A review by books_baking_brews
Educated by Tara Westover

5.0

I am not that in to memoirs but this has been the year of them for me, so I may have to revise this claim. Educated is the tale of a woman who grew up in a Mormon survivalist family in the hills of Idaho and then makes it all the way to the halls of Cambridge. This book was really good, but beyond giving me a glimpse into life so different than my own, it also really encouraged me to want to learn and educate myself. The way Westover makes it from never having gone to school to getting into prestigious BYU and then on to Cambridge and Harvard with little help and sheer force of will is inspiring. I really appreciated that she is very forthright in her telling that some of her memories are different than those of her siblings after all a large part of the book takes place in her younger years. I picked this book for my IRL book club after seeing it on Obama's summer reading list, and I am happy I did so. Reading to me has always been about gaining new experiences through eyes of other people whether they are imaginary, real, or loosely based, and and this was certainly a new experience. This book is not really about Mormonism, though it is clear her faith is an important part of her life; it is more about family dynamics. Westover writes, "It's strange how you give the people you love so much power over you." This is really the heart of the matter. Fair warning there are descriptions of abuse (physical and emotional) in this book. I would give this book 4.5 stars.