Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Polygamist's Daughter: A Memoir by Anna LeBaron

9 reviews

alyssatuininga's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

2.0

Let me start by saying that I always feel guilty judging memoirs badly because it feels bad to judge someone's life story. The first 75% of this book is boring- slow, she moves, she doesn't like where she lives, they are poor, she moves again, repeat  Slow, overly detailed and boring. The writing takes away from the story instead of adding to it - moments that could have actually been tense or emotional are blah because of the writing. 

The whole basis of the book as "The Polygamist's Daughter" and a look into this branch of polygamy is just silly. She barely knows her dad and they don't even really bother talking about religion to the kids. She lives a fairly "normal" poor American experience imo as a child. She goes to public school for the most part, talks about books and TV she experiences, sneaks out, has boyfriends and friends, and wears regular clothes. She is neglected by her parents, is expected to work long hours, doesn't get enough to eat, and one point is left with family in Mexico for a year. it is a sad story but seems to have little to do with polygamy. 

The last bit of the book was the hardest for me. Essentially as she becomes an adult she moves from one cult to another. I couldn't take the hypocrisy of her condemning her parents for their kooky beliefs as she talks about her own. She uses to God to justify stupid things (ie God must have made me sick so I had to stay home and avoid tragedy, while other people in her family suffer because I guess God didn't care about them). She talks about years of therapy which she likely needed and then goes into this wacky rant about how she doesn't care about that her human father neglected and abandoned  her because he is not her father God is her father. Clearly through the end of the book she does care and is still angry. Using religion to fix all her problems created by religion. just seems goofy to me and I just wanted the book to be over. 

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caitking98's review

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emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

4.0


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jenlikesbigbooks's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense slow-paced

2.0


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tanyafrey's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.75


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mondovertigo's review

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.25


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erica_reads_things's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.75

Really great, insightful retelling of a very brave young girl and her struggles in and healing from a cult. It was the right mix of background, narrative, and reflections at the end that provided great closure for the story. I feel honored to have been able to hear Ana's story of resilience and finding herself. 

Would have rated a bit higher but the timeline was a bit hard to follow at times and some of the writing and phrases were noticibly repetitive. Small qualms though 

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forrestalexander's review

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

3.75


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ameliaflint's review

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challenging dark emotional informative slow-paced

3.0

The writer is not the most apt or enthralling storyteller, but she doesn't have to be. She revealed the raw truth of many horrific things in these pages and I admire her bravery. I felt her pain and her healing throughout the book, and the message that religion can still be there for you after you were exploited in its name is powerful. Overall, this is a powerful story of breaking and healing.

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kellymy's review

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challenging reflective sad fast-paced

3.75

I enjoyed the pacing and storytelling. 

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