oliviamich's review against another edition

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5.0


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jazzreads's review against another edition

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4.0

Under the Banner of Heaven is a deeply disturbing examination of the history of the Mormon Church. As hard as it is to read, this book is incredibly well written and well researched. If you’re interested in learning about Mormonism, its place in American history, or just cults in general, you’ll get a lot of this book. 

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allys_shelf's review against another edition

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4.0


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pearlisarobot's review against another edition

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4.0


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maevebm's review against another edition

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3.0

Somehow both nauseating and fascinating. Krakauer connected the history of the LDS church and origins of polygamy to the rise of Mormon fundamentalism and Brenda and her baby’s murder. 
What I felt the book lacked was empathy for the victims. Survivors of abuse had small voices and Krakauer spent an abundance of time talking about the perpetrators, in ways that seemed to glamorize at times. I think now in true crime literature, the focus has shifted to be more of a space to advocate for survivors and victims, so while I can appreciate the context of the time he wrote the book, I found it to be irritating.
Secondly, he relied heavily on quotes which, I felt, was lazy writing. Of course the quotes provided insight to the people and times he wrote about, but it was excessive.

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firstknight's review against another edition

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4.0


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librarymouse's review against another edition

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4.0

The murders of Brenda and Erica Lafferty we're horrendous. This book does a lot of work to explain how religions like Mormonism, especially radicalized fundamentalist Mormonism, can warp the world views of it's followers, shaping some into devout followers who are used and abused in the name of God by those in power and to create powerful, often delusional believers who are willing to kill, rape, and defile anyone from family members to strangers for the sake of their personal perception of God's will.
In the author's notes at the end of this book, Jon Krakauer addresses the path his writing process took. While his end product was not what he initially intended it to be, it was enriched by the research he'd done on the history of Mormonism. Having grown up in an area with a few Mormons, but not enough for them to be the dominant social group, I'd just lumped them into the group of people from religions I was not a part of. This peek at their storied history, historic and continued racism, historic and continued sexual violence and pedophilia, and the lengths to which the current church goes to hide the past from followers gives a suspicious tilt to the religion's intentions.

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tinybluepixel's review against another edition

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4.0


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bootsmom3's review against another edition

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4.0


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escapinginpaper's review against another edition

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3.0


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