A review by thebookishjenna
Educated by Tara Westover

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

4.25

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.

Tara Westover writes of her life as the child of a survivalist in Idaho. She never saw doctors, was not provided a formal education and lived far from mainstream society, Forging her own path, Tara educates and advocated for herself discovering that life is more than what was offered to her.

I was floored by this book, I am always hesitant to rate someone's story, and this is no exception. Tara writes with deep reflection and objectivity, capturing her emotions and experiences with such clarity. I felt like I was sitting having a conversation with her.

There is so much to unpack in terms of education and opportunities, the way in which trauma impacts us, and how Tara was unable to recognize the threat her family posed on her through denying medical care, physical abuse, emotional trauma, and the expectation that comes from living in that environment. She was able to describe her feelings and the reason why she stayed, or tolerated, or kept hoping for her parents to see her for who she was, it was heartbreaking. 
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