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graceesford's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cultural appropriation, Death, Child abuse, Colonisation, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Homophobia, Bullying, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Misogyny
catrickbateman's review against another edition
3.5
really enjoyed the first half, the cults such as jonestown, heavens gate, 3ho and more were fascinating and hearing a different take on them through linguistics was refreshing but past that the exercise “cults” and MLM schemes became repetitive and didn’t seem to offer any new information or viewpoints. also struggled with how often the author says “more on this later” and there is actually very rarely more on it further in the book? overall an interesting sociological read/listen, but if you are already clued up on cults and MLM schemes you could give it a miss
Moderate: Religious bigotry
Minor: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, and Body shaming
tender_onion's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Genocide, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, and Violence
bootsmom3's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Suicide attempt, and Suicide
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Cultural appropriation, Drug use, Child death, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Body shaming, Death, Gun violence, and Misogyny
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Alcohol
taelights's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Death, Child death, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Racism, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Violence, Body shaming, Suicide, and Sexual harassment
sunn_bleach's review against another edition
4.0
Minor: Cursing, Sexism, and Racism
nickoliver's review against another edition
4.25
Montell did state that she focused on the US because US-Americans apparently were more into cults than other countries, but I still would've liked to see the way other countries' experiences with them. Because truth to be told, I've never actually heard of cults that weren't based in the US, so it would've been extremely interesting to see those. Though I guess it might be hard to talk about the language used in cults when the language used isn't English and you're an English-speaker from the US.
Despite what I've read in reviews, I don't think it was bad that she talked so much about cults like Heaven's Gate or Jonestown, because fun fact, not everyone knows about them outside the US. For example, I personally have only heard of the former, and only because I saw a video talking about it once. So I was glad and thrilled that she explained what exactly had happened.
Graphic: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Murder, Racism, Body shaming, and Death
Minor: Sexism, Sexual harassment, Cursing, and Child death
yeojinqueen's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Drug use, Misogyny, Rape, Addiction, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Murder, Pedophilia, Slavery, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Mass/school shootings, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Self harm, and Toxic relationship
aklovekorn's review against another edition
4.5
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Racism, and Toxic friendship
eldritch_flower's review against another edition
5.0
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).
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Gaslighting, Drug use, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Violence