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katlinstirling_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
miggyfool's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
nnennaya_'s review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Dysphoria
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Racial slurs
Minor: Cancer and Antisemitism
palindrometodd's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Abandonment
yunchho's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Animal cruelty
Minor: Cancer
365daystosummer's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
sary's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Terminal illness
madflatt's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Dementia
crybabybea's review against another edition
4.5
Educated does center around abusive familial relationships and neglect, but I appreciated at the attention paid to the emotional experience as a child living in that environment rather than just retelling events. I felt like we really got inside Tara's head both as a child and as an adult, and I think it takes a great writer to pull that off in an interesting way.
Anyone who has survived abuse and/or neglect will relate heavily to Tara's story, even if you haven't experienced the specific flavor of religious fanaticism and doomsday preparation she experienced. I especially liked the inclusion of Tara's many, many experiences gaslighting herself and justifying the behavior of those around her. I found it to be an incredibly relatable and realistic portrayal of the complicated and confusing nature of abusive relationships, especially when those relationships are familial.
I do think this book is a bit mis-marketed sometimes, and a lot of reviewers put emphasis on the survival aspect of the book which I think is the tamest and least important part of all. It actually put me off on picking this book up for so long because I wasn't interested in reading a memoir that centered around doomsday prepping and wilderness survival. Instead, I think the thread that ties the memoir together is the importance of education, and how Tara's own education (in all its good, bad, and ugly forms) shaped her into the person she is today.
I was a bit disappointed that the audiobook wasn't read by the author, but I saw it won an Audie award so I stayed tuned; I didn't particularly like how it made the book come across as disconnected and way less emotional than it should have been. Though I think the narrator herself did a great job and I appreciated the way she used different voices to keep track of the many important people in Tara's story.
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Racism, and Pregnancy
On top of experiencing mental and emotional abuse from her parents, Tara experienced extreme physical and mental abuse from her older brother and retells events in great detail. She also experienced collective gaslighting and emotional abuse from her parents and siblings when she decided to speak up. Tara's father and brother exhibit mental health symptoms such as paranoia, delusions of grandeur, fits of rage, and gaslighting. Tara and her mother worked as midwives so there are multiple passages that include mildly graphic scenes of delivery and one moderately graphic anecdote about a stillborn delivery. There are multiple incidents that result in injury due to lack of safety measures. Including multiple car crashes and accidents while working on the scrapyard, as well as severe burns.lilianmathilda's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Violence, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, and Gaslighting
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail