Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

93 reviews

grace_b_3's review against another edition

This had an interesting subject matter and premise, but the writing style just did not work for me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide and Murder

sarahjx's review against another edition

informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Violence, Gun violence, Murder, Sexual assault, and Drug use

emmawiechs's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Murder, Gaslighting, and Suicide

Minor: Drug use and Emotional abuse

hexedmaiden's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

First off I fuckin love the cover of this book and would buy an art print of it to hang on my wall.

Now on to the content of this book, I think Amanda did an banger job on this and I like this should be a book that everyone and their grandma reads. If you're like me and have been listening/reading/watching anything to do with True Crime you might be familiar with not only the cults in here, but even the language used that Amanda refers to as, "Cultish." I found this book absolutely fascinating and getting to see how powerful language can truly be, for the worse and the better. How that cultish language is used by genuine cults, politicians, multi-level marketing (MLM) corporations, to even workout gyms. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Death, and Murder

thursdd4y's review against another edition

informative fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Police brutality, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Murder, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Violence, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcoholism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Drug use, Cursing, Terminal illness, Classism, Drug abuse, and Grief

michelles_book_nook's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

⚠️ CW: gaslighting, sexual assault, rape, abuse, violence, suicide, murder ⚠️ If you're looking for a mind blowing non-fic read then this one is for you! What makes 'cults' so intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we’re looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join, and more importantly, stay in these extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Amanda Montell’s argument is that, on some level, it already has. Our culture tends to provide pretty flimsy answers to questions of cult influence, mostly having to do with vague talk of brainwashing. However, Montell argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community and us vs them attitudes all comes down to language. In both positive ways and shadowy ones, cultish language is something we hear and are influenced by every single day. Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a wide spectrum of communities 'cultish', revealing how they affect followers of groups as notorious as Heaven’s Gate, but also how they pervade our modern start-ups such Peloton leaderboards and Instagram feeds. This addicting take on the curious social science of power and belief will make you hear the fanatical language of 'cultish' everywhere. This book was so incredibly mind blowing and interesting that I could not put it down! It has easily become one of my favourite non-fiction reads. Overall, I absolutely loved this one and I highly recommend that everyone reads this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, and Rape

growintogardens's review

medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic friendship

goldkat's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape, Racism, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Racial slurs

claireh6's review against another edition

informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Murder, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

hey_al's review against another edition

funny informative medium-paced

3.5

Loved it! If you've listened to her podcast, a lot of this might sound familiar. If not, check it out. I like that she doesn't use a judgemental tone or write off all culty behavior - it's very nuanced and we are all susceptible to it. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicide, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Murder, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, and Racism