As usual, I'm late to the game on reading this one, but it was so good! The story of Tara's experiences with her family was astounding at times, completely outside the realm of a reality that I can recognize. I can't believe she overcame her lack of any education to earn a doctorate degree and write this book. It was so, so good!

Wow what a well written memoir. As a child abuse survivor myself I felt the book hard to read at times. Tara is a true testament to the saying your past does not define you.

This is not a typical style of read for me, but I had heard so many good things about it that I decided to give it a try. I thought it was very well-written. Tara Westover fills the readers with lots of emotions as she shares her very difficult upbringing in a life few could relate to. There were times I had to remind myself that this was non-fiction as the things Tara lived through were so heartbreaking and just honestly hard to believe at times. I know that the point of the book was to tell the story of a woman who had no formal education until college, but ended up going to some of the most prominent institutions of higher learning in the world. Although I found that fascinating, what really stood out to me was her perseverance and how that carried her through. I did find the book to be a little slow at times and more details than necessary sometimes, but overall a great read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

I’m so happy so many of my friends have read Educated, and that I had the opportunity to read it as well. The first two-thirds of the book are so gripping and really dig into what it looks like when an abused child… doesn’t really recognize they’ve been abused. Shortly after I read Educated, my father and I watched Leave No Trace, the 2018 film starring Ben Foster and now available on Prime streaming. My father and I disagreed about whether or not the daughter in Leave No Trace was actually being “abused” by living off the grid in a state park, and it was an interesting pairing with Educated, where the abuse both by Westover’s parents and brother is MUCH more apparent.

I wonder if part of my father’s reluctance to tie that word to Leave No Trace has to do with the fact that for so long, terms like “child abuse” have been tied to either truly horrible, intentional physical violence or sexual assault. For people looking for content warnings, Educated does not contain any sexual assault and has… mild to moderate physical violence committed by Westover’s brother. Still, there is no doubt in my mind that both of Westover’s parents and her brother all abuse her in different ways. Sometimes it’s neglect, or limiting her opportunities, sometimes it’s psychological, and on a few occasions it’s physical.

While the theme of the book is about recognizing and reevaluating her world after realizing she was abused, I wish that we spent more time watching Westover gain her education. It is absolutely the key that sets her free, but the narrative focuses on what she’s leaving behind more than what her new reality looks like.

Well written memoir that opened my eyes to a whole part of America the I didn't know existed. I can't believe parents would treats their kids the way that Tara and her siblings were treated.

I was very late getting to this one. The buzz was well earned even as substantial as it was. This biography of over coming an off the grid Mormon upbringing from Idaho reminded me at times of "Hillbilly Elegy". However the later parts dug much deeper into abuse and psychology making it, in my opinion, a much deeper life story. Overall I would definitely recommend and my thanks to netgalley for providing me with a drc even though the title was definitely already released by the time of my request.

I found this book incredibly hard to read. All that abuse!

I must admit at times I felt that there was some dramatisation in the story and that really dimmed my enjoyment too.

This story was heart wrenching! Tara is resilient and strong. I think it’s sad people don’t believe her story and choose to disparage her. When I talk to or listen to stories from people who knew the family, it only convinces me more that her story holds a lot of truth (even when these voices are trying to contradict her POV). Being part of the homeschool community and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly called Mormons), this story intrigued me. Her parents are not typical members of our church and have created their own insane/extreme survivalist, fear mongering lifestyle that leaders of the the church would not support. But Tara’s experience makes you think about what education is, how resilient human beings are, what we can accomplish or learn when we are motivated, what makes a family, how to set healthy boundaries and so many other things.

"Educated" is the kind of memoir that gives you not only an insight into one person's life, but also a broader perspective of developments in society. In this case it is the religious background of the author and her struggle to overcome a poor upbringing in Idaho in a very closed environment. The desire of living a decent and educated life and to find a place to be. Suffering from mental illness, this is a journey that has many twists and turns. Engaging and compelling and wonderfully told by Tara Westover.

One of the best yet most deeply tragic novels I’ve ever read. I resisted reading Educated for too, too long given all of the rave reviews, but Westover’s story and her ability to recount it in such a captivating way is simply incredible.

Special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC!

The Sound of Gravel, but updated? I didn't find this book as compelling as most, unfortunately. There was opportunity for something more full, but this felt tinny in forced way.

This memoir is popular for a reason. It's REALLY good. It captivates you instantly and you become immersed in the author's story. If memoirs are not usually your favorite genre, this is a good one to try first!

I have seen this book everywhere and heard many great things about it. It is not an easy read, but I think a must read as it touches on such important subjects. Growing up, reading and education were such an integral part of my life, and I now realize that it is something I took for granted. These are not luxuries afforded to all. I applaud Westover for sharing her story and admire her ability to learn.

Educated by Tara Westover (4/5)

Educated is a memoir of Tara’s life and how this was characterised by her Mormon parents that were constantly preparing for the ‘End of Days’. She had no birth certificate, her family did not believe in hospitals, medicine or schooling. Educated shows the tough journey for Tara between wanting to become educated and move away from her strict and sometimes violent family and between wanting to remain loyal to her flesh and blood. This book is extremely unique and not like one I’ve read before. Westover’s story is harrowing and heartbreaking and often you forget the events that happened to her, it almost seems fictional. I do, however, think some of it was rather farfetched (if you’ve read you may know what I mean) concerning her education and the schools/ universities she gets into. That being said Westover’s writing style is enthralling and I read this in a couple of sitting. I do think some of the siblings and their partners could have been focused on more however this doesn’t take away anything from how powerful this book is. I think it would be great as a documentary/film.

