Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Don't Call It a Cult: The Shocking Story of Keith Raniere and the Women of NXIVM by Sarah Berman

8 reviews

valzsc's review against another edition

dark informative tense medium-paced

3.75

After listening to a few podcasts through the years, I thought I knew some things about NXIVM but I was wrong.

I love the way the story was told by the author. The fact that it is not written chronologically made it a lot more engaging, letting you know a little bit by bit until you get to the full story of each individual she interviewed or had context of.

As this story is really sad and dark, I don’t think it’s a book I would go back to (nor sooner, nor later). It is dark, twisted, and I feel bad for all the things these women went through. Really bad. 

Overall, storytelling is great, it is engaging and entertaining and the story is heartbreaking. If you want to add to the mix you can also watch the show, it’s called The Vow, so you get the audiovisual experience (also getting to know more of Nancy Salzman’s side of the story, whom I think is not mentioned a lot on this book)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Bullying, Kidnapping, Violence, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking

growintogardens's review against another edition

challenging dark informative medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual content, Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Deportation, Torture, Child abuse, Cursing, Abortion, Death, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm

Minor: Alcohol and Cancer

thepeachmartini's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative medium-paced

4.0

I am very familiar with NXIVM, having read Sarah Edmondson's book and listening to countless podcasts on the subject, but I always appreciate information presented from folks who were not directly involved in it. As expected, it's a sordid tale of coercion, trafficking, manipulation, and greed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Self harm, Confinement, and Suicide

winnifred's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Abandonment, Sexism, Fatphobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Stalking

Moderate: Slavery, Stalking, Trafficking, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Minor: Pregnancy and Alcohol

hollymich's review against another edition

dark informative tense medium-paced

4.0

A chilling and thorough account of the disturbing events surrounding NXIVM. The facts are presented logically and understandably, despite there being so many people involved over so many years. It is haunting how this happened so recently, right under our noses. I think there is a lot to be learned in this book about the signs of manipulation and abuse, although that is not the book's goal. All in all, I praise Berman for her diligent research and dedication to sharing this story.

I recommend the audiobook!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, Sexism, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Racism, Slavery, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Cancer, Alcohol, and Cursing

r_zoner's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Trafficking, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Body shaming, and Bullying

clarabooksit's review against another edition

dark emotional informative medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexism, Trafficking, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Torture, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Self harm, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Confinement, Child abuse, Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, and Abandonment

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark informative tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking