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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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