I had seen this book everywhere since its release and heard nothing but rave reviews, so I was so excited when NetGalley and Random House granted me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
This memoir follows Tara Westover’s remarkable childhood growing up in a Mormon survivalist family that renounced education as a form of indoctrination from the devil, and the “medical establishment” as poisonous and against God’s will. Against this backdrop, we follow Tara through her childhood, adolescence and adulthood grappling with the ideas her family holds and her harrowing experiences within that environment as she gives herself enough education to make it to college, then to a PhD from Cambridge University.
Her style was propulsive, yet lyrical in a lot of places and made this book a quick, easy read, despite the heaviness of the subject. I became completely absorbed in the story and could perfectly picture her house, the junk yard she worked in, the mountain she lived on, and her family members — all were rendered in wonderful clarity that her story came off sharp and genuine. I was impressed by the fluidity of the memoir, how it moved easily from one part of her life to the next without any glaring gaps that left me wondering if there was anything missing.
Simply put, her journey to education was amazing and inspiring, but the book wasn’t meant to be a hero’s story of overcoming the odds to reach a goal the hero never thought possible. Rather than focusing on her growth and how her education propelled her onward and upward, this book is an emotional recounting of the impact her education had on her relationship with her family, and how her newfound diversity of knowledge gave her insight into the often perverse nature of her family dynamics, which, in turn, eroded her relationship with her parents and siblings. You can tell through her writing how hard this was for her, and the conflict she illustrates between sticking to your beliefs and the person you’ve gone to great lengths to become, and preserving your relationship with your family is palpable and relatable — to some degree — to all of us.
My only (very mild) critique of this book is that it breezes over her education and her research in favor of recounting events with her family, which is understandable. I just wish I could have seen more of how her philosophical research affected her on a personal level, in turn affecting how she handled her family. There is a bit of that in the book already, but a more illuminating look at her time in higher education may have been interesting to read about.
Overall, this is a very readable, very compelling account of Ms. Westover’s life journey and one that I think people will continue to read for decades. I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys memoirs, or has interest in learning more about what some may consider “radical” religious beliefs.
4.5 Stars
**Thanks again to NetGalley and Random House who gifted me this book in return for an honest review.**
