The story of Valerie and what she went through is sad and horrible, but this book is a little all over the place. You can tell there was a LOT of research done in writing this book but I was not expecting a full history of the settlement of the area where the crimes took place. I felt like I didn't even start to learn about Valerie for the first 20% of the book. The focus was just missing. I felt like I was listening to a report on Northern Utah, Mormon culture, and the story of Valerie was slipped in.

This book is incredibly heartbreaking, but also such an important story to share. I applaud the bravery of both the family and those willing to come forward to share their stories. For the actual writing itself, Benedek did a great job of capturing the reader through interviews and diary excerpts, whilst also pushing forward a shocking narrative of patriarchal and societal pressures that resulted in such tragedy. I think this book is such an important read for so many people, and I hope it reaches those in the communities largely impacted and effected to open their eyes to something that seems to largely be ignored or considered common place. A difficult read, but one I would gladly do again.

Too often, perpetrators of sexual violence fail to be held accountable. This is a well documented reality, despite efforts to improve advocacy and support for victims and survivors. Even more often, the contributions of culture and communities that allow sexual abuse to continue unchecked are downplayed or ignored. In Hometown Betrayal, Emily Benedek exposes not only the men who actively harmed Valarie Clark Miller but the community that turned a blind eye, supported abusers over victims, ostracized victims who tried to speak up, and systematically covered for dangerous men who caused significant harm. We need more of that.

Not a fun read by any means but very well-researched, including a brief look into the history of the Mormon church and how the culture created by early church leaders has led to men feeling entitled to use and abuse women and children, and church leaders today needing to protect the church's image above all else.

I listed to the audiobook version, narrated by Maria Mcann. The book was read in a no-frills manner, appropriate to the material. Diction was clear, consistent, and well-paced.

Having lived in Utah for a long time and grown up Mormon, a lot about this book really hit home for me, though I never experienced anywhere close to what Valarie did. So much in this book was truly horrific but so important to talk about so no more children are abused in such horrible ways. I did think the latter half of the book was organized a bit weirdly, and thought a lot of that information could have been inserted in the narrative of Valarie's life and flowed a lot better. I did find the ending when some form of justice was brought about very satisfying. It's definitely a hard but vital book.

When I read the summary of the book, I expected it to be more like Educated by Tara Westover. Although that book is disturbing and sad, there is a vast amount of hope within it. In comparison, this book is far worse, chronicling the pain and anguish of one woman who was victimized by three men. Throughout the book, I was hoping for vindication, and must admit that I was disappointed repeatedly.

I want to start by saying that I believe that she believed these things happen. I believe she deserved the support she needed. I believe that religion is used to ruin the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, and that it’s an easy place for awful people to hide.

That said -

This book is problematic from a lot of levels. Sodium Barbiturate has been long disproven as a truth serum, as it’s known to create false memories. One person saying who they thought it may be is simply not enough. Hypnosis to recover memories is also problematic. Those are the only 2 things Valerie had to make her believe the specific things this book revolved around happened.

That said - I *do* think there was abuse aplenty in Valerie’s life - from her religion, her ‘doctor’, her parents, her education, her husband, the FBI… All of it. Valerie’s life was without a doubt an awful one for many reasons.

That said - is there ANY corroborating evidence of this at all?!? She says he shot their dog - was anyone else interviewed to link even that accusation?

Additionally, everyone directly impacted by these accusations and allegations is dead. With that, this book is wholly unsuccessful. The author could have taken this as an opportunity to show hard truths with actual, hard evidence of the ways the Mormon church shelters and enables abuse, and she chose not to. For that reason, this book is wholly and completely a waste of time for any reader. Those who want to believe her story but are critical thinkers will find nothing to solidify the claims, and those who don’t believe her will also find nothing to solidify the claims.

Some are saying this is a memoir - if that’s the case, it should have focused much more on Valerie’s feelings and impacts, and it would have been more successful.

If this was to be a true crime book, it needed proven facts obtained by legitimate means.

I do hope that a book about this case and the thousands of victims growing up in the Mormon faith comes out from an author that is more capable and prepared to tackle the nuance of the case in a more compelling, meaningful, and well researched way.

Over 50 years.

That’s how long these men continued to get away with unthinkable, horrific crimes, and even then, justice still wasn’t properly served.

