Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

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

7 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

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

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

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

hubes's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

3.0

Too much (armchair) diagnoses and not enough nitty-gritty of life in each of the cults

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

onmalsshelf's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

2.0

Oof I’m disappointed.

As someone who listed to the podcast Cults that this book is based on, this book reads just like the podcast episodes that cover each of these cults. Would not surprise me if they just took the transcripts, cleaned them up, and sent to the publisher.

Beyond that, all of the cults mentioned here are some of the most famous cults that probably everyone already knows about. With how many cults were covered in the podcast, I wish a few more lesser known ones were included here.

Additionally, again as someone who listened to the podcast it’s hard to fathom why the podcast hosts weren’t included in the audiobook narration cast. I found myself wishing Greg and Vanessa were the ones sharing everything as the book was basically just a large podcast transcript. 

Sorry to my true crime book club that had to read this for our October 2022 pick.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis