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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
carijacqueline's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Violence, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, and Panic attacks/disorders
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.kkpines's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Xenophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death and Animal cruelty
Minor: Domestic abuse and Cultural appropriation
theshanana's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Car accident, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, and Racism
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Cancer, Dementia, Death, and Death of parent
cosmiccutie's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Car accident, Classism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Dementia, and Pregnancy
sierrabowers's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Car accident, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abandonment, Addiction, Gaslighting, Gore, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child abuse, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Vomit, and Racism
pranjuli's review against another edition
4.0
Weirdly, despite being a story so away from our lives, Tara doesn't come across as an alien when discussing about her feelings and fears and how she felt when thrown into new situations after living a completely different life for 17 years. She doesn't feel unnatural, she doesn't come across as miraculous either.
She is a woman, just like any of us, who had to grapple with so much.
Graphic: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Animal death and Animal cruelty
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
slascano's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Religious bigotry, Self harm, and Physical abuse
Fundamentalist Mormon isolation resilientgaryosu's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Sexism, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, and Violence