Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Educated by Tara Westover

31 reviews

shieldbearer's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Violence, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Classism, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Antisemitism, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Blood, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Ableism, Body shaming, and Bullying

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Infertility, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Fatphobia, and Gore

kirschkernsackerl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

It's a fantastic book. I am simply blown away by her story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence

faythd's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

4.0

This book was difficult to read but I appreciated the story that Tara shares of her life. I went into this book expecting that it would be about education - or the lack of formal education until college - and that was a small and important part of this story, but I was wrong. This book is about so much more. It's about family and the price of admission, the conditions of being part of a family, even one filled with dysfunction and abuse. The story was about mental illness and missing stairs. It was about survival - physically, mentally, and emotionally. I have experienced emotional abuse and neglect and have wondered which way is up before. I think that Tara captured that feeling well. The illogical pull of an abusive person to have a hold on their victim - and how even the strongest people can be manipulated. She highlights just how scary it is to leave an abusive situation for something unknown and condemned by those that hold power. I will continue to think back on this book for quite a while. (Transferred from my Goodreads review.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Racial slurs

Minor: Terminal illness

leonormsousa's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

Educated was a punch in a gut that I was not expecting. I mean, all you need to do is take a look at the trigger warnings list to see that this is not some light reading. It’s violent and hard and, in my opinion, a book that’s in its basis about breaking free after growing up and living in an abusive and oppressive family. 

It’s sometimes hard, from an outside perspective, to understand how some victims have such a hard time leaving an abusive situation. And so one of my favourite things about this book is the juxtaposition of Tara’s thoughts at the time of the events and at the time of the writing. It allows us to better understand that although years after she can clearly identify herself as a victim, at the moment of the abuse it was not so easy to either see it or escape it. 

There are a lot of factors that can make you blind to what’s happening to you from your insecurities, to your (religious) education to the love you feel towards your abuser (that might never go away).
”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.”
”It’s strange how you give the people you love so much power over you.” 

Another topic that Tara exploits in Educated and that’s always a favourite of mine, is how your financial independence can affect your life, being a limitation for your education or trapping you in situations you want to escape from (like domestic violence).
”I began to experience the most powerful advantage of money: the ability to think of things besides money.”
“Curiosity is a luxury for the financially secure.”

The book still touches on feminism and mental health and, of course, covers the topic of Mormonism, although the author let’s us now from the start that this is just her story and that the experiences she lived don’t necessarily have a correlation with her family’s religion. 

The one subject that I think could have been a little bit more explored was her struggles in university as someone who’d never been to school and barely had had any home classes. It feels like she quickly goes from someone who’s highly struggling to someone who’s having great success and it would have been interesting to follow the process that she went through to make that happen. 

To finish great, I’ll quote Mr. Barack Obama and say that it is, in fact, “a remarkable memoir” and one I will definitely be recommending to people who are willing to read a book that will make them uncomfortable and revolted, but that will be, without a doubt, an experience to carry for the rest of their lives. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Car accident, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Medical content

Minor: Antisemitism, Body shaming, Cancer, Death, Pregnancy, and Terminal illness

grainjordan's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Antisemitism, Cancer, Grief, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Gun violence, Torture, and Terminal illness

Birth

graphic moments of pregnancy and birth complications

toothpastefairy's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

It's a deeply reflective memoir, in which Tara details her life thus far in a way that simultaneously terrifies me and provides some hope. Family relationships and the complexity of one's loyalties to blood versus oneself is difficult to write about, but Tara examines them with nuance and clarity. The cognitive dissonance and difficulties with growing apart from a family structure built on paranoia and isolation is also expertly described - there is a gentle empathy in her reflections.

Overall fantastic book, it certainly holds sentimental and personal value to me. An excellent and needed recommendation from my sister. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Sexism

Moderate: Genocide, Gun violence, Grief, Murder, and Racial slurs

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Terminal illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Hate crime, Genocide, Death, Colonisation, Cancer, and Animal death

maisiegilbxrt's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Antisemitism, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Terminal illness

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Miscarriage

sinnabeanz's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Incredibly detailed, well written and definitely a book to get you thinking and grateful for your own upbringing. Reading this in my last year of high-school may have been one of the best decisions I've made, and I feel that this memoir is something that I will always remember as a favourite. There are many lessons and thoughts to be taken from this book, so glad my Uncle Grant decided to gift me this book last year, and I'm even happier to have read it this year specifically! Would  for sure recommend this book to nearly everyone, would suggest checking out the trigger warnings first though!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Car accident, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Terminal illness, Violence, and War

Moderate: Death of parent

jessmbark's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Blood and Religious bigotry

Minor: Antisemitism, Racism, Racial slurs, and Terminal illness

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