Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

10 reviews

komiification's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

Only thing stopping me from giving this 5 stars because I LOVED this, was it definitely needed to go through a final edit. Way too much of 'more on this later'. But other than that, I thought it was super insightful all around. One of my favs! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Homophobia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad fast-paced

5.0

I accidentally joined a cult in college and managed to extricate myself and my friends from it within a couple of weeks as soon as I realized this wasn’t a regular church. Since then, I’ve been fascinated by what makes people tick, and book’s like this one is very helpful in my journey.

It was good to get a broad spectrum of cults versus just the ones deemed deviations of mainstream Christianity. By including fitness cults, social cults, New Age cults, and pyramid schemes, it makes it really obvious that we are all much more susceptible than in previous times. I would be really interested in reading an extra chapter devoted just to the MAGA cult at some point, if the writer were ever to update the book with one.

I give it a five because I’ll want to read this again later, rather than because it’s as good as a five might be.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

readwithev's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

My only (very minor) complaint is that I wish there were more first hand accounts/interview snippets. I appreciated the informative, introspective, and curious approach while maintaining and understanding and empathic tone. The book is informative without sounding repetitive or preachy. I also liked that Montell researches “cult-like” language in non-violent spaces like MLMs and fitness clubs. They explain how ”cultish” language can build strong community and emotional connection in a digestible way. (Honestly I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who thought SoulCycle has a weird ring to it). 

⚠️Trigger warning ⚠️ Montell does discuss violent dangerous cults that participate(ed) in emotional, physical and/or psychological abuse.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Drug use, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Vomit, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

hannah_and_her_stories's review against another edition

funny informative medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic

laurenkimoto's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

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

dealingwithdragons's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Cursing, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Confinement, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Vomit, Trafficking, Stalking, Abortion, and Alcohol

Cults and "cultish" organizations do a lot of terrible things.

narbine's review against another edition

informative mysterious medium-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, and Alcohol

yeojinqueen's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

caseythereader's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

 - CULTISH is a fascinating examination not only of what constitutes a cult in the modern world, but how these groups (whether technically a cult or not) use language to build their own worlds, draw people in, and keep them there.
- Particularly, the emphasis on the fact that someone getting tangled up in fringe religious groups or MLMs isn't necessarily a sign of stupidity or gullibility, rather that these organizations have carefully calibrated their pitches to bring in the most driven, committed people. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol