Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

Educated by Tara Westover

10 reviews

tigerkind's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

Both praising and criticizing this  feels wrong, as it contains  fairly detailed accounts of abuse. However, it was extremely well written and constructed, allowing for a reflection on the broader systematic workings of power relations in religion, family and education. Even though a memoir, it was at times written with so much detail and emotion that I had to remind myself I was listening to a non-fiction work and not a novel by Barbara Kingsolver. Unfortunately, it feels like the legal challenges the author apparently faced, which forced her to include disclaimers, paraphrase and use pseudonyms, somewhat hampered the overall impact of the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Death, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Car accident, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, Gaslighting, Body horror, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Child abuse, and Medical content

Moderate: Classism, Slavery, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Cancer, and Terminal illness

Minor: Genocide, Islamophobia, Murder, and Police brutality

marissaboone's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective tense

5.0

I debated my rating of this book but ultimately decided that any book that makes me feel so much emotion is deserving of 5 stars. Truthfully this is a very difficult read (especially if you do it as an audiobook, which I did). Some of the cruelties Tara faced - both as a child and a young adult - are unimaginable until you’ve heard them described. Her telling of a life filled with extremist religious views, misogyny, and abuse is very detailed and sometimes graphic. However there are also glimpses of her own loyalty, passion, and perseverance. I was left wondering about her family and her own future. It was an interesting experience to say the least, and I found myself sending well wishes to her, a stranger, many times when she described both her familial hardships and academic successes. This is a worthy read if you are interested in the power of education.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Violence, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Sexism, Blood, Cancer, Gun violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Death, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, and Torture

inneriara's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Car accident, Death, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Toxic relationship, Islamophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Antisemitism, Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, and Gun violence

lilacwhisker's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

5.0

Really interesting story about a girl learning about the world around her. I thought it was interesting how while she was educated in an academic way, she was also educated socially. She understood social norms and where she fit in, and made friends and other great relationships along the way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Body horror, Antisemitism, Blood, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Car accident, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Racism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infertility, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Dementia, and Islamophobia

brookey8888's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.0

Wow was this interesting. It’s honestly scary that there are people like this out there. I feel so bad for everyone involved because they all need some type of help. I would highly recommend this. I do have to say it wasn’t what I was expecting. All the reviews I heard didn’t say anything about the physical and emotional abuse so I was a little shocked. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Car accident, Antisemitism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Cursing, Death, Stalking, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Grief, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Violence

aklovekorn's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Car accident, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Medical content, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Gun violence and Islamophobia

neni's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

 This was amazing. The way the author writes is incredibly gripping and compelling. Her life and her experiences are so far from anything I’ve experience or even thought it was possible to experience nowadays, that I kept needing to remind myself the story was true and not some indredibly elaborate fiction. And yet I was still able to empathise and engage with the story on an emotional level, because the writing was so good.
 

It was painful and yet fascinating to read about her interactions with her family, with all the gaslighting and the toxicity, and yet experience some beautiful, wholesome moments with her too. I think the author did a fantastic job of telling the story in a way that felt just and appropriate to the gravity anfd complexity of the situation, didn’t diminish the validity of her experiences and feelings, and yet wasn’t an angry manifesto about how singularly evil her family was. There was pain and violence, but also compassion in there, and that made it an even more valuable read because people, and life, are just like that. Messy and incoherent and unresolved in a way that is not necessarily “satisfying” like fiction is. 

I was also just overall immensely impressed with her life’s journey. Having no access to an education and then ending up with degrees from Cambridge and Harvard, being super talented at writing, is just like WOW. Not to mention the ammount of growth, work and self-reflection that processing and getting through all that trauma must have necessitated. Truly astonishing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Antisemitism, Bullying, Car accident, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Vomit, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Dysphoria, Islamophobia, and Adult/minor relationship

accidentalspaceexplorer's review against another edition

challenging inspiring slow-paced

5.0

This is an extremely powerful book about the power of education and how it changed one woman's life. But it's also about white supremacy, mental illness, abusive families, and how all of those things impact children as they grow up. I couldn't put it down, even though it was very dark at times, and I think a lot of people would get a lot from this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Antisemitism, Homophobia, and Islamophobia

Minor: Animal death

confusedmuse's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Antisemitism, Cancer, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Islamophobia, and Terminal illness

coits's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Racism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Mental illness, Medical content, Islamophobia, and Homophobia