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raquelcanread's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Islamophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Blood, Colonisation, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, and Sexual content
enchantressreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
4.0
I first heard of the Children of God cult a few years ago, while perusing random pages about cults. It wasn’t until January of this year when I read Sex Cult Nun by Faith Jones did I realize how horrible this cult really was. I’m very glad that publishers are taking their time to publish these stories.
Daniella Mestyanek Young tells the story of her cult experience beginning from her youth, and through when she finally decided enough was enough. However, due to the trauma of her upbringing, she ended up joining another cult of sorts, the military. Uncultured follows how she was unprepared for a normal life because of the narrow view the Children of God cult had of the world.
Mestyanek Young brings up a very important topic to mental health, and that’s how traumatized people end up going back to what feels normal. In her case, it was another strict regimen with strict leaders. In other people’s cases, it means going back to an abusive relationship, or entering abusive relationship after abusive relationship. It’s a very important topic to discuss, and not one I’ve seen mentioned in relation to trauma very often.
As these brave women put out their stories, I believe we will see even more horror stories to come out of not only the Children of God cult, but more cults surrounding sex crimes. I hope telling her story was helpful for her, and I know it will be helpful for many other people who deal with trauma.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this advanced review copy. All opinions are my own.
CW for child abuse, sexual assault/violence, rape, injury detail, antisemitism, religious bigotry, pedophilia, suicidal thoughts, victim blaming, self-harm, sexism, mental abuse, war, death, racism, and trauma
Daniella Mestyanek Young tells the story of her cult experience beginning from her youth, and through when she finally decided enough was enough. However, due to the trauma of her upbringing, she ended up joining another cult of sorts, the military. Uncultured follows how she was unprepared for a normal life because of the narrow view the Children of God cult had of the world.
Mestyanek Young brings up a very important topic to mental health, and that’s how traumatized people end up going back to what feels normal. In her case, it was another strict regimen with strict leaders. In other people’s cases, it means going back to an abusive relationship, or entering abusive relationship after abusive relationship. It’s a very important topic to discuss, and not one I’ve seen mentioned in relation to trauma very often.
As these brave women put out their stories, I believe we will see even more horror stories to come out of not only the Children of God cult, but more cults surrounding sex crimes. I hope telling her story was helpful for her, and I know it will be helpful for many other people who deal with trauma.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this advanced review copy. All opinions are my own.
CW for child abuse, sexual assault/violence, rape, injury detail, antisemitism, religious bigotry, pedophilia, suicidal thoughts, victim blaming, self-harm, sexism, mental abuse, war, death, racism, and trauma
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Death
Minor: Racism, War, Antisemitism, and Self harm
victim blaming
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