Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Educated by Tara Westover

338 reviews

snipinfool's review against another edition

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challenging reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

Tara Westover was the youngest of seven children born to Mormon parents who were survivalists living near a small town in rural Idaho. Her father, Gene, did not believe in public schools, hospitals, or anything the government might use to control them. Gene believed in conspiracy theories and would lecture the family on how they needed to be prepared in case the government came to call.

Tara and her family spent their days working with Gene, gathering scrap metal to sell or building barns. It was hard and, at times, dangerous. The children were often injured. The family also helped create tinctures and other concoctions with their mother, Faye, who was an herbalist. Later, Tara helped her mother when she became a midwife. As Tara grew older and the older siblings left the house, she was abused by one of her brothers. She learned how to tread lightly around him, but often, not even that kept him from attacking her. Either her parents did not believe her when she told them what her brother had done or they told her that he was sorry and they were through talking about it.

Her brother, Tyler, decided to leave and go to college. He had borrowed textbooks to teach himself and was able to pass the ACT to get into Brigham Young University. Tara eventually did the same and was able to get into BYU also. She was seventeen when she stepped into a classroom for the first time. This was a whole new world for Tara and one where she did not know the rules. She did not let that stop her and she flourished.

I had a hard time putting this book down. The world Tara came from was so different from the one I was raised in. The hardships she dealt with in her family relationships and those in the outside world would have stopped many from trying to accomplish what they needed to do to be happy. I had a difficult time with how her parents handled the abuse from her brother. I can’t understand why they allowed it to continue. I am glad she had the support of her brother, Tyler, when she was planning to go to college. If she hadn’t, she might have never left.

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hannah_wilson315's review

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

What a story. It’s incredible to hear about Tara’s life and all she was able to overcome. Her story so sad in many ways but also very eye opening and inspiring. For me it put into perspective how someone could believe such unbelievable things if it was all they were surrounded with. 

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lilianmathilda's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

4.25


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garyosu's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

4.75


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_lilyonbooks's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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spacedout_reader's review

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

The book is excellent, a very intense and thoughtful read. I just wanted to appreciate that while the author remains humble about it, she truly is remarkably intelligent and certainly gifted at writing. A PhD is a tremendous accomplishment under ideal circumstances, let alone when the path starts with self-teaching to ace the ACT. I'm grateful to the author for writing this book and sharing her story, and I hope she continues to succeed.

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crisca's review

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challenging inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5


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rosegoes3's review

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dark emotional informative reflective tense

5.0


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hania_027's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

5.0


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hcop's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0


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