Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

79 reviews

alexisdillon725's review against another edition

dark informative sad medium-paced

3.75

Audio. It was an interesting and good book, but it was a little underwhelming. That may be because a lot of the things in the book I was already familiar with as a cult/cultish nerd. However, I did learn some new things which were really fascinating! I also don’t think the reviews that imply there isn’t any talk of the language of cults is ridiculous. There was a lot of focus on the language of cultish things or cults themselves but you do have to give background to the topics you’re talking about for the audience who hasn’t ever been exposed to the topic. Would still recommend this book!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Sexual assault

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

danimacuk's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Suicide, Death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Physical abuse and Sexual assault

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Trafficking, Confinement, Kidnapping, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, and Racism

sarahjx's review against another edition

informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Violence, Gun violence, Murder, Sexual assault, and Drug use

katie0528's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

An exploration of language. The first half discusses how cults and religious groups use language tactics like "us vs. them" language creating their own codes/abbreviations to entice  followers and keep them in line. The second half focuses more on "Cultish" language in everyday life, from brands and movies with cult followings, to passionate communities like fitness clubs to social media influencers to QAnon, and how "Cultish" language can be used to build solidarity for good and for ill and ways to recognize and interrogate it.

I did listen to the audiobook and wish it was read by the author. The narrator was fine, but Amanda Montell hosts a podcast called Sounds Like a Cult, and she is so much more engaging when discussing these topics.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Trafficking

Minor: Emotional abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Abortion, Misogyny, Antisemitism, Classism, Cultural appropriation, and Suicide

caity_h's review against another edition

informative lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault

fei_chan's review against another edition

3.5

The first half was really good, middle was getting repetitive especially when she started talking about fitness. I don’t understand why we had to continue saying the same thing over and over. Towards the end you can definitely see the authors political beliefs. Now I’m not political, meaning I am a true independent and believe both radical left and right are actually insane people, yet she only goes after the radical right constantly, without really making solid points on how they’re “cultish”. I hate the insane right as much as the next person but don’t act like the other side is sitting pretty and flawless. The far left can be as cultish just as the right, just because a face isn’t on the left like Trump doesn’t mean the left isn’t also sitting in an echo chamber feeding their own beliefs. But anyway, I enjoyed the book but the score got knocked down a little bit just from the bit of hypocrisy I felt at the end.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual assault

hexedmaiden's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

First off I fuckin love the cover of this book and would buy an art print of it to hang on my wall.

Now on to the content of this book, I think Amanda did an banger job on this and I like this should be a book that everyone and their grandma reads. If you're like me and have been listening/reading/watching anything to do with True Crime you might be familiar with not only the cults in here, but even the language used that Amanda refers to as, "Cultish." I found this book absolutely fascinating and getting to see how powerful language can truly be, for the worse and the better. How that cultish language is used by genuine cults, politicians, multi-level marketing (MLM) corporations, to even workout gyms. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Death, and Murder

michelles_book_nook's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

⚠️ CW: gaslighting, sexual assault, rape, abuse, violence, suicide, murder ⚠️ If you're looking for a mind blowing non-fic read then this one is for you! What makes 'cults' so intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we’re looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join, and more importantly, stay in these extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Amanda Montell’s argument is that, on some level, it already has. Our culture tends to provide pretty flimsy answers to questions of cult influence, mostly having to do with vague talk of brainwashing. However, Montell argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community and us vs them attitudes all comes down to language. In both positive ways and shadowy ones, cultish language is something we hear and are influenced by every single day. Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a wide spectrum of communities 'cultish', revealing how they affect followers of groups as notorious as Heaven’s Gate, but also how they pervade our modern start-ups such Peloton leaderboards and Instagram feeds. This addicting take on the curious social science of power and belief will make you hear the fanatical language of 'cultish' everywhere. This book was so incredibly mind blowing and interesting that I could not put it down! It has easily become one of my favourite non-fiction reads. Overall, I absolutely loved this one and I highly recommend that everyone reads this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, and Rape

growintogardens's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic friendship

mfrisk's review against another edition

hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

This is a great read connecting the author’s experiences with cults and cult language to accounts from various other people and how language can be used. It does get a bit repetitive and drag towards the end but I’d still recommend it widely. 

This line in particular stood out to me as poignant - “It’s in our DNA to want to believe in something, to feel something, alongside other people seeking the same.” 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Violence

Minor: Sexual assault