Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

28 reviews

kimib79's review against another edition

This author seems clueless. She has very little life experience, which is extremely problematic since many of her examples appear to be anecdotal. She has far left-leaning beliefs which seem to taint her perception of the information presented. Basically, she doesn't present anything new or useful. The reason this book is even tolerable is that the subject of cults is interesting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

camilla_perotti's review against another edition

informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

courto875's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mass/school shootings, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Cultural appropriation, Death, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Physical abuse

risemini's review against another edition

informative reflective fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Child death, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, and Violence

butle2em's review against another edition

challenging funny informative medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Emotional abuse

balfies's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

3.0

About the language used by cults, and defining what makes something culty.

The first few chapters hewed a bit too close to true crime for me (I am very squeamish and the Jonestown murders are deeply distressing), but it picked up a bit in the chapters in MLMs and SoulCycle.

I'd greatly enjoyed Montell's first book Wordslut, about linguistics from a feminist lens, and was really keen to read this. It has its moments, but overall this is the weaker book, I think. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Cultural appropriation, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Suicide

trippyotter's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

4.0

This book... I knew about several of the things mentioned, but the few I didn't, yikes...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Religious bigotry

syd_s_r's review against another edition

4.0

This is just how I like my nonfiction books. It's conversational tone makes it very approachable. The mix of storytelling and information kept me engaged. The author clearly has a political bias, and it occasionally felt forced instead of adding to her argument. Given the subject, I thought this book might be anti-religion, but the author actually approaches the intersection of cults and religion very tactfully.

Also, the cover is cool.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Cursing

renee_rain's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Cultish is a wonderful book about the language used in cults.

The word "cult" does not have a specific definition. Anything can be a cult from Starbucks to Heaven's Gate. Since reading, I have seen cultish language everywhere from Trader Joe's to my workplace.

The downside of this novel? I want so much more! Luckily, the author has a podcast, Sounds like a Cult.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Sexual assault

Minor: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

casually_booking's review against another edition

challenging funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

If you listen to the Sounds like a Cult podcast, you will like this book. Amanda’s tone is the same- caked in sarcasm and random quips about all things culty. I enjoyed the brief chapters because they provided some nice shape and guidance throughout the book. I also enjoyed how she wove in her personal experiences with cults and culty things along with interviewee’s stories and of course historical facts and academic sources. We are all a part of certain societal “cults”  but some “cults” come with deadly consequences and financial ruin. By sharing her own experiences with cults, she adds a layer of relatability. Definitely recommend for a digestible read about some difficult topics. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Body shaming, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Cursing, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism