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Reviews
Breaking Free: How I Escaped My Father-Warren Jeffs-Polygamy, and the FLDS Cult by Rachel Jeffs
storykp's review against another edition
5.0
- Warren Jeffs is a sick man. The beginning is hard to read makes you sad & mad but after you get through that it’s very interesting. Very well written.
harmonj3's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed the book but I feel like it hit the breaks hard at the end. It almost creates an illusion that everything was just good eventually and she doesn’t talk about getting there. I think her editors could have done a better job
entropydoc's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
cbeghuin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Misogyny
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
theeclecticbookkeeper's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
angeee's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Religious bigotry, and Sexism
Moderate: Pregnancy, Incest, Pedophilia, and Sexual violence
Minor: Miscarriage
kimball_hansen's review against another edition
4.0
I'm surprised Jana hasn't read this one, yet. This book would have been good to read three years back when I was getting my fill of abduction stories, perhaps now I'll get my fill of plural wives stories and search for these. It was a little hard to follow all the names, relationships, and ages of people but that's to be expected with this bizarre lifestyle hence the four stars but still a good book to pick up!
I had heard little tidbits of this Warren Jeffs around the time he had gotten arrested (I was actually living in Austin, TX-close to one of his sanctuaries, refugees, compounds, whatever they are). His daughter Rachel did a great job giving us an in-depth look at their lifestyle. Warren Jeffs looks different than how I expected. I was thinking someone more like Brian David Mitchel-[a:Elizabeth Smart|7022063|Elizabeth Smart|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png]'s captor. I wonder if he was tied to the FLDS. This book is another perfect example of sins being proclaimed from the rooftops and fulfilling prophecy of scripture. Of course, I have even more questions and want to learn more about them such as how they earned all their money, they said they had some companies but it was pretty vague. I checked out the areas of the places they lived on Google Maps and couldn't see huge mansions that I expected, given their very large families. But I could have been deceived because looking at a roof doesn't tell you if there are eight bedrooms in that house or not. Scale is tricky.
The funeral for.
It was neat to see that when Rachel served her sister wives and tried to show love, their relationships improved. Being a sister wife meant you were in a constant struggle for power and attention from your husband and boy, were they mean to each other.
Warren Jeffs had 78 wives and often times molested his own kids. He still has a powerful control over the church even as he rots in prison. All the rules he would make on a regular basis were funny. Sending a text message could make someone lose their standing in the church. But many were so strict that he'd send away parents from their kids for the rest of their lives and they'd have to live alone.
I can see how many people reading this would loudly declare that this is a fine example of why religion is the worst. I would say that this is an extreme and shouldn't be a blanket coverage for all religions. Although, some are teetering this fine line where they can easily (and many do) start to go down that direction.
Polygamy is the worst.
I had heard little tidbits of this Warren Jeffs around the time he had gotten arrested (I was actually living in Austin, TX-close to one of his sanctuaries, refugees, compounds, whatever they are). His daughter Rachel did a great job giving us an in-depth look at their lifestyle. Warren Jeffs looks different than how I expected. I was thinking someone more like Brian David Mitchel-[a:Elizabeth Smart|7022063|Elizabeth Smart|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png]'s captor. I wonder if he was tied to the FLDS. This book is another perfect example of sins being proclaimed from the rooftops and fulfilling prophecy of scripture. Of course, I have even more questions and want to learn more about them such as how they earned all their money, they said they had some companies but it was pretty vague. I checked out the areas of the places they lived on Google Maps and couldn't see huge mansions that I expected, given their very large families. But I could have been deceived because looking at a roof doesn't tell you if there are eight bedrooms in that house or not. Scale is tricky.
The funeral for
Spoiler
Rachel's mom was sad. They all just said mean and hateful things. Not to mention how Warren treated her time of having cancer to when she died. And I still don't know how or why Rachel's husband left. And didn't Rachel get engaged to Brandon at the end? What happened with their relationship?It was neat to see that when Rachel served her sister wives and tried to show love, their relationships improved. Being a sister wife meant you were in a constant struggle for power and attention from your husband and boy, were they mean to each other.
Warren Jeffs had 78 wives and often times molested his own kids. He still has a powerful control over the church even as he rots in prison. All the rules he would make on a regular basis were funny. Sending a text message could make someone lose their standing in the church. But many were so strict that he'd send away parents from their kids for the rest of their lives and they'd have to live alone.
I can see how many people reading this would loudly declare that this is a fine example of why religion is the worst. I would say that this is an extreme and shouldn't be a blanket coverage for all religions. Although, some are teetering this fine line where they can easily (and many do) start to go down that direction.
Polygamy is the worst.
rmgmorrow's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
The writing style is very sweet and unprepossessing while still very frank and emotionally open. That being said, the audiobook is narrated by the author, and reading aloud is not her gift. Recommend reading the physical book.