I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator did a good job. She was easy to listen to and carried the story well.

As for the story itself, it’s hard to put into words how I felt. For starters, poor Valerie just had such a rough life. It’s heartbreaking. It’s no surprise that she eventually struggled with addiction.

It’s great that, after all this time, people are finally trying to bring the truth to light — but for Valerie, it feels like a “day late, dollar short.”

She was a victim of so many awful circumstances. It’s also fascinating how the brain can suppress memories that later resurface, often triggered by another traumatic event.

A lot happens in this book. Honestly, it’s almost too much. Part two was harder to follow. There are a lot of names, a lot of terrible people, and a lot of details packed in. While it’s very well researched, I found myself getting a little lost at times.

One thing I feel the need to call out: some of the things people said in interviews were absolutely maddening. One relative said something along the lines of, “If only any of us knew,” in reference to the abuse Valerie endured as a child. This was shortly after we hear about her having a huge bleeding gash on her head from one of the men. So… no one asked a 13-year-old girl what happened? You can’t convince me no one knew. They just ignored it.

Then later, a man said something like, “She didn’t act seductive or wear revealing clothes, she didn’t deserve this.”

I know he was trying to defend her, but… what if she had? Would that have made it okay? That kind of mindset is part of the problem.

That said, I’m glad the author kept those in.

Overall, this was a heartbreaking listen. I hope it helps other victims. I also hope it helps some people rethink the way they view abuse, blame, and justice.

Overall, a really good book. I won't sugarcoat it, in the beginning it was really hard to follow with all the characters. The book flowed more like a story, not a memoir like I was expecting, but I did enjoy it!

This book is hard to rate because it’s not fiction but wow wow wow. I listened to this whole thing today and I probably should have taken some breaks because once I got finished I felt sick to my stomach. This book is a tough one to get thru because it’s such a heavy story. Valerie went thru so so much. This book highlights the impact that child sexual abuse has on not only victims but their family members as well. This story being shared gives Valeria some of her power back and hopefully gives her family some of theirs back as well. My heart broke for them all. Valerie had things happen to her that should never have happen. Especially to a young child. Things happened at such a young age and continued to happen throughout her young life. She hit a point in life where she just suppressed the things that happened to her. Almost 20 years later it all comes back to her and it ultimately leads to the decline in her mental and physical health. She truly could not catch a break.

This is a very hard and heavy read. I should add #metoo.
I loved the beginning where they talked about Valerie's childhood, her family history, the horse, and Clarkston. I love that they mentioned Elizabeth Hay, someone I have research for Weber County Heritage Foundation. It connected me to Valerie and had me ready to read the heavy stuff.
But it was heavy and hard for me. I felt like I owed her my attention to this story.
The narration was wonderful. In the end I felt glad that my dad made an off handed remark about all religion existing to control the masses. Although, I do believe our Valerie found comfort in her beliefs during her belief, at least I did not feel like I was chewed bubblegum or ruined in anyway. I just felt, and still feel, angry.
This is a wonderful book full of interesting histories of the Mormon Faith and a lot of really heavy stuff.

his was a hard one to read and review. On the one hand, the subject matter was hard and you should absolutely look at the trigger warnings before jumping in.

This was a deep telling of the complex relationships and cover-ups in small town, (often) religious communities and unfortunately, not an untold story coming out of Mormon communities.

Valarie’s story is heart-wrenching. On the surface, she embodied the ideal Mormon wife—beautiful, smart, part of a prominent family—but behind the façade, she was battling a darkness few could imagine. Benedek’s writing captures the complex emotional layers of surviving and confronting long-buried abuse with stunning empathy and precision. She weaves Valarie’s individual journey into a larger narrative about the deeply entrenched systems of denial and protection that exist in tight-knit communities like Clarkston, Utah.

The author handled these difficult topics delicately, with multiple trigger warnings at the onset of chapters but it was still hard to hear how horrifically this story was mishandled.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Greenleaf Audiobooks for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review. Maria Mcann does a solid job narrating this story!

This is true crime at its finest! The cult of Mormonism will hopefully one day very soon be fully exposed for the sexual perversions of its members and original founders. This is another heartbreaking story of a young woman who was a victim of sexual assault at the hands of those that should have been protecting her. The title for the book is perfect as Valerie's entire town let her down and betrayed her trust and her mental health.