Excellent memoir that read like fiction at times. What an inspiring story of overcoming so many obstacles to follow your dreams!

I really wanted to like this book because after having heard about Westover's life in the media and in book reviews, especially after all the critical acclaim, I admired Westover a lot for overcoming her upbringing and her family and becoming educated despite all odds (which is something that is close to my heart and highly valued by my family as well, although under vastly different circumstances than Westover's). However, when I picked up the book, her style of writing just didn't resonate with me. It was personal, which should have been fitting for a memoir, but for some reason, the writing felt messy and chaotic, which distracted from the story and the characters in her life that shaped her early life. Nonetheless, it's still a really important story, being born into a family whose beliefs are so far removed from what most of us can even conceive, so I think it's a necessary read.

This book was an inspiration. To have such a beginning and still persevered is a motivation to me. At times I thought the storyline was a bit boring but I was still interested in reading. I still wanted to know about what was going on.

A must read. It is such a captivating book. There is a reason it stayed so long on the NYT bestsellers list. It is raw and you get to go on a journey of self-discovery; it is a beautiful, deep story.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. I had been looking forward to reading this for quite some time so was very excited to be gifted a copy. This was a tough book for me to read and stay engaged in. I am typically the kind of reader that once into a book can not put it down. I put this down multiple times and thought about not finishing it. It was a tough read for me. The book was well written and I am sure mirrors many families throughout the world however it was not a "feel" good story. I know many people rave about this book and I feel guilty leaving a review that isn't stellar but just not a book for me.

“Learning in our family was entirely self-directed: you could learn anything you could teach yourself, after your work was done. Some of us were more disciplined than others. I was one of the least disciplined, so by the time I was ten, the only subject I had studied systematically was Morse code, because Dad insisted that I learn it. ‘If the lines are cut, we’ll be the only people in the valley who can communicate,’ he said, though I was never quite sure, if we were the only people learning it, who we’d be communicating with.”

Educated is a memoir by New York Times best-selling author, Tara Westover. Born into a Mormon family, Westover is raised in Buck Peak, Idaho by a father who has morphed from serious, physically impressive and independent-minded young man, to a man with (undiagnosed) bipolar disorder and paranoia about the Government and the Medical Establishment, who are clearly “Agents of the Devil”. Formal education results in getting “brainwashed by socialists and Illuminati spies”.

Her mother is a talented herbalist and an unregistered midwife, who initially believes in educating her children but acquiesces to her husband’s demands for practical skills. Their father instils in his family a deep mistrust of phones, doctors, any type of government documentation or registration, and his determination to be prepared for when the Feds come to get them; the threat of the coming Days of Abomination require the family to bottle fruit and put up preserves, and each prepare “head for the hills” bags.

When the third of her older brothers abandons the family, to go to college (against his father’s will), ten-year-old Tara is drafted into working in her father’s junkyard, where safety is left to God: “I tried to pry loose the small length of copper tubing. I almost had it when Dad flung a catalytic converter. I leapt aside, cutting my hand on the serrated edge of a punctured tank. I wiped the blood on my jeans and shouted, ‘Don’t throw them here! I’m here!’ Dad looked up, surprised. He’d forgotten I was there. When he saw the blood, he walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. ‘Don’t worry, honey,’ he said. ‘God is here, working right alongside us. He won’t let anything hurt you. But if you are hurt, then that is His will.’”

Where there are injuries, be they penetrative wounds or third-degree burns, the injured drag themselves to be treated with rescue remedy and herbals by their mother. “Mother always said that medical drugs are a special kind of poison, one that never leaves your body but rots you slowly from the inside for the rest of your life. She told me if I took a drug now, even if I didn’t have children for a decade, they would be deformed.”

As an adolescent, large in her life is a judgemental brother who revels in physical and mental cruelty, while an absent brother encourages Tara to take a qualifying exam for Brigham Young College, despite having never been to school. After she excels in academia, the former becomes the cause of a major rift in the family; the latter never fails to support.
While her father allows Tara to audition for musicals (love or pride?), his reaction to her decision to go to college is disapproval: “The Lord has called me to testify,” he said. “He is displeased. You have cast aside His blessings to whore after man’s knowledge. His wrath is stirred against you. It will not be long in coming” When she wins a Gates Cambridge Scholarship, he reminds her to credit her (non-existent) home schooling; as she boards the plane for England, his main concern is that he will be unable to bring her home to safety “when the End comes”.

Once she has gained academic qualifications, she comes to realise: “My life was narrated for me by others. Their voices were forceful, emphatic, absolute. It had never occurred to me that my voice might be as strong as theirs.”

It’s said that truth is often stranger than fiction; sometimes, what Westover described is so shocking, it is blackly funny: Having had a major motor vehicle accident during an all-night drive, causing his family multiple injuries, the following year, her father insists on another late-night interstate drive: “’Shouldn’t we drive slower?’ Mother asks. Dad grins. ‘I’m not driving faster than our angels can fly.’ The van is still accelerating. To fifty, then to sixty” with the inevitable, identical result.

Westover’s book will leave some readers incredulous that such families exist in modern times, and may beg the question: Given that public education is freely available, and that most would consider the provision of basic education the responsibility of every parent, and the right of every child, then is preventing one’s child from gaining this not child abuse? What Westover has achieved is nothing short of inspirational. A stunning read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Random House.