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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
This is an incredibly heart-wrenching memoir - it's definitely not for the faint of heart. I gave myself about a week after reading it to process the story before writing a review.
Ruth's life was...insanely bad. Almost unbelievably bad, for that matter. Her mother is essentially brainwashed by a polygamist cult, and her stepfather is as bad as can be imagined. He has several other wives (that he beats), and around 40 children (many of which he is sexually abusing).
Between watching and experiencing severe abuse, being manipulated and gaslit by her family and community, and having to protect her siblings from horrific neglect, Ruth managed to get through it all. Her strength, as well as the strength of her brothers and sisters, is incredibly inspiring. I won't add any spoilers in the review, but by the end, I was so incredibly frustrated and sad for her and her family. Definitely worth a read though, if you can handle the dark material.
*Trigger warnings: sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, death.
Ruth's life was...insanely bad. Almost unbelievably bad, for that matter. Her mother is essentially brainwashed by a polygamist cult, and her stepfather is as bad as can be imagined. He has several other wives (that he beats), and around 40 children (many of which he is sexually abusing).
Between watching and experiencing severe abuse, being manipulated and gaslit by her family and community, and having to protect her siblings from horrific neglect, Ruth managed to get through it all. Her strength, as well as the strength of her brothers and sisters, is incredibly inspiring. I won't add any spoilers in the review, but by the end, I was so incredibly frustrated and sad for her and her family. Definitely worth a read though, if you can handle the dark material.
*Trigger warnings: sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, death.
i was gagged 5 minutes into the book when the author said she was her dad’s 39th child
3.5. Was harrowing to read what Ruth and her family went through and was honestly hard to finish at times. I was hoping for more about the polyamorous cult lifestyle and about life after they got out of the hell they were living in. So much abuse and neglect in this novel, so sad that it’s a true story.
emotional
I’m going to need some time to process this book before I can put my thoughts into coherent words.....but wow. The trauma experienced by this family, and the author specifically is bone chilling. It felt like a horror movie and knowing that it was a true story made the terror extra scary and nauseating. The book was well written, heartbreaking, disturbing, intriguing and riveting. I found myself physically reacting to the fear more than many other books I’ve read, and I’m sure these stories won’t quickly leave my thoughts....
Wow. Wow wow wow. This book was absolutely riveting. I finished it in one day. I enjoyed this even more than Educated. Ruth sounds like one amazing and selfless woman.
*THE SOUND OF GRAVEL by Ruth Wariner is a riveting and ultimately triumphant memoir that is difficult to remember is real—that is, nonfiction; someone’s life—while you are reading it. You are utterly transported to her harrowing world of dysfunction and neglect.
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Wariner’s young life was unlike anyone else’s I’ve heard of. 39th of 42 children by a polygamist father who founded a religious cult and was murdered, she endured grinding poverty, molestation, and constant uprooting. Struggling to understand the choices her mother made and never flinching from looking out for her siblings, she found a way out of the life she was raised in.
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Wariner’s young life was unlike anyone else’s I’ve heard of. 39th of 42 children by a polygamist father who founded a religious cult and was murdered, she endured grinding poverty, molestation, and constant uprooting. Struggling to understand the choices her mother made and never flinching from looking out for her siblings, she found a way out of the life she was raised in.
I am speechless… completely speechless. The Sound of Gravel was probably one of the most shocking and heartbreaking memoirs I have ever read.
Wariner’s life growing up in a Mormon polygamist community in Mexico was unlike anything I have ever read. Every moment I thought things couldn’t get more surreal, sickening, or devastating for Ruth and her family, I was swiftly proved wrong.
As a reader, I felt so much guilt and so many complicated emotions. You are so sucked into Ruth’s insane story while also feeling sick to your stomach, watching her and her siblings constantly being let down, failed, and abused by the adults in their lives. It is positively nauseating… but so incredibly well written, and I commend Wariner for her courage to share her story.
My only complaint is that I wish she shared more of her story after formally leaving the community. It would have been interesting to see how she acclimated and to hear how/why she decided to become a teacher herself.
If you enjoyed memoirs like The Glass Castle or Educated, you will love The Sound of Gravel. I had such a hard time putting it down that I found myself staying up until 1 am just to finish it!
Wariner’s life growing up in a Mormon polygamist community in Mexico was unlike anything I have ever read. Every moment I thought things couldn’t get more surreal, sickening, or devastating for Ruth and her family, I was swiftly proved wrong.
As a reader, I felt so much guilt and so many complicated emotions. You are so sucked into Ruth’s insane story while also feeling sick to your stomach, watching her and her siblings constantly being let down, failed, and abused by the adults in their lives. It is positively nauseating… but so incredibly well written, and I commend Wariner for her courage to share her story.
My only complaint is that I wish she shared more of her story after formally leaving the community. It would have been interesting to see how she acclimated and to hear how/why she decided to become a teacher herself.
If you enjoyed memoirs like The Glass Castle or Educated, you will love The Sound of Gravel. I had such a hard time putting it down that I found myself staying up until 1 am just to finish it!