Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

12 reviews

knachknachjoke's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.5

A haunting, thorough exploration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, its history, and the dark implications of what actually investigating that history leads one to believe.

I would have considered myself somewhat knowledgeable on LDS church history before this read, but Krakhauer blew pretty much everything out of the water with how thorough his storytelling was. He discloses at the end his own perspective—that he hadn't intended for this to be anything other than an amicable exploration of Mormon history inspired by an admiration for his childhood friends' faiths—and the resonance I felt to his perspective was really startling.

I think my biggest takeaway from reading this, and I believe Krakhauer's from writing it, is just how frightening the two roads you can take after studying Mormonism's history are: either you discern it is one man's quest for sex and power, or you conclude that everything—polygamy, blood atonement, white supremacy, child abuse—is all true and all imperative to a right way of life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Child death, Gore, Incest, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, and Pregnancy

fiveredhens's review against another edition

dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

5.0

i think it's time to admit to myself i would read practically anything jon krakauer writes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Incest, and Colonisation

allys_shelf's review against another edition

challenging informative slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Grief, Misogyny, Child death, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Violence, and Incest

Moderate: Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cursing, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Antisemitism, Pregnancy, Death, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Gun violence, Incest, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Child death, and Drug use

sellnow_hannah's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.0

A difficult book with themes including murder, rape, and incest. But a fascinating look into religious extremism and the history of Mormon fundamentalism. There are a lot of characters to keep track of and the storyline wasn’t linear which was sometimes confusing, but otherwise love Krakauer’s writing and found it to be a compelling read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Blood, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Gore, Murder, Death, Incest, Toxic relationship, Child death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Racism, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Animal death, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Pedophilia

pearlisarobot's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Hate crime, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Alcohol, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs

tiernanhunter's review against another edition

challenging dark informative medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Violence, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry

horizonous's review against another edition

challenging dark informative slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Genocide, Pedophilia, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Rape, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Blood, Drug abuse, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Cancer, Animal cruelty, and Domestic abuse

eegred's review

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Blood, Sexual violence, Sexism, Incest, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Stalking, and Kidnapping

Minor: Animal cruelty

laurenleigh's review against another edition

dark informative sad slow-paced

4.0

Thanks @greta.Humphrey for the rec! This book was wild. I knew the basic storyline of Joseph Smith and the birth of Mormonism, but there was SO much I didn’t know. Fair warning, there are a number of sad, bloody, gruesome details in this book. Krakauer is not just focused on the history of Mormonism, but on all the ways the religion has been used as a justification for violence, both past and present. I was most interested to learn about the differences between the current day mainstream LDS church and the fundamentalist offshoots. It might be easy to read this book and condemn or judge any current Mormons, but seemingly no religion is removed from violent pasts or present extremists. Not that any of that is excusable of course. My main problem with the text was its structure (too much chronological hopping for me), but I also understand Krakauer’s reasonings for writing it so.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Child death, and Violence

Moderate: Misogyny, Xenophobia, Rape, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Mental illness, Racism, Racial slurs, Incest, Homophobia, and Colonisation

Minor: Animal death and Animal cruelty

bootsmom3's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Medical content, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Gore, Gaslighting, Self harm, Death, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Child abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child death, Incest, Infidelity, and Mental illness

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Miscarriage