I don't usually make a habit of reading memoirs, but this might have changed that fact. This truly made me reconsider my education and the ways in which I take it for granted. Just wonderful.

Wow. Memoirs are usually a hit or miss for me depending on the author’s writing, but Educated by Tara Westover ranks in my top 3 favorite memoirs (which includes Becoming by Michelle Obama!)

Her storytelling is so raw and intense that I had to remind myself at times that this was a memoir, not a piece of fiction. I can definitely see how she got to be as educated as she is; her writing flows in a way that I can’t describe but that you feel like you are in her head at that moment. So much respect to her.

A 5 out of 5 stars. Perioddd. Now time for me to go look for YouTube videos of her and see what her life is like now lol.

Educated was such a good read -- I actually listened to the audiobook and really liked hearing the author narrate. I think a lot about this book every once in a while. A good read for everyone, especially women.

The story is so vivid and engrossing. I haven’t been able to fully absorb myself in a book for a while, but this one truly captured all my attention. Tara recounts snippets of her life from the beginning of when she can remember; it’s a life with endless adventure, amazement, as well as pain. I’d imagine myself with her– as she drove away from Buck Peak, sat alone in a classroom at BYU, or climbed the clock tower in Cambridge, and later trudged her luggage into the Harvard yard — on my rides to and from school.

Tara Westover manages to capture all of your attention in writing her memoir. The loneliness when she becomes the black sheep of her family to when she gets ostracized during her years at BYU probes at your heart from different angles. There is also this dissonance as she struggles to figure out her identity and what she should believe in. You see Tara grow and mature in her journey of life, and her narration remains so strong throughout.

What was most shocking while reading the book was learning the dynamic of her family. Her father’s survivalist mentality and Mormon beliefs have resulted in them living in the mountains away from civilization. His paranoia with the government and the Illuminati truly impacts the development of his children who are brainwashed by his extremist ideas. Along with that is her older brother Shawn whose violent tendencies turn on Tara. Tara fights with what’s right and wrong, what it means to be a family, and the struggle between love and hurt. There were parts that were so difficult to read; it must have been more difficult to write. The theme of love and forgiveness plays out in the latter half of the book, and I truly admired the capacity of her heart.

Her entire journey is so shocking that I often forget that it is an autobiography. She spends many paragraphs reflecting on how each event has changed her and how her family’s dynamic has affected her in irreparable ways. In many ways, it’s her love letter to her family and Buck Peak, as well as her final closure of saying goodbye to everything she once had — it’s her catharsis. It’s emotional, raw, and truly tugs at your heartstrings.

Educated by Tara Westover is a memoir, story of Tara Westover herself who was not allowed to get her education. She was 17 when she first entired a classroom. It's about how she did her PhD and entered Harvard and Cambridge as well as the hardships she had to face.

The book is sad, yet beautiful in its own way. After reading this book, my thoughts on what I have learned till date, my education have completed changed. I am so blessed to have everything I have achieved and got and should never complain in future for anything.

This one's a must read for all, and a very powerful story. Her story flew like a movie! I'm shook by what the author had to go through and also her bravery and courage for what she has achieved today. Her father's thoughts, going against the family and changing the belief system.

It's a powerful book and I highly recommend everyone to read this once in their lifetime. It will change your thinking. And thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this free e-copy in exchange of an honest opinion.

I had to take a few weeks to process this book, its so so sooo good! Excellent writing and an incredible story! The words just float from the page, I thought it would be over-hyped but it´s really not.

Taras story is so unbelievable I cannot wrap my head around how she came to be so reflected after all that she has been through. I´m not really the type of person to re-tell the plot in my reviews and I am not going to start doing it now. Just read the blurb, or better yet do what I do and just give it a shot without knowing anything about the book itself, it works like a charm, let´s just pretend I don´t buy 100s of incredibly bad kindle books, okay?

Let´s get back to the book tho, not only is this a true story, and I can´t really stop pointing this out, it´s so expertly written. This is the type of book that can be read by anyone, do not worry you will hopefully not relate to all of her history. But this is still important, this book isn´t written by someone in the 1800s, its current. It is essential to know that not everyone has led a normal childhood/family life, this book helps you gain perspective on everything. Reading this makes you appreciate how normal your life has been, as well as realize how much trauma can/has shaped you to be the person you are today. It made me even more reflective of my own upbringing and even though it was hard it made me the person I am today, and I love that person.

Absolutely loved this memoir! The main character overcame her horrible home life and was a very successful in her lifetime. I am glad I decided to read this book and didn't want to put it down! Highly recommend this to everyone.

This was such a captivating read. Westover's stories will stay with me a long time. I recommend this to everyone.

I don't really know what I could say about this book that hasn't already been said. It was incredibly hard to read at times, but also really touching and powerful. On top of that, the writing itself is beautiful, while reading you can feel that thought was put into picking out every single word. Because of the writing style and the story itself of course, at times it was hard to believe it was a memoir, but I guess it's true that sometimes life can be stranger than fiction.

The book takes a deep dive into family abuse, gaslighting and manipulation, but still manages to portray the family members as complicated, multi-layered individuals instead of evil caricatures. The author's ability to reflect and carefully craft words is a really strong asset that adds to the quality of her writing. I also really liked her insights on how education has helped her expand her worldview and reinvent herself.

So if by any chance you haven't read this book yet, I'm here to add my 2 cents and say that it's truly worth the hype. The book is extremely impactful and the writing is profound.

