A review by kurtwombat
Educated by Tara Westover

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

5.0

 
Very detailed and lucid account of growing up isolated with and tightly woven into a right wing survivalist family. The main thread of this autobiography is just how tightly woven Tara Westover was into that often abusive family. The extrication happens in many small steps, each feeling like a miracle until you realize there are many more to take. This tension builds throughout—as the children of the family grow up, a darkness envelops their mountain home. Blind obedience fades and questions arise. They chafe under the demands of their dominating father in different ways. Some succumb to the life, some don’t. Tara ultimately finds her salvation in education, hence the title. Perhaps I’m too academically minded, but I would have like to know more about the nuts and bolts of that education. Some of the achievements and finances involved seemed abrupt and fortuitous. Assumed some shortcuts were taken by the editors to make it more readable. I will add that I knew a similarly isolated family, though thankfully not abusive or survivalist, and their kids were all remarkably bright and could have made similar academic jumps. There are a lot of moving familial parts to this drama and the narrative manages to keep them clear. There were times where I was yelling at the book—WHAT ARE YOU DOING!—hoping she’d leave but family is often a bond beyond steel. I will leave you with that frustration warning as well as some disturbing instances of physical abuse—but fascinating all the way through. 
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