Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Sex Cult Nun: Breaking Away from the Children of God, a Wild, Radical Religious Cult by Faith Jones

10 reviews

bitesizedbeet's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Animal death, Drug use, Death, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, and Eating disorder

growintogardens's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

3.25

I've read a lot about cults and personal memoirs from people in cults, but this one didn't really help me understand the cult itself. The descriptions of sexual abuse are so graphic, it's very difficult to get through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Religious bigotry, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Abandonment

Minor: Bullying, Addiction, Body shaming, and Fatphobia

The descriptions of assault are really graphic. Also, rape/assult continues throughout the book.

hookerkitty's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

2.0

It’s so sad how one charismatic asshole can destroy so many people’s lives.

This had potential, but missed the mark. While the first chapter about the history could’ve been interesting, it ended up being so incredibly dry that I almost gave up then.

After that there was SO MUCH unnecessarily graphic depictions of child physical and sexual abuse, and sexual abuse of adults. She didn’t need to go into so much detail; it was wildly uncomfortable and difficult to get through. It doesn't help that she wrote everything in the present tense. She wrote somewhat childlike for instances that happened when she was younger, but also used words that no 3 or 4 year old would use (or hell, most of the people there since they were only allowed a sixth grade education — side note: them having at least one spelling error in the titles of their educational material cracked me up).

I also find it hard to believe she remembered all that stuff in such detail from when she was that young. There were other instances throughout the book that also seemed like they skirted the lines of truth. (I’m not at all accusing her of fabricating her story, just that some instances here and there seem a little embellished).

There was more than one instance where she used a word without telling the reader what it meant. It was annoying to have to Google stuff to understand what she was talking about. I didn’t realize until I had finished the book that there was a glossary at the end. While that’s nice to have, a short definition when the word is introduced would’ve been much more appreciated.

It started to get better (or less uncomfortable) halfway through the book, but then dear god (hah) did her superiority complex come out. Lots of cringey thoughts and behaviors. The end had some stuff in it that I found useful, or at least could be a building block for some of my trauma processing.

I decided to look at her website (prompted by another review) and it seems that she has turned into the people she says she escaped from. Tons of red flags of courses that’ll fix your life with no mention of price, only an email, and she even went on Dr. Oz. Yikes on trikes all around.

I’m definitely disappointed with this book. I’ve always been fascinated by cults, but this went waaaay too graphic about the multitudes of abuse that happened (to both adults and children), with hardly any reflection of how it affected her. She can still be quite defensive about everything. I’m also disappointed in how she went from having no self esteem to rocketing over to pretentious and egotistical. I’m really glad I got this on Prime Day instead of paying full price for it.

Another side note - did anyone else get the feeling that she might be bi or gay? Her portrayal of some of the girls/women were much more descriptive and seemed like she was way more attracted to them than any of the boys/men in this book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Medical content

Moderate: Abandonment, Religious bigotry, Blood, Excrement, Pregnancy, Grief, Confinement, Racism, and Incest

Minor: Police brutality, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Alcohol, Death, Deportation, Terminal illness, Suicide, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, War, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, and Bullying

sara_m_martins's review

This book is far too graphic in the abuse described. 
Plus, the writing style and the form feel weird and dissonant, as the sequence of events goes from pages of different but relatively-mundane life (like building a wall) to extremely abusive and traumatic scenarios. 
Additionally, I think I would rather read a more removed perspective - i.e. a biography instead of an autobiography

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Self harm, Sexual content, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Excrement, Incest, Animal death, Child abuse, Misogyny, Mental illness, Rape, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, and Violence

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Alcoholism, Cultural appropriation, and Drug use

smilagros's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

I feel very odd rating someone’s story. This is not fiction. This actually happened. I think that is what is so terrifying. I do want to acknowledge the bravery it must have taken to write this book. The story telling made me forget at times that this is someone’s life. Cults fascinate me but I also think it’s important to acknowledge that even though they fascinate me, it still is someone’s life. As someone who works with children, I flinched and semi yelled whenever an abuse was about to occur. I wanted to protect Faith and her siblings. I truly believe that everyone should read this because it gives a bigger perspective on the meaning of religion, power and the need to abuse people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, Incest, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Classism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking

deepcurvesahead's review

dark hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Eating disorder, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide and Murder

lealovesbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

This book was a fascinating read. The author grew up in the Children of God cult and this book recounts her experiences growing up and getting out. I read the book in a day. My only comment is that I’m not sure why the title was chosen. It seems like it was selected for sensationalism and not the actual content of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Incest, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Emotional abuse, and Pedophilia

Minor: Alcoholism, Fatphobia, and Bullying

hermithebs's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

5.0

Please check triggers warnings. This book has graphic depictions of abuse and sexual abuse 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Incest, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Eating disorder, Abandonment, Body shaming, and Bullying

Minor: Animal death

mondovertigo's review

dark emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Gaslighting, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Child abuse, and Death

Moderate: Colonisation

Minor: Bullying, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Abortion, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Blood, and Body shaming

thelassinlinen's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Xenophobia