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zhelana's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This book was pretty good. It talks about the FLDS, or the mormons who never gave up polygamy. It's told from the viewpoint of a "lost boy" or a boy who left the church. After years of sexual abuse at the hands of the prophet, Brent Jeffs grows up, leaves the church, and then sues the prophet of the church for what he has done to him. I had heard some of this story growing up, but it was interesting to hear it from the perspective of an insider to the whole thing. I'm only giving this 4 stars as opposed to 5 because there were several points in the narrative where I thought "who the hell cares?" and started skimming over whole chapters. There was enough of interest for me to say I liked this book, but not enough for me to say I loved this book. Still, I'm glad I read it, especially since it only took 3 months to get through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Death
merrrry's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
3.5
I’ve heard about the Mormon compounds and cults living in isolation away from society, so it was interesting and saddening to see a personal account of life in an extremist group. In general, this book felt like Brent Jeff’s way of processing everything that happened to him as a child in the FLDS then as a lost boy. It was also great to see how receptive to therapy his entire family was. What this book lacked in emotional impact, it made up for in its pacing of events. I picked this up mostly because Maia Szalavitz co-wrote it, so I hoped for some depth about childhood trauma and its effects. While it was definitely a large theme, it wasn’t really dug into. This book was presented more as a story and less of an educational thing, which is fine, just not what I went in looking for. Still a great read tho! I was genuinely cheering whenever Warren Jeffs got taken down a peg. As the main perpetrator of many people’s trauma and suffering, I found him to be the most interesting character; Manipulative, spoiled, power hungry, clever, but surprisingly cowardly. I really wonder what happened in his life to make him what he was.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Grief, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Suicide, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Child abuse
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