Educated: A Memoir

Excellent book. I was glued. Extremely enlightening to religious cultism.

This book was astonishing. It is amazing everything that Tara went through with her family and the repercussions that her upbringing had on her. I found myself stunned at some of the situations described. It is hard to believe that people live in the fashion described.

Tara has a gift for writing and I hope to read more of her writings in the future.

This is a well written book and it tells it story well. Tara Westover level of denial about her issues and her family were almost aggravating, I guess that is a testament to her writing. In the end I have great admiration for Tara and here ability to make it out of what was clearly a horribly dysfunctional family, but also feel profoundly sad for what she lost along the way.

A compelling, tragic, hopeful, thoughtful, inspiring autobiography that kept me riveted all the way through. Thoughtful reflections and insights into abuse, denial, faith, religion, family, and responsibility. Along with everything else, it reminded me of the joys of education (which you may have surmised from the title).

This book just kind of draws you in before you realize it's got you. Her writing style makes you hear that little girl in the memories. The fact that she can attest that memories can drift and distort the truth makes you believe her memories are based on truth. While the point of finding the money, etc to get the education she did can be questioned, you can't discount the work she put into it, mostly on her own, and that she did successful complete her quest for education and along the way found her peace. She wasn't the only one to find her way out of there, but she was the only one who would, or could expose the secrets that are kept.

I don’t think I could recommend this book enough. It was amazing. I’ve spent the last few days telling everyone I know about it. Tara Westover lived one crazy life. A lot of it left me completely speechless. She is so thorough in her descriptions that I easily got lost in her world. Amazing book.

It's beautifully written, but the controversy over A Million Little Pieces kept running through my head and I wonder how much of this is real.

Everyone is talking about this book and I'm tired of saying no when my customers ask if I have read it so I dove in. It was very hard to read in places but inspirational at the same time. A few times when Tara is talking about her family relationships I found some of it hard to believe - she would complete one chapter about how abusive her brother was to her and in the next chapter she would call him for a favour like it was no big deal... And her relationship with her father was filled with inconsistencies as well.

I do recommend it but it wouldn't have been one of my top reads of 2018.

This book is a fantastic read, as everyone says, and is also supremely unsettling. Maybe because of my personal perspectives and reader empathy, this book was especially intense. It's written at an interesting distance that I don't see often in life writing: the reader isn't as close to Tara as they could be. There's a removed tone to the way the story is told, which is explained by and compliments her story perfectly. It's filled with violence and unstable mental states and maybe it's a subject most people don't want to get close to anyway.
I definitely recommend this book, but if you've already experienced a life of emotional manipulation, brace yourself.

If I could use just one word to describe this memoir, it would be "mind-blowing". I was immediately hooked into Tara's life. I felt every emotion throughout it. It is equal parts horrifying and miraculous. My words could never do it justice.

Wow. What an eye opening and attention grabbing story. Filled with some much detail and emotion, it was captivating. This was a popular book once upon a time (couple years ago I think) so I was suspicious about the hype. Well, it was worth the hype.

Tara Westover's life story is very wild. Her parents probably have a form of mental illness. It is unfortunate it affected her family. Shawn is such a scary character and I am uncomfortable he is still out there in society. I am glad she found her voice.

I listened to this book prior to a conference where I would hear the author speak. Working in higher education, I found this book fascinating and purchased the paperback version later read through the book in physical format.

Memoir is such a slippery genre--I think readers get hung up sometimes on whether the book is "real" or "true" or "accurate" rather than approaching it as a collection of personal memories, which in and of themselves are notoriously subjective. We'll never really know how much of Tara Westover's memoir, "Educated" is "true" or "real" but she writes so compellingly about her life that this book is hard to put down. We learn about a Mormon family determined to resist the evils of the federal government, public schools, and the medical establishment. We also learn about Tara's determination to explore the world outside of her parents' sheltered world and her first forays into a confusing world in which hospitals and doctors aren't really the bad guides and public schools have something to teach besides socialist doctrine. Tara's childhood involves a lot of accidents (farm kids do suffer a lot of accidents) and a lot of shame as she tries to navigate relationships with people who don't share her parents' beliefs. There's also the escalating abuse from Tara's brother Shawn as she excels to whatever she turns her mind to, including going to college. Shawn's abuse and the gaslighting probably rings true for anyone who's ever experienced domestic or interfamily violence (has anyone confirmed that his wife is okay?). We, as readers, of course, have a lot of unanswered questions--about Tara's finances (where does her money come from?), her aptitude for school (did she really fly through the ACT and teach herself trig?), and perhaps most of all, her collapsing relationship with her family and her ultimate choice. It's a compelling and brutal read and so worth it--but don't get hung up on all of the details.

Amazing. Heartbreaking. Inspiring.

