Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this title.

I am so intrigued by cults and how people become part of them. Some of these cults I had prior knowledge of, but others were brand new to me. The information and the style in which it was shared was easy to follow. While some of the information was horrible, it was important to understand just how bad things can get without reigning in of these charismatic cult leaders.

This was full of useful information on cults. If you’re interested in knowing more, this one is for you.

I recently watched the show How to Become a Cult Leader on Netflix and decided I wanted to learn more about the people behind these insidious groups. Fortunately, this book filled in some gaps from the Netflix show, and it also introduced a few new cult leaders.

What this book does is takes each cult leader and gives them each between 35 minutes and 90 minutes. This is more than sufficient to tell us the broad strokes of each case, and the book goes a bit deeper, too.

This book isn’t going to give you a full understanding of who and what they were—although it does try. If you already know the basic details of these leaders, you’re probably not going to find anything new here. Still, it provides a great resource for those who are new to reading about cults.

I am obsessed with cults in general and this book did not disappoint. It kept my attention and I learned a bit also. Some of the cults I had heard of and researched and some were new to me. It was well written and informative. I will definitely be recommending to many. 4 stars

As a major fan of the Cults podcast created by Max Cutler, I knew I had to read this as soon as I saw that it was available. Although some of the cults featured are more well-known cults that were based in America and not much new information is shared, my favorite aspect of this book was learning more about a few of the cult leaders I had never heard of such as Credenza Mwerinde and Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo. Learning about these cults that were based outside of America and that I had very little familiarity with despite being fairly knowledgable on the topic.

I think Cutler also does a great job of showing the “appeal” of cults and how easily people can be manipulated and love-bombed. It makes it clear how easily people can find themselves in situations they would never think they would be susceptible to.

A well researched and in depth look at many different cults with a focus on the psychological aspects. A dark read, but a good introduction to many different if well known cults. The author stays with a more academic feel for the book than a typical true crime lurid take, but this book is dark nonetheless so be warned.

This was a spectacuarly comprehensive look at some of the most famous cults in history. I listened to it on audio and it made for really great listening material.

Of course, the content is not without warning - it's not an easy listen by any means. But I took a class in college on cults, sects, and new religious movements so I knew exactly what I was signing up for when I picked up this book. It was well-researched, throroughly explained, and got to the root of why so many people fall victim to the infamous charasmatic leaders we so often hear about in passing.

This book is an introduction to "mainstream" cults and less talked about cults. Each chapter covers a cult, so the content doesn't dive too deep into the psychology behind cults (more of the gory details). I liked learning about new cults, but wouldn't recommend this as a comprehensive guide to cults.

I LOVED this book! It’s very interesting and love all the details for the different Cults! Thank you NetGalley for the ebook. I will definitely be purchasing this for myself.

"Cults" hit all of my psychological crime buttons. Although not new to the genre, true crime junkie here, I enjoyed the smattering of new information that this book gave me, as well as going over old favorites. The voice was engaging yet informative, but certainly not dull or textbookish. Overall, I enjoyed it very much.

I requested this title expecting more than I got. It read more like a textbook. I was hoping to have more insight into the believers, joiners, and survivors. Not a bad book at all, as I leaned about cults I was unfamiliar with. I guess I was just expecting more of a narrative.

Thank you for the advanced reader copy!

This is a deep dive on the world's most notorious cults. While I consider myself an interested party when it comes to cults and the psychology of these groups, this is a very long narrative that goes through the mot minute details of these leaders lives. I found this hard to follow at times- would have been better with more concise information.

This book is truly one of a kind! I had seen a lot of hype for it on Instagram from a page I loved so when it came across as an ARC I knew I had to read it. I am a big true crime fan and I learned so much from this book. It really brought to life all the bad things that go on in our world. I hope the author puts out so many more books because I will 100% be reading them!

I’m assuming many of us who requested/read this book were already somewhat interested in reading about Cults or true crime (again, just an assumption and I could be totally wrong) and have read other books about cults. So what makes this one different? I loved having the author’s perspective as well as many “obscure” and not well-known cults being brought up. Of course there are some of the most famous cults, but I liked how the author freshened up the talk about cults and really went into detail about different aspects of it all. Great book!

CULTS by Max Cutler was another deep dive into how cult leaders come to power and how they manage to amass followers. Thank you to @netgalley, the author, and the publisher @gallerybooks for the e-ARC.

Cutler explores many cults I was very familiar with such as the Manson family, Jonestown, Keith Raniere's NXIVM, the Branch Davidians and Rajneesh, but there were also a couple new ones to me such as Adolfo Jesús Costanzo and the Narcosatanists (terrifying cult) and Credonia Mwerinde and the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments.

Cutler starts each chapter title with his opinion on what led to the cult leader's rise to power (shame, exploitation, sadism, escape, denial of reality, etc) which is an interesting way to categorize.

I was horrified by the Narcosatanists and couldn't believe I had never dived into that group before. I am also fascinated by Mwerinde who is the only known cult leader to disappear and never be seen again after committing terrible atrocities. I will be reading more about both of those groups in the future!

For those two groups alone I will recommend this book. If you have never really looked into cults you will certainly learn a lot!

What cult scares you the most?!?

#bibliophile #booknerd #cults #bookreview #bookrecommendations #bookdragon #bookworm #constantreader

I am never not intrigued by books such as this. There are so many intricate details that we never hear about until we do a deep-dive into the subject. When I hear the word "cults" I think Manson and can't really understand how anyone could get trapped in that and not know it. But then I read stories such as these.

Thank you to NetGalley for gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

After reading & learning so much from Amanda Montell’s book, Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, I was interested in finding a broader overview of cults in general. This book definitely fit the bill.

It is a really well written piece of non fiction. I had already heard about most of the cults & cult leaders discussed in the book, but I didn’t know all of the details. As a casual reader of true crime, some of it was admittedly a little too intense for me. I am a bit sensitive & my heart just breaks for the people and their families who live in the wake of the devastation caused by these cults.

This was a truly interesting & thought provoking read, and one I won’t soon forget (for better or worse). 4/5 stars

I have to admit that my relationship with true crime is… complicated. I’m definitely fascinated by it, but the longer I consume media about it, the more it becomes obvious to me that in many cases, we as society focus more on the perpetrators rather than the victims, plus, the more gory details, the better. And unfortunately, that’s exactly where my issue with Cults lies. Overall, it reads a bit like a collection of entries about cults, from the well known ones like Manson’s Family, to the more obscure ones like The Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God. It’s pretty dense and focuses more on describing the events that happened from the point of view of the leaders, rather than telling the victims’ stories. I was also surprised to see that despite having no medical background (that I could find), the authors try their hand at psychoanalyzing the cult leaders which ends up feeling a bit amateur. I would’ve enjoyed it much more if they worked with behaviorists and people who study psychology for a living to collaborate on this book, because the lack of that insight makes the book feel like a binder of encyclopedia notes on different cults.

It was fine. I feel like the author is trying a little too hard to hit all 7 of the characteristics of a cult leader instead of actually going into some deep dives of the various cults that he features. Would have cut about half the examples and really go in detail instead.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review, opinions are my own.

I have seen this book everywhere and I found it extremely well-written and entertaining. I will definitely be recommending this book to others.