I received a digital ARC of this book from Netgalley.

I'm willing to admit that religion can be a force for good in the world. Religion has been the inspiration behind lots of amazing art, like the Sistine Chapel, Notre Dame, and Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. But just as often, religion hurts people. It tells women and girls that they're worth less than boys. It makes people suffer and die needlessly when modern medicine could help them. And it splits apart families. And all of these things are on display in Tara Westover's memoir.

Westover grew up in an extremely paranoid branch of Mormonism. I get the feeling this was less due to real doctrinal differences than to her father's hatred of the government and weird ass readings of scripture. Although he was less extreme when her older brothers were young, by the time Tara, the youngest came along the children got no real schooling. Tara didn't even have a birth certificate, and her family wasn't entirely sure when she was born.

Although Westover makes it clear that her childhood was happy in many ways, a lot of this book is just lists of ridiculously dumb, unsafe, and downright abusive things that her father, and later older brother did. Sure lets work in a junk yard with no safety equipment. Yes, let's definitely slut shame little girls dancing at a recital. No, it's fine for your older brother to beat you black and blue and call you a whore.

Eventually, through luck, lots and lots of studying, will power, natural ability, and the help of a different older brother, Westover went to BYU. From there she went to Cambridge, and found the world was much wider than she had been taught. Her father shunned her, claiming she was possessed by a demon, and her mother went along with it.

I understand how painful it must be to lose your family in the way that Westover has. On the other hand, the way they raised their children was nothing less than child abuse. If you enjoy "unstable childhood, better adulthood" memoirs, Educated might be for you.

Educated was one of the best books that I read in 2018. I have recommended it to so many people. I'm surprised i didn't submit a review because I loved it,

Tara Westover's memoir of survivalist childhood is chilling but also at times very beautiful. Her love for her family and their landholding shines through. As the youngest of seven children, she accepted for a long time that their way was the only way. Occasionally there are glimpses of the outside world and we see a small child trying to process and understand her parent's choices. Her parents' refusal to seek medical care for even the most severe injuries is a frightening element of the memoir.

As Tara grows up she starts to question a lot of the family dynamics, and she sees some of her siblings leave the family. Finding herself in an increasingly hostile environment, she has to make a difficult decision.

Tara's story - the good and the bad - is re-created in beautiful writing, without sentimentality or judgement. Her voice is sincere and honest. er journey to academia is fascinating and i would love to learn more about this transition.. A wonderful memoir that has stayed with me.

**I received a copy of this via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

I’ve heard great things about this so I was eager to dive in. The first 15% of the book was a bit scattered and hard to get into, but I’m glad I stuck with it. Once it hit 30% I got sucked in and had to know what happened.

I would give this a pick because it is definitely worth reading, but I have mixed feelings about the book overall. Tara told her story in such a cold, detached manner, and it feels like there are large chunks missing from the story. Still, definitely worth a read.

This is the story of a woman who grew up in an abusive home but didn't know it until she was in college.

Most of Tara's story infuriated me. I felt like her family was gaslighting ME!

The fact that Tara survived her family and put herself together is nothing short of a miracle.

Recommended for anyone.

As we grow up our lives and expectations are based on what our parents have outlined as acceptable, a degree of what we could call normal. But after reading this memoir by Tara Westover, I realized just how wide that spectrum can be for each individual. All of us will have a different experience and perception of how normal could be defined or potentially look like based on our life experience. But what happens when your experience is nowhere near normal?

Tara Westover recounts her experience growing up in a somewhat unstructured and strict upbringing as a Mormon in Idaho. Her father, a fundamentalist survival type, distrusted the government. He thought public schooling was not necessary for his children because he felt everything they needed to know, they would learn from him, or various odd jobs and life experience.

At times this was not an easy book to read. I had to put it down many times because what Tara experienced growing up was brutal and horrific at times. Tara’s older brother Shawn was abusive and many times I wonder if he had any mental health issues that had gone undiagnosed, the family just accepting it as ‘normal’ in the context of their lifestyle.

I talked about this book so much I thought I reviewed it.
Tara came from a large family whose dad had strange beliefs - he was anti-government and prepared for the big day when they would all be captured. It never happened but this family lived off the grid.
It's Tara's story of coming to terms with her family's decisions and choosing to go against the grain so that in the end she could be educated. If this wasn't someone's real life, you may think it's a fantasy. All the more reason why this was such a compelling read.
I strongly recommend this book.
PS - I read it before it made it to Obama's list!

