byashleylamar's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

carriemae's review

Go to review page

dark emotional medium-paced

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

melchncookies's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.5

This book has graphic descriptions of sexual acts involving minors. It’s not for the faint hearted. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

erebus53's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

This is not a book you want to start into without first being in a good place. It tells the personal story of a child born to a family pivotal to the Children of God, or "The Family"; a cult organisation based on some twisted interpretations of Christian gospel.

There is overt sexual content in the book, and descriptions of children brought up in a sexualised environment, with authoritarian discipline and privations of scarcity and poverty.

I think I would have not understood this quite so well if I had not already read about various social controls and the nature of Domestic Abuse and trauma healing. The descriptions clearly outline the methods that were used to create submissiveness, dependence, and unquestioning loyalty in people whose fundamental rights were being violated regularly.

Honestly the whole concept in such an extreme social context just makes me consider the societal norms and methods of oppression that we have in our daily lives and just normalise.. "that's just how things are".

It's a powerful account, but not really a fun read.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

redvelveting's review

Go to review page

dark emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

4.0

I happened to pick this book up for free and it definitely exceeded my expectations. Faith’s detailed and well-articulated recounting of her life with the Family is uncomfortable and very difficult to swallow but also inspiring to see how she gradually comes to terms with the truth and finds her voice. There were definitely moments where I needed to put the book down to process what had just happened. It is not an easy read at all, even less so depending on your own life experiences. But while there were many moments of discomfort, I was desperate to hear that things worked out for her, and hence found myself wanting to read more every night. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

sapphisms's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

playswithstring's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

This book was tough. It’s hundreds of pages of abuse. I knew what the Children of God cult was about after reading Uncultured (Daniella Mestyanek) last year, but Faith Jones goes so much more into detail about the abuse she suffered. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

growintogardens's review against another edition

Go to review page

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. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

dustcircle's review

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

3.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

hunkydory's review

Go to review page

challenging reflective medium-paced

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings