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elderwoodreads's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Dementia, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
crybabybea's review
4.5
Educated does center around abusive familial relationships and neglect, but I appreciated at the attention paid to the emotional experience as a child living in that environment rather than just retelling events. I felt like we really got inside Tara's head both as a child and as an adult, and I think it takes a great writer to pull that off in an interesting way.
Anyone who has survived abuse and/or neglect will relate heavily to Tara's story, even if you haven't experienced the specific flavor of religious fanaticism and doomsday preparation she experienced. I especially liked the inclusion of Tara's many, many experiences gaslighting herself and justifying the behavior of those around her. I found it to be an incredibly relatable and realistic portrayal of the complicated and confusing nature of abusive relationships, especially when those relationships are familial.
I do think this book is a bit mis-marketed sometimes, and a lot of reviewers put emphasis on the survival aspect of the book which I think is the tamest and least important part of all. It actually put me off on picking this book up for so long because I wasn't interested in reading a memoir that centered around doomsday prepping and wilderness survival. Instead, I think the thread that ties the memoir together is the importance of education, and how Tara's own education (in all its good, bad, and ugly forms) shaped her into the person she is today.
I was a bit disappointed that the audiobook wasn't read by the author, but I saw it won an Audie award so I stayed tuned; I didn't particularly like how it made the book come across as disconnected and way less emotional than it should have been. Though I think the narrator herself did a great job and I appreciated the way she used different voices to keep track of the many important people in Tara's story.
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Racism, and Pregnancy
On top of experiencing mental and emotional abuse from her parents, Tara experienced extreme physical and mental abuse from her older brother and retells events in great detail. She also experienced collective gaslighting and emotional abuse from her parents and siblings when she decided to speak up. Tara's father and brother exhibit mental health symptoms such as paranoia, delusions of grandeur, fits of rage, and gaslighting. Tara and her mother worked as midwives so there are multiple passages that include mildly graphic scenes of delivery and one moderately graphic anecdote about a stillborn delivery. There are multiple incidents that result in injury due to lack of safety measures. Including multiple car crashes and accidents while working on the scrapyard, as well as severe burns.hcop's review
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, and Antisemitism
Minor: Cancer, Child death, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
sarahnella's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
tigertheory's review
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Gun violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, and Classism
Minor: Genocide, Police brutality, Islamophobia, and Murder
laurenhill2142's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Medical trauma, Car accident, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Police brutality, and Religious bigotry
aspvisualarts's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
faithe's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Racism, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Pregnancy
Minor: Cancer and Child death
hannalizzy's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
quil's review
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Antisemitism