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scripturient's review
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Gun violence, Racism, Antisemitism, and Medical content
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Chronic illness, and Dementia
leefox's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Classism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Terminal illness, and Dementia
charley0796's review against another edition
4.5
Going into this book, it was marketed as a story of anti-establishment and mainstream education, all about Tara’s journey to educating and learning. What i wasn’t expecting were the graphic accounts of abuse by her brother and severe gaslighting that altered her memories and left her full of self-doubt many decades later. However, these are no where near as graphic as with other memories I have read and I have come to expect this. I will not mark down for people disclosing their story - but the blurb could definitely be more accurate.
Much of the book is about her inner battles, though how she overcame her self doubt and depression and what she learnt from counselling are missing. I would also have liked to learn more about what she is doing now and her family relationships.
As a therapist myself, this book really shows the way gaslighting and abuse victims remain stuck in their cycle, through the abuser slowly taking away all escape routes (i.e. financial dependence, threat of ostracising, physical threats etc). It also shows how schizophrenia or other forms of delusions can be seen through the eyes of the beholder, as absolute and as a need to share their beliefs. It was so saddening to see how much her father followed his delusions, though due to his likely psychosis, there’s no way he could have believed anything different without therapeutic or medical intervention.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Gun violence, and Pregnancy
Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Dementia
queerghstbuster's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
lilacwhisker's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Blood, Antisemitism, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infertility, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Cancer, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Islamophobia, Dementia, and Death of parent
zombiezami's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Police brutality
Minor: Fatphobia, Genocide, Slavery, Excrement, and Dementia
Abuse apologismkamuffel's review against another edition
3.0
That said: I do think it was great to read the Story of Tara Westovers life, to get an insight into Mormon culture (not to say that I believe Mormon culture is what it is in this family) and how she managed to get out of an abusive and neglecting family and managed to get herself formal education. Still, to me it was incredibly painful to read this (side note: not in a good mental place atm, which has influenced my perception), at points I really had to stop. And all the descriptions of violence and abuse were much more present to me than the parts about how she got out of there...I don't know. I don't think I would want to read it again.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Dementia, and Pregnancy
mme_carton's review against another edition
1.0
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Genocide and Dementia
cxrx's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
sienas_books's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Dementia, and Gaslighting