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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
I can't imagine what it would be like to live in an environment where every tiny piece of your life is governed by someone else. This was what Lilia Tarawa and her family experienced being part of the Gloriavale cult established by Lilia's grandfather Neville Cooper aka Hopeful Christian.
Lilia tells her story and the emotions are raw. As she gets older, she starts to question some of the behaviours she sees in their Church, this was most likely sparked by three of her siblings leaving the church and being excommunicated. There were doubts - why did they leave the church, how could they survive and did they not care for their souls?
As Lilia starts to question she discovers that her parents are also questioning the church and why families are destroyed over a belief system.
Lilia starts to discover that Gloriavale's interpretation of the Bible is restrictive and deliberately misconstrued by the Church leaders to ensure they have full control of their flock.
The emotional and psychological impact on Lilia and her family cannot be understated and as she starts to experience the 'real world' herself she sees how much she has missed but also how much she has to adjust.
The strength of Lilia comes through in her writing and her positive approach to life after such an ordeal is something to be admired.
Lilia tells her story and the emotions are raw. As she gets older, she starts to question some of the behaviours she sees in their Church, this was most likely sparked by three of her siblings leaving the church and being excommunicated. There were doubts - why did they leave the church, how could they survive and did they not care for their souls?
As Lilia starts to question she discovers that her parents are also questioning the church and why families are destroyed over a belief system.
Lilia starts to discover that Gloriavale's interpretation of the Bible is restrictive and deliberately misconstrued by the Church leaders to ensure they have full control of their flock.
The emotional and psychological impact on Lilia and her family cannot be understated and as she starts to experience the 'real world' herself she sees how much she has missed but also how much she has to adjust.
The strength of Lilia comes through in her writing and her positive approach to life after such an ordeal is something to be admired.
While I appreciate what the author went through in her life and greatly admire her courage in telling an obviously difficult journey, I found this book extremely repetitive. I also found the pages and pages detailing the religious scripture tedious. I expected it to be more about day to day life in the community and less about her personal journey.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Nothing but amazing praise for this book ! I highly recommend everyone to read. Such a strong, courageous woman♥️
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
dark
inspiring
medium-paced
I’d never heard of Gloriavale before I’d read this book, but I am very interested in finding out more now 😳
Based heavily in New Zealand, Lilia Tarawa outlines the difficulties she faced in being in an all-encompassing misogynistic cult. There are many trigger warnings required with this book (which I’ll list in the content warnings below).
I’d give it 3.5 out of 5 stars ✨ I really appreciate Tarawa for ensuring that her story was told 🥲
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting
reflective
sad
medium-paced
This book is the experiences of Lilia Tarawa during her time spent in a religious cult started by her grandfather in New Zealand. I didn't realize it was about a cult in New Zealand when I bought it, but I was pleasantly surprised. I somehow always wind up with cults in the United States. (We have so many cults here!) This book was really emotional, as cult escapee books usually are. Some of the things she went through, I cannot imagine. I read some other reviews about this book complaining about her life in the cult not being that bad, she jumped from the fire into the frying pan, etc. People seem to not understand that being forced into a religion and forced to abide by rules that someone made up in their mind is not for everyone. People have the right to make their own choices about their likes/dislikes and what to do with their bodies. I am proud of this girl for having the courage to live her truth. I picked this book up for .75, so it was certainly well worth the price I paid for it.