Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

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

11 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

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

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

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

kalifer's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense

5.0

Honestly, this is overall a horrific case. I had watched the documentary "The Vow" before I had read this book, so I had an idea of what I was getting into. However, this book goes into heavy detail of all the awful things he does, and it's just absolutely disgusting to me. The book was well researched and definitely got me invested in the case, but just the reality of all the crimes he committed are just horrendous and I just kept waiting to hear everything that happened in court and everything he was guilty. All in all, this was a well researched book and definitely go and look up the trigger warnings before going into the book, because it's pretty bad. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Eating disorder

cassiecraycray's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

5.0

I knew very little when I started this book, and holy sh*t, I wasn't prepared for everything I was about to read. Several times I had to put the book down to give my mind a minute to process. 
This book was very informative, and I feel laid out in a good way. It covers alot of heavy topics but in a respectful way. It wasn't extremely graphic, covering what needed to be said while not giving some more horrible details.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Sexism, Suicide, Trafficking, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Rape, and Pedophilia

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

cassmreads's review against another edition

dark informative tense fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Confinement, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Body shaming and Self harm

Minor: Suicide