Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

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

23 reviews

moonyreadsbystarlight's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective tense

4.25

What does it take to make a self improvement curriculum into a cult with an even more sick cult inside of it? It starts with one man with too much stock in a sketchy self-administered IQ test and an obsession with psychogical manipulation, MLMs, and Ayn Rand, but couldn't be realized without an intense social network. 

The writing itself is very engaging and this is thoroughly researched. There was intense background on Raniere along with the full scope of his network and how it grew, but Berman also interviewed many women who were in NXIVM and used information from the court case to show their stories. 

The events of what happened are truely wild. At a few points, I had to take a break from it and even considered stopping about 3/4 of the way in because as horrid as things had been at that point, there were a few really intense experiences that they went into. But I'm glad I did finish it. I didn't plan it this way, but I think this was a good bridge from Hey Hun by Emily Lynn Paulson into some of the books on Scientology that are on my TBR (yes, Raniere was clearly inspired by both Amway and L Ron Hubbard, though he denies clearly being inspired by dianetics).

If you're interested in cults or social psychology (and are ready for the sort of content that is present when talking about such awful groups), I would definitely recommend this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Suicide, Gaslighting, Rape, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Xenophobia, and Trafficking

Moderate: Abortion

Branding, forced abortion, spiritual abuse, abuse under threat of deportation

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

mondovertigo's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Confinement, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Eating disorder, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Trafficking, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Abortion and Pregnancy

Minor: Self harm, Cancer, and Suicidal thoughts

hannahmci's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Rape, Eating disorder, and Pedophilia

jordanpoole1's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Abortion, Confinement, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Self harm

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

paigicus's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, and Confinement

joe_dmh's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Slavery, Confinement, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, and Eating disorder

melissahawco's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Body shaming, Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Deportation, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Slavery, Self harm, Trafficking, Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Eating disorder