Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer

92 reviews

_emma_rose_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.0

I want to warn anyone interested in reading this book that it can get very graphic. I enjoyed all of the information it had to offer, both about this particular murder and the darker side of Mormon history as a whole, but it was definitely not easy to read at times.
I don't know much about Mormonism, which I think was a deficit walking into this book. Its purpose is to show how Mormon history led to the murders in 1984, so it highlights all of the worst bits of the religion, and I don't have any context for the better parts. I would recommend gathering more information and potentially reading a different Mormon history book before passing judgment on the entire religion, should this book inspire you to do so.
In conclusion: very well-written and informative, but keep in mind the point it is trying to make.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Gore, Religious bigotry, and Sexual violence

hubes's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

4.0

Appreciated learning the history of the church

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Rape

mollywill's review against another edition

dark informative fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, and Incest

Moderate: Religious bigotry

stephalopuff's review against another edition

challenging dark informative slow-paced

3.75

This isn't necessarily so much of a true crime book as it is a history of an American-grown religion, the Mormon Church. A violent history.

Perhaps it would've been better reading it physically rather than an audiobook, as there were times where I zoned out and missed what was said. But I found the in-depth rundown of the history of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Mormonism and the FLDS church pretty fascinating. 

And while I've always been aware of violence within the history of nearly every religion, my goodness is the history of Mormonism littered with horrid acts of extreme violence. Be aware that this violence included the sexual assault of and sexual violence against children. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Violence, Murder, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Gun violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

Moderate: Racism

evelynkenwood's review against another edition

inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Incest, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

librarymouse's review against another edition

challenging informative fast-paced

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Blood, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Violence, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Racism, Racial slurs, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual violence

kelsie_s's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, and Trafficking

bat11692's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

3.5

3.5 ⭐️ This book was an informative deep dive into the history of the church of Latter Day Saints. I think it sort of misrepresents itself by being marketed as a true crime book. True, it does focus on the murders committed by the fundamentalist LDS Lafferty brothers. But the majority of the book is the genesis of Mormonism, which I’m interested in, but maybe not to this extent. All in all, a shocking and enjoyable book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Xenophobia, Gore, and Murder

barbarella85's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Child abuse

Moderate: Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Incest, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Domestic abuse

amsswim's review against another edition

dark informative sad medium-paced

4.25

I was aware of much of the information in this book, but the author does a good job of collecting a lot of information and tying it back to his main topic. The whole book revolves around a murder in the 80s but we cover much of the history of the Latter Day Saints and the various branches (mostly fundementalist) of the church.

It always strikes me how incredibly American the Morman church and beliefs are, as well as the incredible violence within their history and beliefs. 

Anyone interested in religious fanaticism should read this one. Also there is a Hulu series out now, so maybe will watch that too. There have been some major developments since its publishing, so that also offered an interesting perspective.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Violence, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Colonisation, Death, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Incest, Murder, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault