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charley0796 's review for:
Educated
by Tara Westover
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
A graphic and heart wrenching story of one woman’s battle to break the chains of psychological abuse and gaslighting. I highly recommend this book! It reads like it was written in the hope her family will read it and believe her, her auntie, Richard and Tyler.
Going into this book, it was marketed as a story of anti-establishment and mainstream education, all about Tara’s journey to educating and learning. What i wasn’t expecting were the graphic accounts of abuse by her brother and severe gaslighting that altered her memories and left her full of self-doubt many decades later. However, these are no where near as graphic as with other memories I have read and I have come to expect this. I will not mark down for people disclosing their story - but the blurb could definitely be more accurate.
Much of the book is about her inner battles, though how she overcame her self doubt and depression and what she learnt from counselling are missing. I would also have liked to learn more about what she is doing now and her family relationships.
As a therapist myself, this book really shows the way gaslighting and abuse victims remain stuck in their cycle, through the abuser slowly taking away all escape routes (i.e. financial dependence, threat of ostracising, physical threats etc). It also shows how schizophrenia or other forms of delusions can be seen through the eyes of the beholder, as absolute and as a need to share their beliefs. It was so saddening to see how much her father followed his delusions, though due to his likely psychosis, there’s no way he could have believed anything different without therapeutic or medical intervention.
Going into this book, it was marketed as a story of anti-establishment and mainstream education, all about Tara’s journey to educating and learning. What i wasn’t expecting were the graphic accounts of abuse by her brother and severe gaslighting that altered her memories and left her full of self-doubt many decades later. However, these are no where near as graphic as with other memories I have read and I have come to expect this. I will not mark down for people disclosing their story - but the blurb could definitely be more accurate.
Much of the book is about her inner battles, though how she overcame her self doubt and depression and what she learnt from counselling are missing. I would also have liked to learn more about what she is doing now and her family relationships.
As a therapist myself, this book really shows the way gaslighting and abuse victims remain stuck in their cycle, through the abuser slowly taking away all escape routes (i.e. financial dependence, threat of ostracising, physical threats etc). It also shows how schizophrenia or other forms of delusions can be seen through the eyes of the beholder, as absolute and as a need to share their beliefs. It was so saddening to see how much her father followed his delusions, though due to his likely psychosis, there’s no way he could have believed anything different without therapeutic or medical intervention.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Gun violence, Pregnancy
Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Dementia