Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Educated by Tara Westover

15 reviews

elderwoodreads's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

I was a bit hesitant to read this as I feel memoirs in this genre (person denied education receives education) can be a little one note. This is the book of the genre. Westover is an amazing writer both in her storytelling as well as her reflection. Must read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Dementia, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

booksoversecondbreakfast's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

I share so much of my story with this author. We have so many shared experiences and I had never heard those experiences expressed so clearly until I read this book. She made me feel like I was there beside her throughout her life and she summarized the main points she was making very thoroughly. I really liked this book, and subtract a quarter of a star only because of how negatively she cast a light towards being uneducated. It made me feel a bit too uncomfortable how angry she was, but I remain understanding of it due to the fact that she has been through so much. There were so many quoteworthy parts to this book, however, and I expect it will be a book I come back to throughout my life. She shared so many great lessons and ways of seeing the world, and I'm really grateful for that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Abandonment, and War

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Miscarriage, Blood, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Colonisation

laurajordensharris's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

pandemonicbaby's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

I think this book might have changed my life.
This book is such a marvelous, deeply interesting exploration of the power of education, of the meaning of family, of struggling with abuse and still being able to forge an identity for yourself afterward. Her path towards education is also a path towards being able to think for herself, instead of being told what to think by others. This might be the strongest, most powerful message woven in between the threads of this memoir, an ode to finding yourself through education.
So much nuance, so many tiny little intricacies present in the text show that Tara Westover truly is a historian -- that she's able to see the many different versions of a story and present them to the reader, making them reflect upon the significance and meaning of each unique account. "[...] nothing final can be known", as she quotes John Stuart Mill.
I feel like I'm going to reread this soon, just so I can underline the passages in this book that are so powerful they would make anyone stop reading just to reflect upon them. I shouldn't have been scared of underlining this book, gosh!! I gotta start being more willing to do that, whenever I think it might be important to me.
All in all, wonderful book. Marvelously crafted, beautiful writing, moving and powerful message. I cried reading this. I think it will stay with me forever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Genocide, Miscarriage, Racism, Vomit, and Mass/school shootings

_lilyonbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

naomib_'s review against another edition

informative medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Blood, Murder, and Abandonment

booklover_04's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Very well written. Hard to read at some parts due to the abuse. I would recommend going into this book without prior knowledge.

I knew that she eventually left, which I feel ruined the anticipation. I did find it shocking that she wasn’t the first in her family to leave. Definitely changed the story, as it shaped her experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

tigertheory's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

Both praising and criticizing this  feels wrong, as it contains  fairly detailed accounts of abuse. However, it was extremely well written and constructed, allowing for a reflection on the broader systematic workings of power relations in religion, family and education. Even though a memoir, it was at times written with so much detail and emotion that I had to remind myself I was listening to a non-fiction work and not a novel by Barbara Kingsolver. Unfortunately, it feels like the legal challenges the author apparently faced, which forced her to include disclaimers, paraphrase and use pseudonyms, somewhat hampered the overall impact of the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Gun violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, and Classism

Minor: Genocide, Police brutality, Islamophobia, and Murder

tobiolovebot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This book was transformative.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Gun violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

Well constructed memoir about growing up without an education in mormon idaho, links to abuse, education, mental health, religion etc

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail