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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
This is a brutal gut punch of a memoir about being raised in a fundamentalist polygamist colony. What Wariner and her siblings endure is beyond reason and had me yelling at the audiobook at times. And how her mother let it all happen is mind boggling. That Wariner was able to get to a place in her life where she could tell her story is simply amazing.
So many injustices brought to her and her family by entitled religious figures out for their own interests, lane is a repulsive and selfish man
Here's me, still in the mood for memoirs, still in the mood for cults. I tracked this one down and used an Audible credit and I have no regrets. Warning to any who want to read this book: it is FULL of harsh subjects. If you can think of a bad thing that could happen to this family it probably does, all at the hands of an asshole father and a brainwashed mother. If you have anything that might trigger you probably avoid this, though it is not as explicit as it could be.
I wasn't certain how long we would follow Ruthie, but it turned out to be mostly her childhood as she managed to escape the cult at a youngish age. She was never married within it.
The world these children live in is very different from the last FLDS cult book that I read, and I was pleased to get another angle on it. The sister wives were not forced to live in the same house and could even avoid one another as needed. Their children all played together but went home to separate homes. The over-watch of the cult leaders felt separated from Ruthie's family's life for the most part, which was interesting to see after the tight control we witnessed in my previous cult read.
This book gave me the feels a lot more than the last, and for the most part was far more skillfully written. That said, I think it could drag at times and seemed to be looking for things to needlessly describe to fill pages or a word count. However as things got near the end I found myself tearing up several times.
Give this a read if you like to read about families, cults, and if you're not troubled by harsh subjects.
I wasn't certain how long we would follow Ruthie, but it turned out to be mostly her childhood as she managed to escape the cult at a youngish age. She was never married within it.
The world these children live in is very different from the last FLDS cult book that I read, and I was pleased to get another angle on it. The sister wives were not forced to live in the same house and could even avoid one another as needed. Their children all played together but went home to separate homes. The over-watch of the cult leaders felt separated from Ruthie's family's life for the most part, which was interesting to see after the tight control we witnessed in my previous cult read.
This book gave me the feels a lot more than the last, and for the most part was far more skillfully written. That said, I think it could drag at times and seemed to be looking for things to needlessly describe to fill pages or a word count. However as things got near the end I found myself tearing up several times.
Give this a read if you like to read about families, cults, and if you're not troubled by harsh subjects.
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Heartbreaking story of a girl growing up in a very poor, dysfunctional, polygamous community in Mexico. Her strength is unfathomable. She's the best sister in the world and the most understanding daughter ever born.
After reading a little about the polygamist cult in Colonia LeBaron in “Under the Banner of Heaven,” I was interested in this memoir written by one of the children in the colony. As a subject it’s obviously interesting and incredibly sad. The abuse and mistreatment of children and women in this group is infuriating. As a memoir, I found this to be not super well-written. “The Glass Castle” comes to mind as a comparison, but this is not nearly as well-told. Not mad I read it, but overall not blown away.
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
the fact that people could treat children this way a beautiful and heart breaking memoir
This book is definitely up there, especially among the memoirs. Ruth's story is so different and had me hooked in from the start! What I loved best about the book was Ruth's resilience. Even when everything was as harder than I could have ever imagined, she never gave up. Her story is absolutely inspiring. I was in tears when we got to the part where the title of the book makes sense. The story is so emotional and tense Amazing memoir, but not a light read. and you can't help but be moved along with it.
Because I didn't think Wariner's skills as a writer always matched the compelling nature of her story, I almost gave this book a three. The dialogue could feel a little clumsy. Sometimes there was too much backstory, sometimes not enough. (I really wanted to know more about Colonia LeBaron and Church of the Firstborn of the Fulness of Times, but I guess that wasn't the point of the story.) The title is another good example. The Sound of Gravel, I thought, the sound of gravel on what? It took a tragedy and most of the book for me to finally hear the sound.
I did like the way Wariner framed her story with a wedding. I'm also amazed that she survived her story with such dignity and grace. I look forward to her next book.
I did like the way Wariner framed her story with a wedding. I'm also amazed that she survived her story with such dignity and grace. I look forward to her next book.