Scan barcode
littlelikkel's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Racial slurs, and Car accident
lauragracel's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
laur_astor's review against another edition
Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Pregnancy
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
alexared's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Antisemitism, and Pregnancy
beccabees's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
scoobygirl93's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
matonnhermann's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Car accident, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
genderqueer_hiker's review against another edition
0.5
I very much hope the author has found peace and safety outside of this story, but this unfiltered, unconsidered childhood narrative seems intent on titillating rather than offering anything of substance. We're encouraging to gawk, as if this is truly uncommon or unheard of. It sells the lie that only the mix of fundamentalism and (possible) mental health issues are to blame for these outcomes. The author is either unaware of her readers or just doesn't care about us - she has not done any work to tell this story without retraumatizing. She never owns any of her family's behavior as abuse - she makes excuses for them at every point. Bipolar disorder is offered up as a weak foil, but even she undermines that partial explanation by using her current voice to dismiss it as an immature consideration. She still seems incredibly early or stalled in her process.
Also, when did she attend college, that she could work a cheap summer job and have money to pay for college by herself? A lot of the money details don't make sense. It was also weird to not find out until she goes to college that she doesn't wash, and that's the norm in her family? Comments are made about her family house smelling like rot later on, but no consideration of why that might be.
This story really just felt like the author trying to find an audience for her to repeat the narrative and lore she's created to cushion her psyche. It lacked authenticity, and it's rather unusual to have a clearly unreliable narrator in a memoir. After reading it, I felt like the entire book was meant to pull a fast one, telling me a very creative fiction.
With more thought, it also bothers me that there is no mention of the police or social services being called. Perhaps Idaho is different than other places; perhaps their family was known and feared. But it doesn't make sense that particularly Shawn's publicly violent assaults of both family and local youth and their two car accidents with unregistered and uninsured vehicles never met with closer scrutiny from law enforcement. Also, given her family environment as described, I suspect sexual abuse was also part of her and/or her sister's experiences, but that is not mentioned at any point.
I also don't understand why people went out of their way to be nice to her after she left home. She writes her younger self as very abrasive, judgemental, and rude, yet people reached out and tried to nuture and take care of her (e.g., Robin and the Bishop at college). She's very socially awkward; people don't like that. Maybe BYU is more used to trying to tame feral young people from fundamentalist sects? Maybe she was very pretty? There's no reflection on why she was granted far more opportunities than most other children of separatist households (or even her own).
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
rebah's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism