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madflatt's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Antisemitism, Blood, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Child abuse, Racism, Cursing, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Dementia
crybabybea's review against another edition
4.5
Educated does center around abusive familial relationships and neglect, but I appreciated at the attention paid to the emotional experience as a child living in that environment rather than just retelling events. I felt like we really got inside Tara's head both as a child and as an adult, and I think it takes a great writer to pull that off in an interesting way.
Anyone who has survived abuse and/or neglect will relate heavily to Tara's story, even if you haven't experienced the specific flavor of religious fanaticism and doomsday preparation she experienced. I especially liked the inclusion of Tara's many, many experiences gaslighting herself and justifying the behavior of those around her. I found it to be an incredibly relatable and realistic portrayal of the complicated and confusing nature of abusive relationships, especially when those relationships are familial.
I do think this book is a bit mis-marketed sometimes, and a lot of reviewers put emphasis on the survival aspect of the book which I think is the tamest and least important part of all. It actually put me off on picking this book up for so long because I wasn't interested in reading a memoir that centered around doomsday prepping and wilderness survival. Instead, I think the thread that ties the memoir together is the importance of education, and how Tara's own education (in all its good, bad, and ugly forms) shaped her into the person she is today.
I was a bit disappointed that the audiobook wasn't read by the author, but I saw it won an Audie award so I stayed tuned; I didn't particularly like how it made the book come across as disconnected and way less emotional than it should have been. Though I think the narrator herself did a great job and I appreciated the way she used different voices to keep track of the many important people in Tara's story.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Violence, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Blood, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Pregnancy, Racism, Cancer, and Child death
On top of experiencing mental and emotional abuse from her parents, Tara experienced extreme physical and mental abuse from her older brother and retells events in great detail. She also experienced collective gaslighting and emotional abuse from her parents and siblings when she decided to speak up. Tara's father and brother exhibit mental health symptoms such as paranoia, delusions of grandeur, fits of rage, and gaslighting. Tara and her mother worked as midwives so there are multiple passages that include mildly graphic scenes of delivery and one moderately graphic anecdote about a stillborn delivery. There are multiple incidents that result in injury due to lack of safety measures. Including multiple car crashes and accidents while working on the scrapyard, as well as severe burns.lilianmathilda's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Violence, Sexism, Racial slurs, Misogyny, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Gaslighting
Minor: Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, and Body shaming
annaeslane's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Torture, and Violence
laur_astor's review against another edition
Graphic: Mental illness, Blood, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Medical trauma, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Moderate: Bullying, Torture, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racial slurs
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Pregnancy
alisonannk's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Child abuse, Cursing, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Racism, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Grief, and Medical content
Moderate: Confinement, Classism, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Cancer and Dementia
kypo's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Torture, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, Bullying, Gore, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, and Violence
sarahnella's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Cursing, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Child death, Classism, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Antisemitism, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Religious bigotry, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Torture, Cancer, Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Sexism
nkano_77's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Torture, Gaslighting, and Mental illness
Moderate: Gore
miss_snek's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Torture, Grief, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Mental illness, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, and Violence