Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Cults: Inside the World's Most Notorious Groups and Understanding the People Who Joined Them by Max Cutler

14 reviews

librarymouse's review against another edition

2.5

This whole book has an odd pro-Israel tilt, most directly addressed in the second to last chapter. The author notes the Zionist roots of many of the cults without ever considering or critiquing the role of Zionism in the destructive and deadly nature of the cults. Overall, this reads more like a poorly thought through encyclopedia of cult activity than the human-framed perspective promised by the title. In the chapters about the more violent acts committed by cult leaders or in the name of their beliefs, the author's focus was more on the act than the aftermath, which was unexpected with the title framing this book as focusing on the people who joined and the impact their respective cults had on them.
 I will not be listening to the podcast, and after the overt praise for Israel, I finished this book as a hate read.

The narrators of the audio version of the book pronounce religious terms like "vicar" oddly. There should have been some oversight to make sure a book about cults and religious movements that became cults had their terms pronounced correctly 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infertility, Antisemitism, and Abandonment

avonleegrace's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious sad slow-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

growintogardens's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual harassment

natgeographic's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad fast-paced

5.0

HOW DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Trafficking, and Cannibalism

thedistortionist's review against another edition

dark informative sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, and Sexual violence

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, and Death of parent

doomluz's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

4.0

This was an overview on 10 different cults and their leaders. I had only heard of a few of these so it was interesting and disturbing learning about the history of all these cults and what might've drawn people into them. The only one I didn't really learn anything new about was the Manson one. Fortunately, it was the first chapter, so it sets the tone and style for the rest of the book well.
I'd recommend this to people who are interested in cults, but don't know a lot because it's more like a brief history of each, but doesn't go much deeper.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and Murder

janetbarbosa's review against another edition

challenging dark informative medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

kylieabbynormal's review against another edition

dark emotional informative medium-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexism, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Abortion

Minor: Death of parent

jlye's review against another edition

dark informative tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Suicide

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, and Abandonment

abc27's review against another edition

informative tense medium-paced

3.5

You can tell right from the beginning that a ton of research went into the creation of this book. I had the pleasure of listening to the audiobook which contained a variety of narrators; Each narrator had brought their own style and life to each cult telling, which made it so there was never a dull moment. This book covers cults we’ve all heard of like the Manson Family to the small ones that reach far and wide like Osho who was an Indian religious leader. Not only are you able to learn about these cults, but also about the people who join them and how they find themselves there. Throughout reading this book I had one singular question running through my mind. “How far will people go just so they are able to feel like they belong?” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship