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knachknachjoke's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.5
A haunting, thorough exploration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, its history, and the dark implications of what actually investigating that history leads one to believe.
I would have considered myself somewhat knowledgeable on LDS church history before this read, but Krakhauer blew pretty much everything out of the water with how thorough his storytelling was. He discloses at the end his own perspective—that he hadn't intended for this to be anything other than an amicable exploration of Mormon history inspired by an admiration for his childhood friends' faiths—and the resonance I felt to his perspective was really startling.
I think my biggest takeaway from reading this, and I believe Krakhauer's from writing it, is just how frightening the two roads you can take after studying Mormonism's history are: either you discern it is one man's quest for sex and power, or you conclude that everything—polygamy, blood atonement, white supremacy, child abuse—is all true and all imperative to a right way of life.
I would have considered myself somewhat knowledgeable on LDS church history before this read, but Krakhauer blew pretty much everything out of the water with how thorough his storytelling was. He discloses at the end his own perspective—that he hadn't intended for this to be anything other than an amicable exploration of Mormon history inspired by an admiration for his childhood friends' faiths—and the resonance I felt to his perspective was really startling.
I think my biggest takeaway from reading this, and I believe Krakhauer's from writing it, is just how frightening the two roads you can take after studying Mormonism's history are: either you discern it is one man's quest for sex and power, or you conclude that everything—polygamy, blood atonement, white supremacy, child abuse—is all true and all imperative to a right way of life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Child death, Gore, Incest, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, and Pregnancy
whitneybarr's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Murder
Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, and Child abuse
teokajlibroj's review against another edition
4.0
Very interesting book, although it felt like 3 books in one. There is the section that covered the murders, one on the history of Mormonism and another modern fundamentalist communities. The book would have been better had it focused on one section instead of jumping between the 3.
marinaforever's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
5.0
juliadunoyer's review against another edition
3.0
A religion where god can speak directly to you and justify any crime, BUT only if you’re male and white? Sounds like a scam to me! I love sir krakauer but I wish he had spend more time on psychoanalysis as he did in part 3, and less on simply recounting history. theres only so much mormon violence i can handle and it started to feel like a textbook. i appreciate all of the research he put into this though.