Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Breaking Free: How I Escaped My Father-Warren Jeffs-Polygamy, and the FLDS Cult

I was expecting a deeply personal memoir, but it reads more like a factual, objective account of the author’s life. She’ll spend pages describing things like chores and the construction of a home without injecting her personal feelings or opinions once, then wrap it up with an empty statement like “the new home was certainly better than the old one” as if that’s the only thought she has on the matter. I constantly found myself wondering what she actually thought and felt about all of these things she was telling us about!!

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baileyjanetee's review against another edition

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sad tense medium-paced

3.5

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ellieintherye's review

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challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

<b>CW: child abuse, child loss, emotional abuse, sexual assault</b>

This is one of the best memoirs I've read in a loooong time -- Rachel Jeffs is a total badass.

In a world where critical thinking about what you're taught and told is not exactly...encouraged, and is punishable in most cases, Rachel Jeffs trusted her instincts and experiences. She eventually busted herself and her 5 children out of a totalitarian cult without really looking back.

Her writing is solid, her storytelling is captivating, and her kindness shines through -- even after everything she's been through! Her self-advocacy and strength, plus her ability to remain empathetic and non-judgemental is a balance that I've tried to achieve for 31 years. She has it naturally and it's obvious from her writing.

There are some very disturbing depictions of child abuse, gaslighting, and emotional manipulation in this book. Do not read it if this will trigger you. Overall though, her descriptions of quotidian life inside the FLDS cult from her childhood up to her final days there, long after Warren Jeffs is calling the shots from prison (which is still happening by the way!!!!), are fascinating and unmatched in detail by anything else I've read on the topic.

I'm fully obsessed with this woman and she is my new idol.

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readswithpups's review

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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thebacklistreader's review

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emotional

4.5

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