Reviews tagging 'Death'

Uncultured: A Memoir by Daniella Mestyanek Young

12 reviews

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.0

be very careful before picking this up. please check the content warnings!! 

while the first part of this book is hard to read due to the content, it is a very important story and perspective. however, the second part takes a big turn and becomes about serving in the military and contains some comments and opinions i think are kinda bad. take that for what you will.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Bullying, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Mental illness

oriad313's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Gore, Incest, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Miscarriage

tayleigh's review against another edition

Such an important book to read. It’s a personal and heart breaking memoir of a young woman who grew up in a sex cult, she was able to get out, excellent in school then ultimately join the military. Though the military turned into being very similar to her time growing up in the cult. She was trained from childhood to be a soldier so she excelled in that as well. But being a woman in both scenarios she was seen as less than and a body to used. She experienced sexual abuse through out her whole life and is was overlooked in each of the organizations. Each time she thought she caught a break something would come crashing down. 

This book details horrific events and abuse of women and children while also showing systems that allow it to happen. It also shows how strong and important friendships between women can be. Women were the ones who supported her through her journey and saved her life. 

As someone who has experienced sexual trauma it can feel so isolating and overwhelming and it’s a reminder that healing can happen and so many women experience it and it shouldn’t be shameful for the women. And it’s never the victim’s fault. Like Daniella says it’s rarely a bad apple or two but a rotten tree and we should be looking for where the toxins are coming from. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, War, Death, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Rape, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Racism

oolymee's review against another edition

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Grief, Death, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, War, Xenophobia, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Lesbophobia, Islamophobia, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

idontread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, War, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Abandonment, Cancer, Confinement, Xenophobia, Racism, Addiction, Ableism, Alcoholism, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Suicide attempt, Blood, Sexism, Body shaming, Bullying, Grief, Islamophobia, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

miblette's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, War, Child abuse, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Death, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Cancer

eoblack's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

This book was so good. As a fellow female veteran, who  experienced the Army around the same time as the author, so much of her experience rang true. It’s both disappointing and comforting to hear that other women had such similar experiences.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, War, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Rape, and Misogyny

Moderate: Death

Minor: Pregnancy

raquelcanread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Blood, Colonisation, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, and Sexual content

rachreads925's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

3.25

Its hard to judge someone's memoir, since its their life. But I will tell you, if you want to really learn about what it is like to grow up in The Children of God - this isn't the book. "Sex Cult Nun" is another memoir of someone who grew up in the group, and is more focused on the experience of growing up in that particular cult / group. Daniella's childhood comprises the first half of the book or so but there is so much that seems to be glossed over, and what is there isn't necessarily told with a lot of detail. The author in my opinion has sanitized her memories in order to shape how she's viewed by readers, while acknowledging mistakes she made only when its acceptable for her to do so. But what this book does well is talk about how group think happens, and comparing cult life to military life. The way both groups shape their members with indoctrination, isolate them, and place high demands on them. Ultimately it gets a 3 star rating from me due to the slow pace, lack of honesty in some places, and just not being super compelling.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Death, War, Medical content, Self harm, and Xenophobia

Minor: Torture

lestie4short's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Cursing, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Mental illness, Infidelity, Grief, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cancer