Damn... If even half of what is described in this book is true, then the author has survived a childhood / adolescence that we would find hard to believe in a movie plotline. Westover's writing is engaging and immersive... It's hard to put down. I wish her only more success and learning and happiness in her future.

This book was really hard to rate. The brutality and Tara's commitment to her family were really difficult to read. But the ultimate redemption feels like a triumph. So much to discuss on this book.

What a book! Incredible autobiography by Tara Westover that captivates you from the very beginning and makes you reflect constantly, leaving you indifferent.
Tara tells us about her life through her own experiences and feelings. A family that traps her under the authority of a father who follows radical Mormonism and despises the advancements of the world. Tara escapes from this through education, and finally, her person can develop even though for that she feels the tearing of her family.

"You can call it transformation. Metamorphosis. Falsity. Betrayal. I call it an education."

An excellent story about overcoming despite the circumstances of life, despite the family environments each person has to live in.
One of the best things I have read. Highly recommended. (Translated from Spanish)

Well written, heartfelt and astounding!

I had to read this in parts, normally I am a plow through and digest on the other side but Educated needed to be processed in sections. I am glad Ms. Westover wrote this though, the value of an education needs to be celebrated. To hear how she transformed overtime made me super proud.

I found this memoir to be a little slow-moving at times. Nevertheless, I was completely intrigued by Tara Westover's story of her childhood and young adult years, and how she managed to survive and flourish despite a very odd upbringing. Sometimes, you hear about extreme survivalists, getting ready for the "end times." But I never thought I'd get such a clear inside-view of what the preparation and day-to-day lives of those people would be like.
Knowing, from the very onset of the book, that Westover grew up in a very strict Mormon family, I assumed it was going to be a story of polygamy and of being betrothed at an early age to some crusty old man who already had three other wives. (I've read a few of those, and they're always sad and disturbing.) But this was nothing like that at all. This was a story of people living almost more the way I always picture Amish people living--not many of the "comforts" of the modern world as we know them... not utilizing the advantages of modern medicine, etc.
Despite several experiences in Westover's life where she very easily could have been horribly maimed or killed, due to stupid accidents and the aforementioned resistance to modern medicine. Somehow, though, Tara survived and went on to not only escape this lifestyle--she went on to become very successful and well-respected in an area that her family was dead-set against: public education.
This was well written and kept my attention throughout the entire story...

This is a well-written memoir and coming of age story. The author grew up in a devout & delusional Mormon household with an irresponsible father. Despite having unsophisticated parents and no schooling in her childhood, she manages to attend university and achieve great academic success. It was very interesting to learn of such an extreme family with their shared delusions, and how their flawed belief system had no room for independent thought and ultimately ripped her family apart.

Omg this book was so good and there are scenes that will haunt me for a long time. What a life you’ve had so far Tara Westover.

Can't recommend this highly enough! Tara Westover's whole life is fascinating and this books really shows how important education is to open our eyes, make us questions things and ultimately stand up for ourselves.

I was not as impressed by this book as many others seem to have been. It was eye-opening to read about the extreme conceptions and beliefs of a Mormon family and how it leads them to live a very isolated life. I felt the psychological effects and growth out of such background was realistically described. Sometimes I had to pause reading the book because of the detailed descriptions of abuse and accidents and although they are non-separable part of the story, I think with less violence I would remember something else from this book. Now I believe it will be the top-most and perhaps the only thing that will stick to my memory.

This was pretty good for the most part, but I have some gripes. The repetitive detailed accounts of her horrible life is gripping at first, but is so repetitive that it starts to lose some of it emotional affect (as callous as that feels to say). The writing is a little too over the top at times as well. How many times can someone write "and after that moment, everything changed for me" in a book, while blatantly ignoring that, showing that nothing actually changed, and writing about how she goes back to her family for more abuse? Maybe this contradictory writing is a clever example to show Stockholm Syndrome? It was more frustrating than anything, and it got kind of annoying after a bit.

All that being said, it's a good book, interesting and inspiring, and I'd recommend it.

An amazing story of determination, despite abuse and an overly strict Mormon upbringing. Tara learned to read with some help from an older brother. Eventually she earned A B.A. from BYU and a master's and PhD from Cambridge in England. At the time of writing this book, she had not spoken with her parents in many years.

Unpopular opinion:

I was barely able to finish this book. It makes me wonder if someone knew Tara’s story and sought her out to write this. She had a hard life growing up with a father who may have been bipolar. Able to get into BYU on a scholarship with a 28 ACT score...even though she was homeschooled. She then went on to Cambridge and Harvard all the while learning to teach herself.

Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from the mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and none to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind f life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University.

One of the best autobiographies (perhaps the best) I have ever read in my life ... It saddened me to know that the book was coming to an end ... Tara has the ability, with simple yet wonderfully engaging prose, to draw you into the story so that you can share her landscapes, her family, her misfortunes, and her triumphs. A true pleasure ... (Translated from Spanish)