Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

41 reviews

librarymouse's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Well written and engaging, the narrator's voice is conversational while giving factual information and leaving space for herself to reflect on what she's learned. Amanda Montell comes at this information from an interesting perspective, being the child of a father who was raised in and resisted a cult before escaping as a teenager. The content centered around religion, belief systems, and process 1 and 2 thinking specifically really interested me. As a former catholic, I always thought that I was just a very cynical child because I didn't quite mesh with the religion in a way I thought my peers could. The author's explanation of prayer as perceiving one's own post-prayer thoughts as answers from God really put how I've relied on process 2 thought in religious spaces into perspective. This is a book that begs reflection from readers, but doesn't condemn piety or belief in any form it may take so long as it doesn't cause harm.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Fatphobia, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Grief, and Toxic friendship

moonyreadsbystarlight's review against another edition

informative reflective

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicide, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Racism, Sexual violence, and Murder

Minor: Fatphobia

montybonty's review against another edition

funny informative reflective relaxing medium-paced

4.0

Pretty interesting read! I found that the pace dragged in the middle and end and overall, the information felt pretty surface level, especially if you are already familiar with the groups the author discusses, but I was never disinterested. Nothing felt particularly groundbreaking but it was enjoyable nonetheless!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Classism

clawsandjaws's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

Cults have been an interest of mine. I've listened to podcasts that are geared towards true crime that have done research about the events. Very few that I've heard focused on the mentality and the loaded language and the thought terminating cliches that Amanda Montell sheds light on. 

With cited sources and plenty of references that allow insight to the thoughts that celebrities, scientists, politicians, etc. subscribe to. 

This book ultimately is more of a reminder that language is a powerful tool and it's within the best interest of everyone to pay closer attention to the way language is used today. Especially today. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Gaslighting

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bootsmom3's review against another edition

funny informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Fatphobia, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Murder, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Alcohol

taelights's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

Cults are a topic that deeply interests me so this one was a fun read despite being very surface-level information but it was interesting and I did learn a few things I didn't know before. Plus the exploration of more "untraditional" cults was cool as well. I don't think I would have gotten through this if I hadn't listened to the audiobook version because this way it was like a long podcast on cults but I think it would drag on too much and be too repetitive if I had tried to read it in any other format. I probably would have dnf it if it wasn't for the audiobook. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

youreawizardjerry's review against another edition

informative lighthearted reflective slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Fatphobia, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, and Cultural appropriation

elspeth_h's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Self harm, Suicide, Murder, Cultural appropriation, and Gaslighting

As this book details the harm that cults and cult-adjacent groups have on their members, it covers a lot of sensitive topics. A section is devoted to suicide cults including Jonestown and Heavens Gate. The bullying, abuse, body shaming, etc. comes from quotations of cult leaders and wellness/fitness leaders (e.g. soulcycle).

literary__mary's review against another edition

dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

I really enjoyed this! It talks about well known cults like Jonestown and heaven’s gate, and discusses how they became powerful through specific use of language. It also goes into how companies from fitness clubs to MLMs use similar language. My only complaint is that it got a little repetitive because it applied the same concepts over and over, but it’s very easy to read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide and Murder

Minor: Fatphobia and Racism

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

5.0

This is a solid nonfiction book that is an examination of different types of cults within our society and how those who lead them use language to manipulate their followers. On the other hand, this book is also about how many of us have already fallen into cultish groups/dynamics. The inside flap reads, "We secretly want to know, 'could it happen to me?' Amanda Montell's argument is that on some level, it already has." From Instagram to Heaven's Gate, Montell describes cults and cult victims with both sensitivity and great intelligence.

I really enjoyed this one. It read easily for a nonfiction. I feel like even if you aren't a nonfiction person, you might like this. Anyone who has spent any time immersed in internet culture, interested in true crime, language, and obviously, cults will find something for them within these pages. I don't really have anything smart to say about it other than I really liked it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Cancer, Drug use, Miscarriage, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, and War

Minor: Addiction, Excrement, and Stalking