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310 reviews for:
The Witness Wore Red: The 19th Wife Who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice
M. Bridget Cook, Rebecca Musser
4.01 AVERAGE
310 reviews for:
The Witness Wore Red: The 19th Wife Who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice
M. Bridget Cook, Rebecca Musser
4.01 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Having known a little about polygamy and who Warren Jeffs was. The amount of detail in this book and what these girls went through had me crying, screaming and just all over sadness at how much they were brainwashed.
The story is shocking, disturbing, and inspiring--all that I recommend. The dialogue, however, is really stilted, and Becky's epiphany after epiphany after epiphany that seemed to lead nowhere really irritated me.
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
The best memoir I've read so far from a woman who escaped the FLDS. Rebecca's account is a brave account of a brutal experience in a brutal cult. Her sister, Elissa Wall, published her own memoir about her experiences within the FLDS and her role in the eventual conviction of Warren Jeffs, and while I applaud her bravery in telling her story, Rebecca's The Witness Wore Red is much better written and edited. There are some shocking and graphic passages -- none that felt gratuitous, but it is not a book for those who may be sensitive to the topics of abuse, including sexual abuse, religious abuse, and physical abuse. Rebecca Musser is a survivor and has written a wonderful memoir.
A candid and balanced look at her life growing up in a polygamist cult that split from the Mormon Church. She bravely chronicles the good and the bad within the FLDS. A well proportioned book about her life inside the cult as well as afterward. A open and honest account her feelings during the multiple trials she was called upon to testify at.
I appreciate her willingness to not vilify every member of the FLDS while still unwavering in her indictment of those using faith and damnation as a way to get away with heinous crimes.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an insiders perspective if life in a cult and the process of leaving that world.
I appreciate her willingness to not vilify every member of the FLDS while still unwavering in her indictment of those using faith and damnation as a way to get away with heinous crimes.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an insiders perspective if life in a cult and the process of leaving that world.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
I listened to this book, and it was gripping. Not sure if it would be quite as much so if reading the print book. I found the earlier parts of the books more engaging than the trials because it gave you a window into the world of the FLDS church and what it was like growing up in the community, including the positive parts. But, of course, without the trial and the hard work of law enforcement, the lawyers and the witnesses, the book probably never would have been written, and kids might still be subject to the abuse.
I would like to read a narrative written by someone who was forced out of their life after the trial. To us, it seems like a horrible life that the kids were rescued from, but it must have felt disorienting at best for those who were put into foster care or whatever as a result of this activity.
It was interesting to hear how the FLDS slowly changed to become stricter and more abusive. It made me think about how things might be changing around me, but I don't notice it because it is done incrementally. (e.g. the slow taking away of rights. Perhaps this is happening in the larger society.)
I admire the author and doubt I could have gone on the stand the way she did, especially since it meant estrangement from many loved ones.
The author does a good job of describing what happened without going into gory and explicit detail. Some things are shocking and horrifying because, well, they WERE shocking and horrifying. And you get that from her general description without exploiting what happened for the reader's titillation.
I would like to read a narrative written by someone who was forced out of their life after the trial. To us, it seems like a horrible life that the kids were rescued from, but it must have felt disorienting at best for those who were put into foster care or whatever as a result of this activity.
It was interesting to hear how the FLDS slowly changed to become stricter and more abusive. It made me think about how things might be changing around me, but I don't notice it because it is done incrementally. (e.g. the slow taking away of rights. Perhaps this is happening in the larger society.)
I admire the author and doubt I could have gone on the stand the way she did, especially since it meant estrangement from many loved ones.
The author does a good job of describing what happened without going into gory and explicit detail. Some things are shocking and horrifying because, well, they WERE shocking and horrifying. And you get that from her general description without exploiting what happened for the reader's titillation.
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
After watching ‘Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey’, I was interested in reading this story and finding out more about FLDS.
I’m giving it 3 out of 5 stars, because it was necessary to find out Rebecca Musser’s point of view after all of the trauma she and other members of FLDS had faced, but it was also a lot of repetition. Furthermore, as this was her first book some parts were quite difficult to read (as in her thoughts felt very scattered) 🥲
But I was very appreciative that she fought so hard against the Jeffs family and the leaders of FLDS 😫
This is obviously a very triggering book, so I’ll put the content warnings below. Thank you! ✨
I’m giving it 3 out of 5 stars, because it was necessary to find out Rebecca Musser’s point of view after all of the trauma she and other members of FLDS had faced, but it was also a lot of repetition. Furthermore, as this was her first book some parts were quite difficult to read (as in her thoughts felt very scattered) 🥲
But I was very appreciative that she fought so hard against the Jeffs family and the leaders of FLDS 😫
This is obviously a very triggering book, so I’ll put the content warnings below. Thank you! ✨
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Gaslighting
Once again, I'm struck with how hard these crazy cult leaders work. Warren Jeffs was high school principal, moral admonisher, leader and pedophiliac bigamist husband to his brainwashed brethren. I'm thinking he never had much time to reflect on what an amoral scumbag he was. It's strange how some people are so driven and work so hard to do evil.