Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

188 reviews

kaitlyncookies's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

While I generally liked this book, I found the content to be a bit repetitive, and the pacing to be quite slow. I think I was just not in the mood for a book that had so many domestic abuse scenes. To be fair I couldn't help but compare it to the memoir "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls, so this story sounded very familiar to me. Nevertheless, it was well-written, and quite shocking.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , 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

sam_reads77's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

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

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

akendall20's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

nnennaya_'s review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

5.0

I feel displaced after reading Tara's story. Tara’s story has made me cower with fear, disgust, anger, bewilderment, and disbelief in my own ears and mind, utterly horrified. Thank you for sharing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Dysphoria

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Racial slurs

Minor: Cancer and Antisemitism

jaamajam's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

Wow, this book is incredible and such a powerful memoir. Some parts were definitely very hard to read and it made me quite emotional 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Racial slurs, Racism, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

vagrantheather's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

Educated is a memoir of growing up in rural Idaho as the unschooled wild child of religious fundamentalists, then choosing not to live the life they carved out.

It was an excellent portrait of physical and emotional abuse, of the toll untreated mental illness can take on an entire family, and of how people confront their own beliefs systems.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

elisacarlene's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail