Scan barcode
littlelikkel's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Car accident, and Racial slurs
val_theburrowofstories's review against another edition
5.0
- Happy International Women’s Day! I didn’t plan to read this for this day, but I’m so glad that I did because Tara Westover is such an strong woman.
- This book was so powerful. This was Tara owning her story and telling it the way it was from HER perspective, the way she lived her life. I have so much respect for her, this was published in 2018 and I would not be surprised if she's still healing.
"You can love someone and still choose to say goodbye to them.
You can miss a person every day, and still be glad that they are no longer in your life."
-Tara Westover
- I'm genuinely surprised she didn't talk about menstruation. And I have to admit I was so scared for her when she was a child that Shawn would rape her, then I was scared he would kill her. Can we talk about how she barely looked or talked to boys and yet when Shawn said she had a "reputation" they were horrified of her being pregnant, SHE thought she was pregnant and looked at herself in the mirror... The lack of sexual education. And then when they confirmed she wasn't??? I'm scared of just thinking how they confirmed it.
- I feel so so sorry for those kids of the siblings who don't support her. but especially for the ones of Audrey and Shawn, because they are just the living image of their parents which means their childhood will be just like hers unless they run.
- She is right by mentioning that this is not about Mormonism. Maybe religion played a role in this, but her brother and parent’s evil in my opinion belonged to them, not to any Satan and of course is not the will of any God they believe in.
- I have to admit that I didn’t cry. I understand the moments that I “should’ve”, I understand why other people would’ve cried. But I’ve never lived abused so I can’t say I was reliving something, and I’ve always been the “strongest” child who didn’t cry easily because I had a “cold heart”, that’s how I view myself and maybe there’s something wrong with me too that I can’t see, but that’s the truth.
- I didn’t cry, instead I was shocked, stunned, angry, I could not believe it, it was all just so crazy. When you think of stories of more kids living like this, that’s it, they’re just stories you hear of someone else living far far away, they didn’t happen to you, you don’t read about them with more detail in a book. It’s is eye opening to finally read this story and realize “this is real, this has happened, this is still happening not only in her family but probably so many others”
- I can’t stop thinking on how powerful this book is and how more people should read it, yes it was Number 1, yes it’s acclaimed, yes it has Awards, and somehow it’s not enough. It will neve be enough.
- I want this book in my library, highlighted with tabs, with annotations written by me and other people, I want to have discussions around it, I want to check on it from time to time. I want to highlight with a pencil all the obstacles, and with colors her support system, her quotes, her growing up and changing her mind. There’s so many things to point out, so many things to discuss.
- I feel so overwhelmed by this whole book. She’s powerful, she’s brave, she’s inspiring. She got over the obstacles, she got her education. Education IS a privilege and it could be life changing for some.
- The fact that she dedicated this to her brother Tyler, because he was always nice to her, he always supported her, he is the one who kept telling her to go to college.
- This is so far away from my fantasy books, hell I WISH this was some dystopian shit, but it’s a MEMOIR and I just can’t stop thinking about it. This is not fantasy, and yet this is one of the few examples of why I must keep getting out of my comfort zone tbr every once in a while, to discover stories (fiction or not) like this one.
- I want to keep reading so many reviews now, from all the ratings. I need to read more opinions. I even want to read the thesis she presented for her PhD.
- This makes me think of the kind of parent I would be, consuming books, blogs, podcasts about parenting the second I learn I was pregnant. I almost want to study psychology just to help kids.
- I'm thankful my healthcare and education were priorities in my family. I'm thankful I was not forced into any religion. I'm thankful I was loved. I'm thankful I didn't live an abuse like this and I pray I never will, thankful that I can recognize the signs of when something is wrong and I must ask for help. I'm thankful for my family (we are not perfect, and of course I have many complains about them lol but I'm thankful for them)
- I keep thinking and thinking and thinking, and there is no denial to me. I can’t rate the same way I do my fantasy books (or any other fiction book for that matter). I can’t even compare it to other non fiction I’ve read because they are self help, and I’ve read just a couple of memoirs. So this is a very unique book to me, and as such it has to be rated for it’s own reasons. At the beginning I thought how difficult it would be to rate it, but now I think it's a 5 ⭐
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Sexism, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Medical trauma, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, and Car accident
Minor: Mental illness, Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Adult/minor relationship
Please read the trigger warnings before reading the book (there might be spoilers here):
- Emotional abuse / Physical abuse / Child abuse: The way the mother and father (especially) raised the children had me sick, the emotional and physical abuse those kids had to endure…
- Domestic abuse / Violence: Her brother would beat her up and humiliate her.
- Gaslighting: I swear her parents were living in another reality, all the stories they got in their heads and the lies of how the world worked (the end of the world, how the government was evil and it was dangerous to go to school or the hospital)
- Racial slurs: Her brother kept calling her by the N word because when she worked with them she got her face dirty…
- Animal death / cruelty: Her brother killed his dog with a knife, who the fuck does that.
- Injury detail / Blood / Fire Injury: When she was a child she had to help her brother with his leg because there was another “job incident” with their father. And later her father is near an explosion and ends up pretty bad. Her other brother also injured his head twice.
- Mental illness: She’s convinced her father is bipolar.
- Car accident: As children they had not one but TWO car accidents. And then his brother had yet another car accident on his own.
- Sexism / Misogyny: Basically what her father and brother are. Her father treating her like shit inside the house because she was a woman and she could not even have short sleeves. I don’t know a lot of stupid ideas about women and how they should behave.
- Medical trauma: From all the injuries, accident, simply being sick and going to the hospital for the first time.
- Panic attacks: She experienced this at college.
- Cancer: One of her grandmothers had cancer and died of it.
- Adult / minor relationship / Pregnancy: Her brother was like 27 with a 17-18 yo he ends up marrying. And later she has two dangerous pregnancies.
- Drug abuse / Alcohol: Her brother, of course.
- Toxic relationship: Pretty obvious with who (her family)
sarahnella's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Cursing, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Child death, Classism, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Antisemitism, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Religious bigotry, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Torture, Cancer, Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Sexism
mothstrand's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Blood, Bullying, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Animal death, Child abuse, Gaslighting, and Violence
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Death, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, and Antisemitism
potatotoes's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Sexism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Violence, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury
matonnhermann's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Blood, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Abandonment, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
rebah's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Torture, Abandonment, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Body shaming, Sexism, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Grief, Gun violence, Cancer, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Genocide, Classism, Cursing, Dementia, Toxic relationship, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Hate crime, Physical abuse, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
bibamaya's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, and Toxic relationship
hannahgunther's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Medical trauma
jneverland's review against another edition
Moderate: Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Adult/minor relationship, and Body shaming