A review by alylentz
Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

A difficult read on all kinds of levels! Really tough on an emotional level to read about the rampant abuse and pedophilia in fundamental Mormonism, but necessary--I'm sure that I'm not alone in that I hadn't thought of polygamy as anything beyond a weird kind of cultural joke because my main exposure to it is things like Sister Wives, but this was a real eye-opener. Had to push through the in-depth sections on the origins and history of Mormonism, though I understand why they were important to include. I picked it up in anticipation of the show and am interested to see how they'll tackle some of these far-reaching questions and discussions. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gun violence, Incest, Homophobia, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence