Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Sex Cult Nun by Faith Jones

130 reviews

camsara99's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexism, Violence, Pedophilia, Infidelity, Rape, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Incest

ramreadsagain's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful sad medium-paced

I have decided to not give star ratings to nonfiction memoirs.

This was a rollercoaster of hard hitting scenes of child abuse one after the other, so please be warned that this is not an easy read/listen. 

I hadn’t heard of this cult before so this was also a very informative book for me. Faith does an amazing job at portraying how members are manipulated into believing that they are doing the right thing and how difficult it can be to break free. 

It ends with some excellent thoughts on the importance of examining your beliefs, no matter what those are, as well as some emotional passages about self-ownership. 

A good yet harrowing read, absolutely would recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Adult/minor relationship, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Pedophilia, Death, Toxic relationship, and Rape

Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, and Animal cruelty

hydr0jen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Rape

viktorsboy's review against another edition

I would have liked more in depth time spent with Faith’s deconstruction process. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Eating disorder and Fatphobia

librarymouse's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.0

Faith Jones's perspective on the Children of God cult, with the conflicting and wildly varied emotions and memories she has of her time there. Her story is unique as she comes as it through the lens of how she viewed the incidents at the ages they were occurring. She brings the reader along with the journey of her struggles, joys, and the ways her perspective changes as she ages and learns. Her need for proof and desire for knowledge and understanding is deeply understandable and admirable as she breaks away from the way she was taught to unquestioningly believe what those in positions of power say. As she notes, she is astoundingly mature and innocent in equal measure, and her capacity for forgiveness is admirable. It makes sense that she didn't break her personal relationship with God after her break with organized religion. The title Sex Cult Nun is also quite interesting, as she both devotes herself to God with a vow like a catholic nun, but she also proselytizes and attempts to spread her beliefs by living the ideals she'd been taught as a nun would.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Body shaming and Fatphobia

lealovesbooks's review

dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

This book was a fascinating read. The author grew up in the Children of God cult and this book recounts her experiences growing up and getting out. I read the book in a day. My only comment is that I’m not sure why the title was chosen. It seems like it was selected for sensationalism and not the actual content of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Incest, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Emotional abuse, and Pedophilia

Minor: Alcoholism, Fatphobia, and Bullying

alicefaye_'s review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Incest, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Addiction, Drug use, and Suicide

evenstr's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Suicide and Murder

alexbach's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

I struggle reading non-fiction, so for this book I had to force myself to continue reading. In the beginning, the author explicitly states that this book will only have a history of the cult Children of God in the first few pages, but the rest will be about her life. I almost closed the book and returned it to the library at that point, because I thought "why do I care reading about the life of some random girl I've never heard of". I'm glad I kept reading and finished this book though!
I always wonder how someone could join a cult, and you hear the answer to that question from people. What we don't normally hear about is the people who were born into the cult without a choice, and the cults lifestyle is all they ever knew. I found reading from this perspective extremely interesting. The weird rules and ideas of the cult aren't something they bought into, but were instead being taught to them by their parents or guardians as what is normal and right. 
Throughout the book, you see things from this child perspective of just learning and knowing things through the cult and their parents, and I was shocked thinking "how can she still normalize this now". But I realize later on as an adult is when she was able to have that "ah ha!" moment that what she was being taught her whole life wasn't normal or right. 

trigger warning: rape, child abuse

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape and Child abuse

strawberrybookess's review against another edition

4.5

The end of this book made me weep. Going through a faith crisis & leaving a high demand religion feels like the foundation of your life is crumbling under your feet. It’s the most freeing & terrifying process that has truly defined my life. I would not be where I am today without the stories of others who have gone through similar things. Reading this book broke my heart & healed it at the same time. 

“I have not finished my quest for truth. It is continuous & joyous. Old ideas crumple as new truths are revealed through rigorous questioning.” 

“All things did work together for my good, but not automatically. I had to choose to create good from it & turn my traumas into strength.” 

“Our susceptibility to cults comes from our desire to have a source; an authority to tell us what to do & what is true.” 

“I’m doing this for those who have been oppressed, manipulated, & abused & need the words to stand up for themselves.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Pedophilia, Suicide, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Violence, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Sexism, and Misogyny