Tha
This powerful autobiography is almost too unbelievable. Of course, I had read news articles about fundamentalist and survivalists, but reading Westover’s brutal, sometimes psychotic account of her life was difficult to digest.
This details in this book are at times gruesome, so I found myself putting the book aside occasionally just to catch a breath.
Highly recommended.

I’ve had this book on my “TBR” list for a while. Big thanks to Net Galley for giving me a copy. I can’t believe I waited as long as I did to read this book. It was spectacular. There were moments in the book where I found her description and language choices just amazing. 5 stars from me!

Educated is the rare book that every single reader falls in love with. The story and honesty contained in these pages spills out around you as you read. It's overwhelming and breathtaking.

This book took me forever to get into after a stop and start. I initially had trouble keeping track of Tara's family, but on a second go around, I loved it. The book was equally horrifying and inspiring. Some similarities to Jeannette Walls' Glass Castle, but Tara's parents are religious fundamentalists whereas Jeannette's parents just seemed mentally ill.

The writing was good, the story was gut-wrenching, but still I was unable to fully connect with Tara Westover's "Educated." Her narration of the sad, unjust, tragic events of her life seemed detached and I felt that emotional void as a reader. Her account is no less intriguing and thought-provoking for this, but I felt as if the author invited me to view her life from a fixed vantage point on the other side of a solid glass wall, where I could see what she allowed, but could not delve or explore beyond that allowance.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I plunged into this memoir not knowing much about it, but found myself fully absorbed in Tara's complex and challenging situation. It takes serious courage to tell a personal story like this, and I hugely respect her strength and struggles. The writing is eminently readable (I actually missed a train stop, I was so hooked), and is a testament to her determination. There are some aspects that felt glossed over for me - I wanted to read more about her rise in academia in particular - but overall thought it was an engaging, thought-provoking read. Readers should note triggers for domestic violence.

I received a review copy of Educated via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book more than I thought I might. The author does a great job being relatable and easy to read despite the pretty outlandish material! I got through this book very quickly! However a part of me kept thinking of A Million Little Pieces. I hope that’s not the case here!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reading copy of EDUCATED: A Memoir by Tara Westover.

Tara Westover is lucky to be alive. She tells her story in bits and pieces with huge gaps in between. Her mother was a self taught herbalist and mid-wife, and her father was a survivalist, distrusting the American government, schools, hospitals, and public education.

Tara is the youngest child, and was raised, as were her siblings, to obey her parents, work hard, and follow the Mormon religion. Just like the television series "Blue Blood" starring Tom Selleck, her family strongly believed in "putting family first."

Tara Westover learned to be careful around her brother Shawn, and her father because they could be nice and loving one moment, and in the next second become dangerously violent. Years later she recognizes these outbursts as "Bi-polar."

EDUCATED has received lots of positive publicity and praise. There are several horrific happenings and unbelievable occurrences in this memoir.


Posted on Goodreads, NetGalley and iBooks on March 18, 2019

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read Tara Westover's Educated but it wasn't to my liking and really didn't hold my interest enough to finish. I thought it sounded quite intriguing though but it just didn't work for me. I might give it another chance sometime in the future.

One of the best memoirs I have ever read. Comparable to The Glass Castle. Amazing what this young woman overcame to become "Educated." Inspirational for all ages. Some of the details are somewhat graphic and could trigger those who have experienced physical and mental abuse.

This was intense at times but I enjoyed the book. It puts things in perspective in many ways. When you love your parents/family no matter how you are treated or brought up, it is hard to break away even if it's the right thing you need to do in order to "survive." This was a page turner for me because I wanted to see the outcome.

Very interesting account of the author overcoming barriers, many of which seemed insurmountable, to obtaining a formal education, Would have liked to hear more about her life once she went to college, such as how she managed to make up for having little education prior to that time, as details were a bit vague.

Wow. This book is un-put-downable. The way in which Westover attempts to understand the abuse and gaslighting she suffered within her family. And the complexity of her emotions as she struggled for their love and approval. This book is absolutely phenomenal and the author is a profile in courage.

This book was riveting, horrifying, and enlightening. I enjoyed reading it, though "enjoyed" seems the wrong word. I was inspired by Tara's story of overcoming a survivalist childhood and becoming a highly educated woman, yet horrified by the neglect and terror she faced in childhood at the hands of her family. I simply couldn't put it down.