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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
I'm torn on how to rate this. At a little over halfway, I have a good grip on the nature of this book, but I still don't know how I feel about it. I suspect I'll come away with the same feelings as I did after watching Whiplash--it will be the very best and the very worst of books. (And I won't want to read it ever again!)
If you read the description hoping for something in the way of A Child Called It, you definitely have the right book. (Conversely, if ACCI made you want to kill someone, don't read WU.) I've been relaying bits of the story to a friend of mine, and I think this section sums it up rather nicely:
I may have more to say after the back half of the book (like expecting a little more from the Servants of Light in terms of cultishness); but for now, I'm just happy the author got out.
~*~My copy is from Amazon's Kindle First program for the month of March 2019~*~
If you read the description hoping for something in the way of A Child Called It, you definitely have the right book. (Conversely, if ACCI made you want to kill someone, don't read WU.) I've been relaying bits of the story to a friend of mine, and I think this section sums it up rather nicely:
Spoiler
[Keele's] father slapped her so hard that she landed in Lake Powell. She swam to shore, he announced he was going to kill her and forced her on a death march. He loaded the .45, missed both times, and then decided that was enough and took her back to the rest of the family.I may have more to say after the back half of the book (like expecting a little more from the Servants of Light in terms of cultishness); but for now, I'm just happy the author got out.
~*~My copy is from Amazon's Kindle First program for the month of March 2019~*~
Obtained through Amazon First Reads, I chose it because I often love memoirs and have a small obsession for reading the stories of people who grew up in cults. It sounded fascinating.
Unfortunately this one fell really flat for me (and quickly), and I wound up skimming my way through a good most of it - the story and characters were presented with so little actual depth, which is sad given that this life story itself had so much potential and a lot of real, psychological issues could have been explored.
(Regardless, I'm glad the author made it out alive and has shared her story)
Unfortunately this one fell really flat for me (and quickly), and I wound up skimming my way through a good most of it - the story and characters were presented with so little actual depth, which is sad given that this life story itself had so much potential and a lot of real, psychological issues could have been explored.
(Regardless, I'm glad the author made it out alive and has shared her story)
This was a very odd book. It started off very interesting with the author’s early childhood in a cult like atmosphere. Then it just jumps from there to when she is an adult with destructive tendencies. Then jumps where she is in another cult like environment. There are so many missing pieces to the story that you end the book with many “why” questions.
The only good thing is author does give insight to her emotional being at certain points in the book but still it left me very empty.
The only good thing is author does give insight to her emotional being at certain points in the book but still it left me very empty.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
A moving story of overcoming abuse and self doubt to find self love and acceptance.
Thank you Little A and Netgalley for the advance digital copy.
This memoir is raw and shocking.
Keele's unbelievable story about her upbringing is indeed a story that "must be told".
The memoir feels like journal entries and little snippets of the most horrid parts of Keele's experiences as a child and teenager. I appreciated the way that she chose to tell her story. It was easier to digest the horrific content with the story being told in divided chunks of time like it was.
Keele's story is gripping and I would recommend it as a must read for memoir readers.
This memoir is raw and shocking.
Keele's unbelievable story about her upbringing is indeed a story that "must be told".
The memoir feels like journal entries and little snippets of the most horrid parts of Keele's experiences as a child and teenager. I appreciated the way that she chose to tell her story. It was easier to digest the horrific content with the story being told in divided chunks of time like it was.
Keele's story is gripping and I would recommend it as a must read for memoir readers.
This memoir centers on Kathleen Flanagan, a girl growing up in a very specific religious family. Her father is a leader of a group (Disciples of Light) that invokes strict guidelines and rules for everyone, especially women. It moves through Kathleen’s childhood of being physically, emotionally, and spiritually abused at the hands of her father as her mother stays silent. After a sexual assault in her teen years and a traumatic injury on horseback, Kathleen begins to unravel. It moves through her lost years as she escaped from her family and tried to find solace in drugs, alcohol, and broken people. At her lowest point, she enters a religious retreat to try to repair herself.
.
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I could not put this book down. A heart breaking journey.
It was a good and engaging read. Nothing outstanding, but for sure better than average as far as memoirs go.
This is an amazing true story of how this woman overcame her abusive childhood. A lot of it was hard to read, but I kept going because I wanted to see what happened to her, and it was worth finding out.