From the Bookshelf of Bound Together…

Educated

Tara Westover

Start date: January 15, 2019

Finish date: March 31, 2019

Discussion: If the Truth be Known...

Why we're reading this: Our first Non-fiction selection - Enjoy!!
[close] Our first Non-fiction selection - Enjoy!!

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of -6 topics — 64 comments total

If the Truth be Known...

This topic has been closed to new comments.

* Non-fiction Selections
By ♥ Sandi ❣ , Me! ~~ on a good day · 1 post · 70 views

last updated Dec 27, 2019 06:56PM

2025 Sept/Oct Nonfiction ~~ Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown
By ♥ Sandi ❣ , Me! ~~ on a good day · 6 posts · 10 views

last updated Sep 10, 2025 05:30AM

showing 10 of 24 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Feb 27, 2018 Chrissie rated it it was ok

Shelves: returned, audible-uk, religion, usa, bio, 2018-read, relationships

Two stars does not mean I disliked Educated: A Memoir, but rather that I found it to be OK. With this clarified I will explain the reasons for my rating.

The beginning is confusing, which can scarcely be considered a plus. Initial questions that arise are resolved as one reads, and the further one goes the less is one willing to abandon the book or even put it down. I needed to know how the problems would be resolved.

Familial problems are what this book is about. Serious problems related to ment Two stars does not mean I disliked Educated: A Memoir, but rather that I found it to be OK. With this clarified I will explain the reasons for my rating.

The beginning is confusing, which can scarcely be considered a plus. Initial questions that arise are resolved as one reads, and the further one goes the less is one willing to abandon the book or even put it down. I needed to know how the problems would be resolved.

Familial problems are what this book is about. Serious problems related to mental and physical abuse. This is by no means a light read. The family is Mormon, and they live in Idaho. The father is authoritarian, with clear fundamentalist leanings. There are seven children, of which Tara, the author, is the youngest. The mother is a midwife and a herbalist and supportive of her husband. The children are not educated nor given proper medical care. Any talk of home-schooling is a sham. The situation is extreme. This is what you will read about and about how difficult it is to leave the family and forge a new route. Three of the children do succeed, but what is the price that must be paid? The bonds of family, even those built on dishonesty, on fear and physical and psychological abuse prove to be almost impossible to break. This is the central focus of the book.

We are told in the beginning that this book Is not about the Mormon faith. I beg to differ. What happens in this family is tied closely to Mormon beliefs; the two cannot be separated.

Tara is telling of her ties to and her alienation from her family. What is presented is what has happened as she remembers it and she admits that her memories are at times confused. There are holes, lacking information and conflicting versions and there could be exaggerations. I am left with an uncomfortable feeling. I am not sure how much of this is absolutely true. Too much is fuzzy. All too often the author paraphrases. In other cases, quotes are given. I found myself wondering about the veracity of these too. How is it possible she remembers that? In any case, we are hearing one side of the story; I am not comfortable with this. I do not have adequate information to criticize specifics, but I am left uneasy. I certainly have difficulty believing all we are told. Call me a skeptic.

Furthermore, I find it strange that having completed the book I do not feel I know Tara. Something is missing.

The audiobook narration by Julia Whelan was good, in that it was not hard to follow, but clearly it is Tara’s views we are supposed to accept. I have given the narration three stars.

I am rating the book, not Tara. Although I feel unsure about the details, my sympathy lies with her, not with her father, nor her mother, nor her brother, Shawn.

Go ahead. Read the book. See what you think. ...more

129 likes · Like · see review

Mar 11, 2018 PattyMacDotComma rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: politics-culture-social-war, favourites-adult, arc-netgalley-done, kindle, aa, bio-memoir, nonfiction

Another UPDATE: The Westover family company, with photos https://butterflyexpress.net/welcome/us
UPDATE: an interview with Tara. https://www.cbsnews.com/video/tara-we...
5★
“Dad waves at a tower of cars and says, “Luke, cut off those tanks, yeah?” And Luke says, “Sure thing, Dad.” He lays the torch against his hip and strikes flint. Flames erupt from nowhere and take him. He screams, fumbles with the twine, screams again, and takes off through the weeds.“

There are life-and-death incidents and accid ...more

108 likes · Like · see review

Apr 22, 2018 ☮Karen rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, read-in-2018, netgalley

3.5 stars.

I can't help but admire and respect everything Tara Westover has been through in her difficult life. I am so grateful to have received a copy of Educated from NetGalley and Random House so I could join my book - loving friends on the bandwagon for this book. I am there, but sort of on the ledge, one foot on and one foot unsure of where to land.

The book felt repetitive and on the long side; and I know that some things that happened to her happened repeatedly, which is what made her earl ...more

29 likes · Like · see review

Mar 11, 2018 Irene rated it really liked it

Tara Westover was raised in a fundamentalist Mormon family, survivalists who distrusted every aspect of the government, by a domineering, emotionally abusive father and a physically abusive older brother. She received no formal schooling, not even home schooling. At the age of 16, she was admitted to BYU and went on to study at Harvard and receive a PhD from Cambridge. This is the memoir of a brilliant, strong, hard working, resourceful traumatized young woman. The writing was excellent. She dre ...more

12 likes · Like · see review

Feb 13, 2019 Mina rated it it was amazing

Shelves: book-club-reads, audible, ps-challenge-2019

I"ll be thinking about Educated for a long time. I will keep reminding myself that the time frame is current day. Much of the knowledge we glean from everyday living we take for granted.

I had the pleasure of reading this with book club. The discussion was filled with wonderment and respect for the author.

One of the members suggested that growing up in the family was similar to Stockholm syndrome and I agree.

Should you read this? - Yes but I say that with caution. Families are hard. Dysfunctio ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Sep 30, 2018 Christina, Join Me on Storygraph! rated it it was ok

Shelves: didn-t-finish, 2018

I felt the same way reading this as I felt reading The Glass Castle. People do horrible things to their kids, and I dont want to read about it. I don't want to spend 300 pages wishing death on a real life person. So I put this one down after about 150 pages and wish Westover well and hopes she's found lots of therapy ...more

Like · see review

Aug 24, 2018 Bucket rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction, reviewed, bio-auto-bio, religion, bildungsroman, parents-affecting-children, women, identity, hella-sweet-book-club-read, psychology

Incredibly good, and a must-read for everyone. Westover beat incredible odds, and it's fascinating to think about the tools her upbringing did give her to find her own way eventually. ...more

Like · see review

Sep 14, 2019 Meera rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, scribd, bought2019, best-books-lists

This was a good memoir but it did have some flaws. It was choppy at times and she should have done a better job of identifying her siblings better. Only couple were highlighted but we were expected to recognize others by name whenever they showed up even though she doesn't say anything distinctive about them. (view spoiler) ...more

Like · see review