Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

42 reviews

trippyotter's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

4.0

This book... I knew about several of the things mentioned, but the few I didn't, yikes...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Religious bigotry

cady_sass's review

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but don’t join that MLM. 

In all seriousness this is EXPERTLY done and I’m blown away. I’ve always been drawn to cult history and I really, really appreciate the work the author did here to include “cultish” behavior (hence, the title) of non cult entities- MLMs, fitness & CrossFit culture, MAGA, etc.- along with the obvious identifiable cults like Jonestown, Heavens Gate, and Nxivm, among others. 

Super important to give language to the behaviors and vernacular that are big red flags 🚩 so people can engage carefully and make informed decisions. Highly, highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Sexism, Classism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Racism, Sexual harassment, and Suicide attempt

louisegraveyard's review against another edition

challenging dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Child death, Murder, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Cancer, and Chronic illness

snd1101's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

Reads like a memoir; would like more credible evidence and analysis; if you’re conversant in linguistics, you’re not the target audience. A good splashy introduction with broad coverage of several USian cults and cultlike practices (which i liked having the coverage of!), but go elsewhere if you’re looking for substance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, and Suicide

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Addiction, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, and Misogyny

twilightfan420's review

funny informative medium-paced

4.0

This book rocks. I love the blend of personal anecdotes with interview-reporting and sociological research. It reads seamlessly and offers such a new take on cults. As a writer myself, I can’t believe I hadn’t looked into language like this before! Thank you Amanda Montell for making me do so. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Trafficking, Suicide, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Emotional abuse

graceesford's review

dark funny informative fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cultural appropriation, Death, Child abuse, Colonisation, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Homophobia, Bullying, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Misogyny

mari_books's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.25

This book really surprised me. I didn’t expect to be as engrossed as I ended up being. I thought the authors focus on language, optimism and human curiosity made it easy for the secular reader to bite into what she was explaining. For me, the only negative points were she spent way too long talking about Soulcycle when there are other better examples. I felt that within chapters sometimes her focus was unequal and glossed over important connections to move on to the next topic (ex: QAnon to Instagram quote accounts). The ended for me didn’t do the research of the text justice in my view, but could just be me. But over all, I loved the interviews with cult/ group members. This book raised a lot of important questions and I look forward to reading more from this author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, and Torture

tender_onion's review

dark informative mysterious fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Genocide, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, and Violence

deezy's review

dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Suicide, and Religious bigotry

bootsmom3's review against another edition

funny informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Cultural appropriation, Drug use, Child death, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Body shaming, Death, Gun violence, and Misogyny

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Alcohol