Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Cultos by Amanda Montell

41 reviews

ksbooknook's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Murder, and Gaslighting

joh's review against another edition

dark funny informative fast-paced

4.0

enjoyed! always a fan of discussions of cults and at what point a group becomes dangerous. this was a pretty fast read for me and it covered a lot of ground. i really appreciated the care the author used to describe the pain of jonestown and other similar tragedies while also highlighting the tyranny of leaders whose only goal is to amass power at any cost. would recommend if you’re interested in cults or language!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Gaslighting

maxima5's review against another edition

challenging dark funny informative mysterious medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

eldritch_flower's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

 I've always had an interest in cults. Not joining one, so don't freak out. But I am an active listener of the Cults podcast and I spend a lot of my free time watching documentaries on cults in general.

This book does talk about some of the more well known cults to give foundation to the points Montell makes later in the book, but what I found most interesting was the parallels between those cults and the groups she brings up as "cultish" like MLMs and certain gym groups, and even some influencers.

The book has a heavy focus on language, which I'm sure you can gather from the title. The language of conversion is incredibly compelling and interesting.

But beyond that, the book is topical as it was written and released after June of 2020, so the anti-masker idiocy and QAnon bullshittery is also included in this with poignant commentary.

If you have ever had even a passing interest in learning about cults, it's worth the read. I definitely had fun with it and I feel like I came out of it with new knowledge(as someone who's been reading about cults for more than a decade, I think that's a pretty big feat). 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, and Gaslighting

cghegan's review against another edition

dark informative reflective fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Sexism, Slavery, and Cultural appropriation

imstephtacular's review against another edition

challenging dark informative medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Suicide

tyyne's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

3.5

Part great intro to cults for the uninitiated haha, and part interesting dissection of the language of cults. The conspirituality parts were expectedly depressing.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Suicide

katie_brauer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.75

i really liked this for what it was. i think i was really wanting it to take a turn into abolition and land back ideologies, but the point of the book is to study language, and i really appreciated the different ways it connected so many topics, communities and influences. it reminded me of why i love language so much and does a good job of avoiding shaming anyone who has ended up in any cultish community, whether it’s scientology or a spiritual wellness instagram page. she also doesn’t shy away from the influence of colonization and white supremacy in culturally adopted language, though i would have liked it if she delved into it more. granted, it would make the book significantly longer, but still something worth the time. absolutely worth the read/listen - especially if you love rhetoric studies, linguistic anth, and tracing the inseparable protestant influence on american culture like i do. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and Suicide

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Violence

Minor: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

sjanke2's review against another edition

funny informative lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

caseythereader's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

 - CULTISH is a fascinating examination not only of what constitutes a cult in the modern world, but how these groups (whether technically a cult or not) use language to build their own worlds, draw people in, and keep them there.
- Particularly, the emphasis on the fact that someone getting tangled up in fringe religious groups or MLMs isn't necessarily a sign of stupidity or gullibility, rather that these organizations have carefully calibrated their pitches to bring in the most driven, committed people. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol