Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

70 reviews

dkamada's review against another edition

informative fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Violence, Fatphobia, Religious bigotry, and Gaslighting

abbysnofun's review against another edition

4.5

super well researched and empathetic towards the people involved in cults or cult-like groups. each section could’ve been its own full length book of the same length. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Violence

glitterdeww's review

informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

Excellent dive into the power of language and how cultish groups everywhere use it to coerce and condition their members. I never liked MLMs, but I will definitely be looking at them even more sideways after this read. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death, Violence, Cultural appropriation, and Suicide

thursdd4y's review

informative fast-paced

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Police brutality, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Murder, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Violence, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcoholism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Drug use, Cursing, Terminal illness, Classism, Drug abuse, and Grief

michelles_book_nook's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

⚠️ CW: gaslighting, sexual assault, rape, abuse, violence, suicide, murder ⚠️ If you're looking for a mind blowing non-fic read then this one is for you! What makes 'cults' so intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we’re looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join, and more importantly, stay in these extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Amanda Montell’s argument is that, on some level, it already has. Our culture tends to provide pretty flimsy answers to questions of cult influence, mostly having to do with vague talk of brainwashing. However, Montell argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community and us vs them attitudes all comes down to language. In both positive ways and shadowy ones, cultish language is something we hear and are influenced by every single day. Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a wide spectrum of communities 'cultish', revealing how they affect followers of groups as notorious as Heaven’s Gate, but also how they pervade our modern start-ups such Peloton leaderboards and Instagram feeds. This addicting take on the curious social science of power and belief will make you hear the fanatical language of 'cultish' everywhere. This book was so incredibly mind blowing and interesting that I could not put it down! It has easily become one of my favourite non-fiction reads. Overall, I absolutely loved this one and I highly recommend that everyone reads this book!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, and Rape

growintogardens's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic friendship

mfrisk's review

hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

This is a great read connecting the author’s experiences with cults and cult language to accounts from various other people and how language can be used. It does get a bit repetitive and drag towards the end but I’d still recommend it widely. 

This line in particular stood out to me as poignant - “It’s in our DNA to want to believe in something, to feel something, alongside other people seeking the same.” 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Violence

Minor: Sexual assault

cloudyworld's review

dark funny informative fast-paced

4.5

I loved it. It's an easy read, funny, and full of tidbits of stuff I'd been interested in for a long time (death cults, scientology, MLMs) plus ones I didn't have any idea about (CrossFit, soulcycle, culty Instagram influencers) ! The author is young and fresh-sounding, but I think that balances the darkness of the contents well. Also she's from Baltimore so big points there! This was an enjoyable read if you're looking for something non-fiction that isn't scholarly and inaccessible.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Violence and Emotional abuse

julianairving's review

dark hopeful informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.75

I greatly enjoyed the deep dive into how language is used in all sorts of different communities and how many groups (such as fitness clubs and MLMs) have religious roots and how it's used in their messaging. Loved the author's writing style. Both I formative and fun to read!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry and Violence

Moderate: Toxic relationship

roniread's review against another edition

I loved part 1-4 and was reading through it so fast and it was so interesting but after MLM and getting what i wanted most. Part 5 + 6 felt like a chore to finish. So i glazed through them but still found no spark in reading it as indepth i did with 1-4.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Violence