Scan barcode
mrsmishler's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Gun violence and Murder
Minor: Animal death
knatreads501's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Incest, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Eating disorder, Suicide, and Murder
brookey8888's review against another edition
This is absolutely nothing against the book, in fact I found it really interesting. That being said this is so graphic and disturbing reading about graphic details of childhood sexual abuse that I just can’t stomach it at this point in time. Maybe I’ll pick this up again in the future.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
murphy87's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, and Abandonment
Moderate: Animal death
bitesizedbeet's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder
playswithstring's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, and Deportation
graceemacee's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Moderate: Animal death
hookerkitty's review against another edition
2.0
This had potential, but missed the mark. While the first chapter about the history could’ve been interesting, it ended up being so incredibly dry that I almost gave up then.
After that there was SO MUCH unnecessarily graphic depictions of child physical and sexual abuse, and sexual abuse of adults. She didn’t need to go into so much detail; it was wildly uncomfortable and difficult to get through. It doesn't help that she wrote everything in the present tense. She wrote somewhat childlike for instances that happened when she was younger, but also used words that no 3 or 4 year old would use (or hell, most of the people there since they were only allowed a sixth grade education — side note: them having at least one spelling error in the titles of their educational material cracked me up).
I also find it hard to believe she remembered all that stuff in such detail from when she was that young. There were other instances throughout the book that also seemed like they skirted the lines of truth. (I’m not at all accusing her of fabricating her story, just that some instances here and there seem a little embellished).
There was more than one instance where she used a word without telling the reader what it meant. It was annoying to have to Google stuff to understand what she was talking about. I didn’t realize until I had finished the book that there was a glossary at the end. While that’s nice to have, a short definition when the word is introduced would’ve been much more appreciated.
It started to get better (or less uncomfortable) halfway through the book, but then dear god (hah) did her superiority complex come out. Lots of cringey thoughts and behaviors. The end had some stuff in it that I found useful, or at least could be a building block for some of my trauma processing.
I decided to look at her website (prompted by another review) and it seems that she has turned into the people she says she escaped from. Tons of red flags of courses that’ll fix your life with no mention of price, only an email, and she even went on Dr. Oz. Yikes on trikes all around.
I’m definitely disappointed with this book. I’ve always been fascinated by cults, but this went waaaay too graphic about the multitudes of abuse that happened (to both adults and children), with hardly any reflection of how it affected her. She can still be quite defensive about everything. I’m also disappointed in how she went from having no self esteem to rocketing over to pretentious and egotistical. I’m really glad I got this on Prime Day instead of paying full price for it.
Another side note - did anyone else get the feeling that she might be bi or gay? Her portrayal of some of the girls/women were much more descriptive and seemed like she was way more attracted to them than any of the boys/men in this book
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Confinement, Incest, Racism, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
Minor: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Deportation
cailyne's review
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
sara_m_martins's review against another edition
Plus, the writing style and the form feel weird and dissonant, as the sequence of events goes from pages of different but relatively-mundane life (like building a wall) to extremely abusive and traumatic scenarios.
Additionally, I think I would rather read a more removed perspective - i.e. a biography instead of an autobiography
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Drug use, and Cultural appropriation