A review by rosiecotton_dancing
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

2.0

I don’t give low star ratings often, but this one bothers me more and more as I sit with it. “Cultish” unfortunately comes across as a half-baked attempt to capitalize on the current obsession with true crime/cults.

At best, this book is a breezy overview of a handful of major Western cults/cult-y environments. At worst, it’s a disappointing pop psych puff piece that goes out of its away to avoid the premise, barely mentioning linguistic research, analysis, or examples in favor of personal anecdotes and snarky bios of cult leaders/followers. This is a really heavy and complicated topic, so Montell’s flippant tone mixed with the irresponsible lack of scholarly research, poor organization, and narrow lens make this a “do not recommend” for me.