Reviews tagging 'Incest'

Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free by Linda Kay Klein

8 reviews

momogajo's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.5

This book isn't perfect. I find the way the author intersperses the interviews is a little jarring. However, if you are wanting to dip your toe into critically thinking about and talking about Purity culture and Evangelicalism it is a good start.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Incest, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Chronic illness, Body shaming, and Alcohol

They all get spoken about, but not in graphic detail. This book has a lot of interviews with people who have diverse backgrounds.

krisalexcole's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Medical content, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Domestic abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Misogyny, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Drug use, Mental illness, and Eating disorder

alysionnach's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

This book is so powerful. Anyone who grew up in an evangelical religious home/school/church should read this. It’s helped me feel seen and heard, helped me confront the shame I’ve internalized for years, and helped me see that there is a road beyond and I am free to walk it how I choose. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Body shaming, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual assault

This book goes through so many areas of trauma. Be careful when reading it if you’re concerned about triggers.

dominic_t's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

4.0

This was a pretty good book. I grew up during this same time period and also experienced some of the same messaging, and it's really interesting to see all of that deconstructed. It's also great to see people finding new religious paths that don't contain all the shaming and trauma.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Medical content, Rape, Incest, and Misogyny

Spiritual abuse, description of skin condition

bash5617's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

melissajh's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Physical abuse

Minor: Homophobia

sydneybedell's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Rape

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Incest, Child abuse, Racism, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Homophobia, and Transphobia

bluejayreads's review against another edition

hopeful informative sad

4.75

I went into this book going, “I had no guilt or shame having premarital sex after I left Christianity, so it will be interesting to read about other people’s experiences but I’m not going to get swamped with feelings like I did with other similar books.” And if you want to take a moment to chuckle at the naïveté, go ahead, because somehow I had entirely forgotten that purity culture was about so much more than “premarital sex is bad.” 

This book is a combination of sociology and memoir. Linda starts each section with an extended story from her own life, but continues with interviews she did with other people who grew up in purity culture (some of whom are still Christian, some of whom aren’t) and ties it all together with a narrative of the problems purity culture causes. If you’re familiar with autoethnography, it feels like one that’s just written for a general readership instead of an academic one. 

For being as short as it is (the audiobook is only 9 hours), it packs a lot into its pages, and yet still feels like there is tons more to say on the topic. Which there probably is – purity culture is a broad topic that’s hurt a lot of people and there’s no way anyone could cover all the nuances in one book, even if that book was twice as long as Pure. Though an insider like me can point out all the nuances Linda missed, she did a really good job portraying the major factors and making the ideas accessible to people outside purity culture. 

There are a lot of intense feelings and traumas in these pages, but also a lot of revelations for me as someone who grew up in purity culture. Linda’s example of her struggle with Crohn’s disease was especially revelatory in how her physical suffering redeemed her evil body (which had developed undeniable hips and breasts and therefore was unquestionably Sexual and therefore Evil) and made her good in the eyes of her church. 

This book is a lot. It’s intense and full of trauma, body shaming, and little girls being sexualized so they can be shamed for that sexualization. But it is very well-written and the stories contained well-told, and it strikes a good balance between being relatable and helpful to the purity culture survivor and accessible to the purity culture outsider. This is a very worthwhile book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexual content

Moderate: Pedophilia, Incest, and Medical content

Minor: Homophobia