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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
am4man's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Child abuse
bookish_in_bklyn's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Racism and Racial slurs
ron1's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, and Car accident
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Racial slurs
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.itsgnat's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Medical content, Mental illness, Sexism, Car accident, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Pregnancy
growfromit's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry
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
sec892's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Racism, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Death, Car accident, Animal death, and Toxic relationship
bashsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Westover has a vivid and transporting sense of description, and Whelan reads her words with a measured and flowing cadance (although I could do without her attempts at Idaho accents and masculine tones when reading dialogue). Westover is also extremely cognizant of the core of memoir - that it is one person's truth, and that one person's truth has power. Add that to how it demonstrates the highly political nature of education, and of course Westover has a captivating book.
That said, I feel part of the appeal for a lot of people is the shock of Westover's upbringing and a certain desire to gawk. This gawking desire draws lots of people to memoirs, but Educated is especially primed for it. I have to wonder how others are engaging with it - hopefully more than on a 'damn, that was crazy' level.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Car accident, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Animal death, Racism, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, and Misogyny
Moderate: Gun violence, Domestic abuse, and Xenophobia
Minor: Cancer