debut. . . . As she recounts her disentanglement from religion, Kadlec weaves a deeply personal narrative with excoriating criticism to unpack the ways in which religious belief is sewn into the fabric of American society. The result provides a poignant story of being born again in a secular world."  — Publishers Weekly