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Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'
Sex Cult Nun: Breaking Away from the Children of God, a Wild, Radical Religious Cult by Faith Jones
5 reviews
howlinglibraries's review
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
2.0
The more I think about this book, the more frustrated I feel by it, and while I have a general rule of not giving low ratings to memoirs (because, as many other reviewers have mentioned, it feels odd to "rate" another human being's life experiences!), I have to make an exception for SCN.
First, let me get the obvious bit out of the way: Faith Jones' childhood was a horrifying example of what happens when religion and rape culture mix, and my heart aches for her and every other person who has been through similar experiences. I commend her on the courage it must have taken to write this book in the first place.
Now, I'm going to be brutally honest: this book was a chore to read and I felt like it was never going to end. The writing is dry and sterile, the dialogue is stilted, and at risk of sounding unkind, it felt to me that Jones attempts to control the narrative by sweeping things under the rug that she doesn't want to focus on.
The book starts off with Jones telling us that she has forgiven her parents and has a good relationship with them today, and as the book goes on, that introductory piece feels more and more defensive as her parents are revealed to be incredibly abusive people who never actually seem to understand where they went wrong. Maybe I'm too hung up on one particular incident, but am I actually supposed to feel an inkling of empathy or kindness towards two adults who literally had sex in front of their toddler to "teach" her about "God's love"?
That complaint leads me to my next point, which is that the child sexual abuse in this book is presented in the worst, most graphic way. I have no issue at all with survivors recounting their experiences in matter-of-fact ways, but the way Jones dwells on the most graphic elements of these memories felt unnecessary and I was immensely uncomfortable reading them. I saw one reviewer say that it read less like a memoir and more like an evidence file at these times, and I agree with that sentiment.
Finally, this is the part of the review I'm most hesitant to write because I know Jones is the heroine of this story and we're meant to be amazed by her endurance and courage in the end, but it's very difficult to enjoy reading Jones' narrative when she comes across as such a judgmental, arrogant individual. Examples:
• she clearly others the people of many of the locations she has lived in around the world and has a "savior" complex
• judges her college friends for not being as studious as she is (and therefore "lazy") because they smoked pot
• obsessively fat-shames a former partner (and was so unkind to him while they were together that he admits to developing severe anorexia after their relationship - I'm not saying anyone is to "blame" for another person's mental health struggles, but this is a screaming red flag to me)
• is very judgmental towards individuals struggling with drug addictions
• brags about how "difficult" she was as a student because she was convinced that she deserved only perfect grades
• overall has a very "bootstraps" mentality towards her college years despite the fact that she was given money, cheap or free housing, and a multitude of opportunities by family members, friends of family, etc. throughout the entire process
All of that culminates in the final section of the book, where she talks about healing and overcoming her trauma, which had some really powerful and inspirational moments that would have hit me a lot harder if she hadn't also spent that section defending some elements of the abuse she underwent (such as the "child sex games", which she essentially states weren't abuse because the kids consented to each other's advances, despite the fact that children can not consent, period, and having small children engage in sexual activity isn't less abusive just because they had fun doing it!).
To bring it all around, I'll say it again: I'm glad that Faith Jones got out of this horrific cult and it breaks my heart that she underwent such terrible abuse. I simply think that this book would have benefited tremendously from being written as a biography instead of an autobiography, perhaps with a middle person between Jones herself and the writing to step in from time to time and hold the reins back a little. I don't recommend this book and honestly regret picking it up, if only for the way some of the CSA depictions in the writing triggered me and will unfortunately stick with me for a long time to come.
First, let me get the obvious bit out of the way: Faith Jones' childhood was a horrifying example of what happens when religion and rape culture mix, and my heart aches for her and every other person who has been through similar experiences. I commend her on the courage it must have taken to write this book in the first place.
Now, I'm going to be brutally honest: this book was a chore to read and I felt like it was never going to end. The writing is dry and sterile, the dialogue is stilted, and at risk of sounding unkind, it felt to me that Jones attempts to control the narrative by sweeping things under the rug that she doesn't want to focus on.
The book starts off with Jones telling us that she has forgiven her parents and has a good relationship with them today, and as the book goes on, that introductory piece feels more and more defensive as her parents are revealed to be incredibly abusive people who never actually seem to understand where they went wrong. Maybe I'm too hung up on one particular incident, but am I actually supposed to feel an inkling of empathy or kindness towards two adults who literally had sex in front of their toddler to "teach" her about "God's love"?
That complaint leads me to my next point, which is that the child sexual abuse in this book is presented in the worst, most graphic way. I have no issue at all with survivors recounting their experiences in matter-of-fact ways, but the way Jones dwells on the most graphic elements of these memories felt unnecessary and I was immensely uncomfortable reading them. I saw one reviewer say that it read less like a memoir and more like an evidence file at these times, and I agree with that sentiment.
Finally, this is the part of the review I'm most hesitant to write because I know Jones is the heroine of this story and we're meant to be amazed by her endurance and courage in the end, but it's very difficult to enjoy reading Jones' narrative when she comes across as such a judgmental, arrogant individual. Examples:
• she clearly others the people of many of the locations she has lived in around the world and has a "savior" complex
• judges her college friends for not being as studious as she is (and therefore "lazy") because they smoked pot
• obsessively fat-shames a former partner (and was so unkind to him while they were together that he admits to developing severe anorexia after their relationship - I'm not saying anyone is to "blame" for another person's mental health struggles, but this is a screaming red flag to me)
• is very judgmental towards individuals struggling with drug addictions
• brags about how "difficult" she was as a student because she was convinced that she deserved only perfect grades
• overall has a very "bootstraps" mentality towards her college years despite the fact that she was given money, cheap or free housing, and a multitude of opportunities by family members, friends of family, etc. throughout the entire process
All of that culminates in the final section of the book, where she talks about healing and overcoming her trauma, which had some really powerful and inspirational moments that would have hit me a lot harder if she hadn't also spent that section defending some elements of the abuse she underwent (such as the "child sex games", which she essentially states weren't abuse because the kids consented to each other's advances, despite the fact that children can not consent, period, and having small children engage in sexual activity isn't less abusive just because they had fun doing it!).
To bring it all around, I'll say it again: I'm glad that Faith Jones got out of this horrific cult and it breaks my heart that she underwent such terrible abuse. I simply think that this book would have benefited tremendously from being written as a biography instead of an autobiography, perhaps with a middle person between Jones herself and the writing to step in from time to time and hold the reins back a little. I don't recommend this book and honestly regret picking it up, if only for the way some of the CSA depictions in the writing triggered me and will unfortunately stick with me for a long time to come.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Rape
Moderate: Suicide, Murder, Racism, and Racial slurs
hearth_hobbit's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Reading this was incredibly uncomfortable. Jones’s experience in The Family International was harrowing and disturbing to say the least. I had a knot in my stomach the whole time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Rape, Child abuse, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Trafficking and Abandonment
Minor: Racial slurs and Cancer
rotatinglibrary's review
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Colonisation, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Violence, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Rape, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Incest, Fatphobia, Excrement, and Eating disorder
nbonarski's review
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, and Pedophilia
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, and Body shaming
teatales's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.25
Well written enough, not my favourite of this memoir genre that I've read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Sexual assault
Minor: Racial slurs
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