This was a wild ride. I mean WILD. I was confused when I first saw Leah Remini on my TV screen doing press runs on exposing the Church of Scientology. I had only known her as a funny New York actress with a successful TV sitcom, King of Queens. I didn’t know all that she had faced and to be honest I had reservations about this book because I had no idea what this would actually entail.  The Church of Scientology is mainly viewed by us outsiders as a wacky, pseudo intellectual Church for rich celebrities who like to waste their money.  I was not expecting what I was about to hear about the Church, about how it’s essentially a Jim Jones’ cult and MLM Pyramid scheme in disguise and has literally hundreds of conspiracies surrounding it . From accusations of holding people hostage to starving and imprisoning ”defectors” to inflicting physical, emotional and financial abuse on its members ,causing people to lose their jobs, family members, and entire livelihoods ——it’s too much! It was gut wrenching to say the least. And it makes you wonder how on Earth does one wind up in a situation like that?

Leah breaks this down perfectly, as she was example of one of many who got indoctrinated into the Church because her mother/parents, who were lower middle class and just trying to survive . In a nutshell the church tries to sell its victims on the idea that we need to aspire to be better and better the planet and the only way to do that is through the Church. Ironically the Church is anything but holy and does not recognize a God, but that you yourself have the potential to ascend to your Higher Being and Higher Calling … if you just take their conveniently structured courses that will help you achieve that. Only these courses are literally lifetime subscriptions to hell and back and an eternal debt to the Church, and as a result they are entitled to assess and monitor your every move and thought. Leah explains how from there the next 35 years of her life were a whirlwind of crazy on crazy. From being sent to work on a cruise ship as a teen where she essentially had to scrounge for food (that later in her adult life she had to pay back $40k  for!!), to being given celebrity status in the Church for her success in Hollywood, to being invited to Tom Cruise’s Scientology wedding and then later cross examined for causing a ‘disturbance’, to finally being labeled a Suppressive Person (“SP”) when she had her misgivings about the Church and ended up facing  Church cofounder David Miscavige, who was key to her being excommunicated from the Church and thus isolated from her friends who she knew since childhood. I think the scariest part for me is the fact that The  Church is not just a cult that preys on undereducated , underprivileged people, but that it literally treats its members like hostages and is highly suspected of “getting rid” of those that are too deep in! The fact that the David Miscavige’s wife has been missing for 16 years and no one can confirm where she is (or if she is even alive) is all you need to know that this organization must be stopped!  

I think leaving the Church and punching back against it to expose its insane and cruel misdeeds is one of the bravest things Leah Remini could do, and it makes her a Badass (And side note: I woulda BEEN asked for my $300k back!!! In my head I’m screaming, the heck were you thinking girl???!). I hope everyone still in or hoping to get out will find a peace of mind and pick up this book someday to get through whatever they are going through.

I feel like there will be something stirring and an official takedown of the Church, David Miscavige, Tom Cruise, and any other leader affiliated with the debauchery of that organization will be in order. Mark my words 2023 people will start to wake up and the church will go down.