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A review by katekreadsalot
Educated by Tara Westover
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
5.0
“It’s strange how you give the people you love so much power over you”
I would rate this 6 stars if I could. I recommend this to everyone, even if memoirs are not the go-to or are even disliked. This story was gripping, heart wrenching, gut wrenching, emotional, and inspirational.
Coming from a family with a bi-polar parent, there were parts of this book that hit especially hard, and please be aware that there are triggering abusive situations described in detail. It is a difficult read, but an important one.
A story of hope and perseverance aligning with a record of true horror, Tara’s ability to articulate all of her trauma is impressive. Memories can be a fickle thing and trauma has complex and unexplainable impacts on it. Tara does say a few times in the book how she struggled with her memories, even questioning herself at times, saying that others memories don’t align exactly with hers, and that “All I had to do was swap my memories for theirs, and I could have my family.”
I implore my fellow readers to understand that everyone’s “reality” is not the same.
Even if some of the memories may not be wholly accurate; or some pieces of information could have been omitted or overlooked for any number of reasons, I don’t think this possibility detracted from the memoir at all.
I would rate this 6 stars if I could. I recommend this to everyone, even if memoirs are not the go-to or are even disliked. This story was gripping, heart wrenching, gut wrenching, emotional, and inspirational.
Coming from a family with a bi-polar parent, there were parts of this book that hit especially hard, and please be aware that there are triggering abusive situations described in detail. It is a difficult read, but an important one.
A story of hope and perseverance aligning with a record of true horror, Tara’s ability to articulate all of her trauma is impressive. Memories can be a fickle thing and trauma has complex and unexplainable impacts on it. Tara does say a few times in the book how she struggled with her memories, even questioning herself at times, saying that others memories don’t align exactly with hers, and that “All I had to do was swap my memories for theirs, and I could have my family.”
I implore my fellow readers to understand that everyone’s “reality” is not the same.
Even if some of the memories may not be wholly accurate; or some pieces of information could have been omitted or overlooked for any number of reasons, I don’t think this possibility detracted from the memoir at all.