Maybe if more people read true crime prior to joining this cult, it would help save a few others.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 Stars (Outstanding)
Setting: Clarkston, Utah
Genre: True Crime; Memoir; Biography

Hometown Betrayal is a raw, powerful, and necessary book that left me both devastated and deeply grateful. As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, I found this story incredibly difficult to read at times—but also profoundly validating. Emily Benedek does not shy away from the brutal realities of Valarie Clark Miller’s life, exposing not only the personal trauma she endured but also the chilling community-wide silence that enabled it.

Valarie’s story is heart-wrenching. On the surface, she embodied the ideal Mormon wife—beautiful, smart, part of a prominent family—but behind the façade, she was battling a darkness few could imagine. Benedek’s writing captures the complex emotional layers of surviving and confronting long-buried abuse with stunning empathy and precision. She weaves Valarie’s individual journey into a larger narrative about the deeply entrenched systems of denial and protection that exist in tight-knit communities like Clarkston, Utah.

What struck me most was the courage it took for Valarie—and for others like her—to speak out. Hometown Betrayal is a bold reminder of why telling our stories matters: because silence protects no one but the abusers. While I did find myself wishing for a more satisfying conclusion, the ending felt honest to the lived experiences of survivors. In real life, justice is rarely neat, and believing survivors remains an ongoing fight.

This book is not an easy read, but it is an essential one. Benedek handles the subject matter with great care, giving voice to countless individuals who have long been silenced. Hometown Betrayal is both a heartbreaking and empowering call to action—and one I will not soon forget. #netgalley #hometownbetrayal #booked_this_weekend

Wow 😭😭😭💔

Firstly I find it difficult to rate such a book with stars due to the context however what I am rating is the delivery, the detail and the impact this audiobook had on me because personally I don’t feel it is my place to review the subject matter based solely on this 1 piece of work.

With that being said my first thing is when someone is abused the worst thing is for them not to be believed and for all that is expressed in this audiobook that Valerie endured to not be believed and labelled as psychotic or sociopath etc is exceptionally hard to hear! It’s very easy for those in the wrong to turn a blind eye and do such things or even those in denial who can’t comprehend such wickedness in this world but due to the nature of this particular story being that of living in a Mormon community where it’s stated this particular community turned a blind eye then isn’t any wonder Valerie ended up with various ailments later in life as she had next to no support when she was coming to terms with what actually happened to her! When she needed to be cared for and loved the most is when she found herself in a battle as her husband believing he was doing right by her tried to begin legal proceedings.

Religion has been known and spoken of often as a way of conditioning, grooming and thereafter abuse however it isn’t the same for everyone who is of any religious belief as in I don’t believe all Mormons necessarily live this way it’s the same can be said for anything in life there is good and bad in all walks of life in all different towns and countries.

What is absolutely abhorrent is the fact this appears to be known about even spoken about in whispers regarding the perpetrators and yet nobody does anything it was accepted and the 2 in Valeries life simply were not deemed to be the monsters that they were to the point even her husband found himself battling with how to handle the whole situation making it a difficult sad situation on the whole family in the long run.

Abuse doesn’t only affect the victim as this audiobook expresses so well it impacts families from the inside causes destruction to children even to the point of death. The loss of Valerie’s child Erin ultimately was down to all the past events that had occurred in her mums life although this was never her mums fault by any means it shows the impact such tragedy has on the family as a whole. Generational trauma continues on and history can repeat until someone stops and breaks the cycle which is a very difficult path for anyone.

This audiobook is extremely hard hitting, it is raw, emotional, brutal, disturbing and difficult to listen to but when you think your listening to this you realise this family and so many more have lived through this it humbles you! I wish anyone and everyone who has ever had any experience of abuse peace and I also commend the family for allowing this story to be shared as it may help so many others in their healing and even to break free from any situations they may currently be in!

Lastly this was well narrated that you definitely could sense the emotion and severity of the authors intended words.

Rest in peace Valerie & Erin & God Bless the rest of this family may you continue to heal from all that you endured 🙏🏽❤️

With huge gratitude to NetGalley & Greenleaf Audiobooks for the opportunity to listen to this ELC 📚❤️🙏🏼