Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

300 reviews

breadgrandpa's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Sexism, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

amanda884's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racial slurs

katiey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

This is such a worthwhile read. It took me a bit to get through the first 1/4 of the book, adjusting to the writing and the depth of the things that happen in the novel. It's very dark and difficult to read, especially initially, and I had to take short breaks in reading because of the emotion. The writing is vivid and immerses you in the tension and difficulty of her childhood. It made me reflect upon the value of education and how lucky I am to be a person with access to education. I also really valued the commentary on feminism, the healing process, and family. An incredibly impactful read and brought up a lot of emotion in me. I only didn't rate it 5 stars because it was so emotionally difficult to read throughout, but it is so worth reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Violence, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Blood, Car accident, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, and Antisemitism

becandthebooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

“My life was narrated for me by others. Their voices were forceful, emphatic, absolute. It had never occurred to me that my voice might be as strong as theirs.”

I think this is one of the best books I've ever read! Not just memoirs and non-fiction, but out of any genre.

Educated is a vast array of emotions. It's fascinating, sad, hopeful, confronting, inspiring, unbelievable, addictive and educational. Tara is truly a force to be reckoned with. The bravery she shows by writing and publishing a book like this would have be been very difficult emotionally for her, but I also imagine very healing as well. She has run the risk of shutting herself off from her family forever, but in gaining her education she has learnt how important it is to record and understand history, and that is exactly why she has shared her story.

I honestly wish Tara the absolute best, she has been through so much and deserves peace.

“The decisions I made after that moment were not the ones she would have made. They were the choices of a changed person, a new self.
You could call this selfhood many things. Transformation. Metamorphosis. Falsity. Betrayal.
I call it an education.” 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

clovetra's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

5.0

wow oh wow oh wow. i did not expect to love this as much as i did.

i usually am not the biggest fan of nonfiction, and memoirs especially are a hit or miss for me. but my god was this a hit.

this was such a fascinating read, not only as someone raised secularly, but as someone who isn’t american. to not only read about how far religious bigotry goes, especially when you throw in some good old fashioned mental illness, plus the paranoia was astounding to me. after every few chapters i’d go up to my mum and be like: “that book i’m reading about that woman who lived in idaho? she got her first birth certificate at 9 years old. and she only learnt what the holocaust was in college. and instead of taking her mum to the hospital after a severe car accident they left her at home and she had migraines for months. and multiple times someone was set on fire and they didn’t go to hospital.” 

reading this for me almost felt like a sick perversion, as i grappled with understanding that this is not fiction: this is real, this is how some people live, and this is a true story of a true family. 

there are so many facets of this book that are intriguing: life on the mountain, her father’s beliefs, her mother and her complacency, but the character at the heart of this book (in the worst way) other than tara is shawn. my god. i was horrified reading this. the amount of gaslighting, shoving things under the rug, ignorance. gobsmacking. before this book i thought americans were being a bit dramatic, and highlighting the worst parts of fanatics. reading this truly brought to my attention that no, those videos you see online of republicans spouting vile remarks and being supported by those around them are not far and few in between, and the stories are not dramatised. holy shit.

i get i probably sound a bit naive, but truly i didn’t realise just *how bad* it was. the delusions, the twisting of history to fit a narrative, the cognitive dissonance, the religious bigotry, the violence, the mistrust. just. wow.

truly a remarkable book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Medical trauma, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racial slurs

kinleydoes's review against another edition

emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Genocide, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, and War

jsanders05's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.5

I still don’t understand the whole ‘point’ of this novel. Was it to inform people that they can change their lives for the better? Was it to make us feel bad for the author? Was it to enlighten people about the crazy Idahoan Mormans? I’m left a tad confused.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

katlinstirling_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

Educated by Tara Westover is a well-written,thought-provoking, fascinating and a powerful memoir. Overcoming and breaking free from her survivalist Mormon family  in order to go to college. This is Tara’s reminder to everything that education extends beyond the walls of the community and encompasses our everyday experiences and to question our ingrained beliefs. Emotional, heartbreaking yet utterly moving and deeply inspiring. I applaud Tara for her honesty and resilience. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

katharina90's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

4.0

A harrowing memoir about a woman who broke away from an incredibly abusive family to pursue an education.

Difficult to read due to the graphic abuse, neglect and layers of trauma. I'm sure I didn't even capture all of the CWs.

I mostly found it sad and not particularly hopeful which I think just reflects where the author was in her healing journey at the time of writing. 

By the end of the book, the author has managed to separate herself from most of her family and is setting boundaries (which is a huge accomplishment!), but it doesn't seem like she's at peace as she keeps trying to pursue a relationship with her mother who both enabled and participated in the abuse and neglect.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Antisemitism, and Car accident

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, and Colonisation

miggyfool's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail