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pandemonicbaby's review against another edition
5.0
This book is such a marvelous, deeply interesting exploration of the power of education, of the meaning of family, of struggling with abuse and still being able to forge an identity for yourself afterward. Her path towards education is also a path towards being able to think for herself, instead of being told what to think by others. This might be the strongest, most powerful message woven in between the threads of this memoir, an ode to finding yourself through education.
So much nuance, so many tiny little intricacies present in the text show that Tara Westover truly is a historian -- that she's able to see the many different versions of a story and present them to the reader, making them reflect upon the significance and meaning of each unique account. "[...] nothing final can be known", as she quotes John Stuart Mill.
I feel like I'm going to reread this soon, just so I can underline the passages in this book that are so powerful they would make anyone stop reading just to reflect upon them. I shouldn't have been scared of underlining this book, gosh!! I gotta start being more willing to do that, whenever I think it might be important to me.
All in all, wonderful book. Marvelously crafted, beautiful writing, moving and powerful message. I cried reading this. I think it will stay with me forever.
Graphic: Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Sexism, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Blood, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Murder, Body shaming, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, and Grief
Minor: Vomit, Racism, Miscarriage, Mass/school shootings, and Genocide
durrareadsstuff's review against another edition
5.0
I'm pretty sure this is the first memoir I ever read, so I genuinely have no idea how to write a review on it. The experience was definitely a shock to me, because the thing about fiction is, no matter how awful it gets—at least in the books I'm used to reading—you can always count on the happy ending. There's always a resolution. So like, even though you feel bad for the character, you know they're gonna turn out fine, or if they don't, it's fictional, nobody's hurt. As you can guess, a bunch of bad stuff happens in this book, and as I got to the end, I was hopeful, you know. Things are gonna work out. But nope, it didn't. Well, not in the way I thought it was going to, anyway. And like I literally could not believe it. Some of the things that happened in here, I had to read twice because I was like, hang on, that didn't just happen right? So yeah, my brain was definitely buffering. Okay so that's less of a review than it is actually my take on reading a memoir for the first time.
Aaanywaaaayyyy, this was really really good. The writing itself, was đź’«immaculateđź’«. Even if there were parts where not a lot was happening, you would stay because of the writing. It is THAT good. Which, when you think about it, all this came from someone who couldn't even spell much at 16. Aaand that made me stare at a ceiling for the better half of an hour last night.
This book explores the education system, how mental illnesses affect the people around you and how bad it is if it goes undiagnosed. It's also about familial relationship and self-invention, how do you construct yourself, basically from scratch and remove what you've known all your life because now you found out how untrue and harmful it actually is.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Animal death, Sexism, Racial slurs, Miscarriage, Mass/school shootings, and Gun violence
mme_carton's review against another edition
1.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Ableism, Bullying, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Medical content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual assault, and Violence
Minor: Genocide and Dementia