Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer

16 reviews

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.

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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

balconyblackbird's review against another edition

dark funny informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexism, Murder, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Death, Child death, Blood, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Child abuse, and Body horror

jazzofmine's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This book earns five ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars from me! It’s definitely for someone interested in Mormon history, development of fundamental offshoots of Mormonism and deeper, philosophical thinking about the nature (and dangers) of religion. I would describe this as “gruesome, Mormon true crime” to any potential reader. 

The primary aim of the book is to explore these situations that beg us to ask “How could this happen” with substantial history and development of this religion. The author explores history and provides context in order to show how the LDS organization provided a conducive environment for radical, extremists to be bred and thrive. 

The example of the Lafferty brothers‘ murder of their sister in law and baby niece is reprehensible, but not isolated. And not an accident. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Death, Gore, Mass/school shootings, Violence, Blood, Murder, Rape, Incest, Sexism, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

Very graphic, great read; informative

_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, Murder, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Rape, Racial slurs, Child death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Homophobia, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

jazzreads's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Under the Banner of Heaven is a deeply disturbing examination of the history of the Mormon Church. As hard as it is to read, this book is incredibly well written and well researched. If you’re interested in learning about Mormonism, its place in American history, or just cults in general, you’ll get a lot of this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Rape, Religious bigotry, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Murder, Child abuse, Gore, Incest, Violence, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, Drug use, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, and Racism

sellnow_hannah's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.0

A difficult book with themes including murder, rape, and incest. But a fascinating look into religious extremism and the history of Mormon fundamentalism. There are a lot of characters to keep track of and the storyline wasn’t linear which was sometimes confusing, but otherwise love Krakauer’s writing and found it to be a compelling read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Blood, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Gore, Murder, Death, Incest, Toxic relationship, Child death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Racism, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Animal death, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Pedophilia

sadiejericho's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense medium-paced

3.5

Really disturbing and clearly deeply researched. Hard to stomach at times and also compelling. Took me years to finish but glad I read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Child abuse, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Rape, Pedophilia, Murder, Incest, Homophobia, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Emotional abuse, Death, Blood, and Alcoholism

_emma_rose_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.0

I want to warn anyone interested in reading this book that it can get very graphic. I enjoyed all of the information it had to offer, both about this particular murder and the darker side of Mormon history as a whole, but it was definitely not easy to read at times.
I don't know much about Mormonism, which I think was a deficit walking into this book. Its purpose is to show how Mormon history led to the murders in 1984, so it highlights all of the worst bits of the religion, and I don't have any context for the better parts. I would recommend gathering more information and potentially reading a different Mormon history book before passing judgment on the entire religion, should this book inspire you to do so.
In conclusion: very well-written and informative, but keep in mind the point it is trying to make.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Gore, Religious bigotry, and Sexual violence

librarymouse's review against another edition

challenging informative fast-paced

4.0

The murders of Brenda and Erica Lafferty we're horrendous. This book does a lot of work to explain how religions like Mormonism, especially radicalized fundamentalist Mormonism, can warp the world views of it's followers, shaping some into devout followers who are used and abused in the name of God by those in power and to create powerful, often delusional believers who are willing to kill, rape, and defile anyone from family members to strangers for the sake of their personal perception of God's will.
In the author's notes at the end of this book, Jon Krakauer addresses the path his writing process took. While his end product was not what he initially intended it to be, it was enriched by the research he'd done on the history of Mormonism. Having grown up in an area with a few Mormons, but not enough for them to be the dominant social group, I'd just lumped them into the group of people from religions I was not a part of. This peek at their storied history, historic and continued racism, historic and continued sexual violence and pedophilia, and the lengths to which the current church goes to hide the past from followers gives a suspicious tilt to the religion's intentions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Blood, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Violence, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Racism, Racial slurs, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual violence

bat11692's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

3.5

3.5 ⭐️ This book was an informative deep dive into the history of the church of Latter Day Saints. I think it sort of misrepresents itself by being marketed as a true crime book. True, it does focus on the murders committed by the fundamentalist LDS Lafferty brothers. But the majority of the book is the genesis of Mormonism, which I’m interested in, but maybe not to this extent. All in all, a shocking and enjoyable book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Xenophobia, Gore, and Murder