Fantastic memoir. Highly recommended. One of the best memoirs I have read in a long time and one I will share with my friends and family.

Tara Westover has done a stunning job of painting an evocative picture of growing up in rural Idaho with fundamentalist Mormon parents who believed doomsday was imminent. She was raised with no formal schooling and spent her childhood and adolescence working in her father's junkyard with her siblings, but possessing a tremendous thirst for knowledge and incredible instincts she is able to self-study for the ACT and teach herself enough to be admitted to BYU, where she arrives with no preparation for the real world. Her earning her doctorate from Cambridge proves that she is nothing short of a miraculous individual.

But where Educated truly excels is in its capacity to humanize it's inhabitants. Nobody feels like a caricature, it's clear that even though Tara has complicated feelings about her parents, they are curious and intelligent individuals. Reading Tara's account of unlearning her father's radical beliefs is eye-opening and challenges everything we think we know about our own perceptions of the world. Learning about the Holocaust as a nearly full grown adult is truly mind boggling.

This is so much more than a memoir. It's a harrowing journey to discovering who you are and where you fit in the world.

I appreciate her journey. It seems like she went through a lot. However, some parts were a bit unbelievable. It’s a great story, but as she states herself, some of her family members don’t recall things the same way. I do, understand, her tumultuous childhood, as I had one as well. It’s often hard when your family doesn’t want to remember it the same way, either by denial or blocking out painful memories. So it is hard to say if everything happened as she remembered it. The part I found especially hard to wrap my head around is her education. If she could basically jump right to college without going through any other schooling, where is the justification that everyone else has to? I found it quite frustrating that, though she went through a lot, she was given so many opportunities. There are many of us who weren’t allowed to pursue education that aren’t given the chances she was. Many have had to suffer similar, if not worse, upbringings and don’t get these things.

Fascinating book - it’s amazing the way Tara persevered through the neglect and abuse during her childhood.

A bit slow to get into this book, but it was really interesting! Once I got moving this book was difficult to put down. This was a powerful read! I have already recommended this book to several friends.

For someone who doesn't typically read non fiction books this was a fascinating look into what it would have been like to grow up within a cult and how those experiences can shape your life and your world views. At times it was difficult to read but at the same time impossible to put down. I can not recommend this book highly enough.

I had been putting off reading this book for a while because I'd heard there was some disturbing violence in it. I'm glad I finally picked it up.
This book was a page turner! I read it in one sitting, not because I wanted to know what happened, but because I couldn't believe what I was reading. This is a memoir about a girl who experienced trauma and neglect growing up in a family affected by mental illness, and how it shaped who she is. It is the perfect example of how people who are isolated can become brainwashed. It is also an incredible story of overcoming odds.
Tara Westover is great at writing a suspenseful story. Some people say that not everything in the book is accurate. I don't really care. Every time I turned the page, I read another scene that made me shout, "What?!" I literally could not put this one down.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance reader's copy of this book.

Eye opening read of one woman's struggle to reconcile her upbringing in a strict Mormon household with the realities of the world.

I read The Glass House before reading this, very similar in story lines but this is a true retelling of the authors life. Her family's way of life put Tara against the grain of what a standard education means. Her and her siblings lived through trial after trial, while some of them tried to make the most of it, others succumbed to their parents beliefs. Interesting read on how nature and nurture can be the base of your path in life, but you can always find a way to change your road.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but getting through this book was tough. Tara Westover's book details her childhood growing up as a part of a survivalist family who shirked any government or medical assistance. This book was violent, and there were a few times where I had to put it down due to her vivid descriptions. Reading about her journey to mentally overcome her childhood was at times frustrating, but it was very easy to understand and empathize why she reacted in the way she did. Tara made her world, one that seems so unimaginable to many, within reach. This book will stick with you and make you think. Absolutely would recommend.

4.5 stars...rounded up!

"The decisions I made after that moment were not the ones she would have made. They were the choices of a changed person, a new self. You could call this selfhood many things. Transformation. Metamorphosis. Falsity. Betrayal. I call it an education."

Tara was never sent to school as a young child, in fact she went to school for the first time when she was 17. She grew up in Idaho and her parents were survivalists. Her Dad was convinced the government was out for them and her mom didn't believe in doctors or western medicine. Tara and her siblings lacked traditional education and learned to work in the (dangerous) family business. They relied heavily on their Mormon faith and left most of their fate up to God. Tara and her siblings experience abuse, dangerous working conditions, near death experiences and so much more. Until one day Tara wants to follow in the footsteps of her brother, Tyler, and go get an Education. From there, Tara learns about a whole different world she knew nothing about.

I think it's hard to rate a memoir since it's someone's life story. How can you really rate them on it? You can't but what I did rate this on was the way Tara Westover wrote her story while holding absolutely nothing back. She gave us the good, bad and the (real) ugly. I cringed at times and I wanted to scream "WHY" at other times. I wanted to hug Tara and her siblings (except Shawn) and tell them there's something better. The journey and evolution of Tara and her life was truly incredible and I'm so happy she found her way. But no doubt that it was a very tough and dangerous road to get there.

I hope everyone reads this book and see's it for what it is. It's a story of someone so sheltered and taught to think one way that it almost seems impossible to break out of the bubble. I think it's important to realize that even though it may not be a straight line to a new outlook that it can happen and it can be rewarding.