Admittedly, I was expecting this book to be similar to her previous book No Visible Bruises. I felt as though the title and synopsis frames this as post an expose and a memoir, but it fell more into the memoir category for me….which makes sense because it it! This a wonderfully written memoir and it’s an important story to be shared.

This is a moving memoir that kept me reading even when my emotions had me wanting to put the book down for a breather.

This book touches on so many hard topics. From violence in her childhood, to how extreme religion led to abandonment, to dealing with the death of someone that has been hard to love, you feel as if you’re right there, experiencing all these moments with the author. And they hurt. They hurt so badly. But there are good moments too.

I really hope writing this book was a sort of catharsis for the author. That she’s able to look back on the moments of her life when she had people in her corner. Because that’s one bit that stood out a lot to me. The people who made a difference in her life, whether they were part of her story for a long time or a short time.

Definitely check your trigger warnings on this one. The author talks about death of a parent, emotional and physical abuse, drug use, and more. But it’s definitely a book I would suggest reading for anyone who loves memoirs.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

Absolutely brilliant read. Sobering and eye opening, I felt a part of the authors journey through deep personal trauma. A heartbreaking yet necessary journey.

This was not what I thought it’d be based on the title — but what an emotional story this was. In her memoir, Snyder discusses the impact of losing her mother at a young age, then of being forced into an evangelical, cult-like lifestyle shortly after. Such a tragic story, but I was glad to see that she came out of it stronger. My only critique is that it felt a bit long for a memoir (imo). Still, I’d definitely recommend the read. This one has heavy topics so if you need to, please check the trigger warnings! *thank you Netgalley and Bloomsbury publishing for the ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance listening copy of this memoir.

I heard of this memoir from the review in the New York Times. It sounded fascinating and it was.

The author lost her mother at a young age. Her father remarried a religious wman whose beliefs made the house difficult for the author and her brother. She was forced to leave home at age 16, but there was a per Servance inside of her which saw her college and a successful career as a journalist who reported on violence against women.

This memoir was a rich listen which allowed me to step inside the author's shoes. I thought about the difficulties that can arise between fathers and daughters if the father remarries someone who is notfond of his children. I was glad that the author succeeded as much as she had, but the pain was there.

I am geberally a fan of memoirs which are read by the author, and this one was quite good.

Admittedly, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into when I started listening to this audiobook. While the synopsis sounded interesting, I wasn’t familiar with the author’s prior work. It took a little bit to get into, within time I was deeply interested in Snyder’s story and more importantly, her success.

This is the tale of someone who suffered great loss at a young age, was uprooted from her home and thrust into a new setting and religion, with little support to help her acclimate. Snyder’s resilience and heartiness is something to marvel at, and a wonderful example to learn from. The last 15-20% of the book was especially warming: Snyder creates a family of her own, and unconditional support system, and finds a place of peace with her father and stepmother, two figures of her upbringing that struggled to offer the care Snyder deserved at the time.

Thanks to HighBridge Audio and Bloomsbury Publishing for the ALC!

"Science explains it. Memory makes it a miracle."

Thank you to the author @rlswrites, @netgalley and the publisher @highbridgeaudio for the audio-ARC of WOMEN WE BURIED, WOMEN WE BURNED.

🔥🔥🔥

Rachel's mother was sick most of her life, when she died, Rachel's father told her nothing, not even what she died of. Soon a new stepmom swept into their lives and all of a sudden it is as though her mother never existed, along with her Jewish heritage and traditions which Rachel had enjoyed participating in while she was young. Now her home was filled with evangelical propaganda and much stricter rules and punishments. This is the first instance in Rachel's life where she felt the erasure or the burning down to ash of women in her life, but it would not be the last.

This was a beautiful, difficult, moving memoir about family legacy and the erasure of heritage; of finding yourself and where you belong; of unearthing forgotten women brushed under the rug and their memories buried forever, often by those who claimed to love them.

I was enthralled by these stories of women and how easy it is to disappear the very essence of memory of a person. The sorrow and triumph mixed in this book are a whirlpool of intertwining tangled emotions. Highly recommended if you like memoirs, if you are willing to listen to some hard truths about family and humanity and if you are interested in the way we treat each other's memory.

Speaking of burning, we are starting to get into the full wildfire season out here in PNW unfortunately. Today seems okay so far but every time I get a whiff of any kind of grilling, etc my internal alarms go off until I can verify it isn't wildfire smoke.🫣 I am still so sad about the wildfire that ripped through Maui and my heart goes out to all those affected! Hope you are all staying safe out there!

💚SMASHBOT💚

#bibliophile #booknerd #booksta #bookstagram #bookdragon #bookworm #memoirs #netgalleyreviewer #netgalley #womenweburiedwomenweburned #rachellouisesnyder #highbridgeaudio

This was an incredibly odd but interesting book. It started off slow and was hard for me to stay interested in. There was something about the way the book was written -- its style -- it through me off and made it difficult for me to fall into it like I normally do.

I really liked the premise behind it, though, so I stuck with it, and I'm mostly glad that I did.

In essence, it's about the author's life and childhood. She was born into a seriously extreme evangelical family. And she had to make her way in the world on nothing but her own talents and merits. It was..... Interesting.

It showcases the life a person forced into extreme religiosity will often choose to get away from that path - a life of drugs, excess, and all those things that aren't quite "good for you."

I found the title very misleading, though. I thought the subject matter was going to be much broader - perhaps an examination of the many women throughout history who were "shelved away" in one way or another. Instead, this was an entirely personal anecdote that doesn't really connect to the world at large.

Still, I enjoyed reading it and found it to ultimately be worth the time I spent on it.

The audiobook is read by the author and is truly outstanding. I knew nothing about RLS and sometimes those are my favorite memoirs. Her story is heartbreaking and inspiring. I loved listening! This book is perfect for fans of Educated.

Dear Women We Buried,
I blew through you in one day. You kept me so interested in Rachel's life. As always, it is difficult to write about the story since you are a memoir without feeling like I am judging Rachel and her journey, but I was endlessly fascinated by everything she went through. I loved that through her life journey so far, her common thread has been writing. You are a powerful story of one woman's struggle with loss and leaving and the strength she found through it all.

Really enjoyed this memoir--particularly for Snyder's deft ability to show that multiple realities or versions of the truth exist in each memory and experience. She shows that Familial relationships are complex and how frustrating and dismaying it can be for one's perspective or understanding of an event can change over time. Would definitely recommend!

Content warning ⚠️: child abuse, domestic violence, rape, drug abuse, alcohol abuse

Snyder, an advocate reporting on social issues impacting the lives of women worldwide, shared her own story in this memoir. After her mother’s death, Rachel was forced to move across the country with her father and abandon her mother’s Jewish heritage as her father demanded participation in his family’s stringent evangelical church. Snyder details the struggles and abuse she endured as a child, her rebellion and history of substance misuse, and how she eventually came to enjoy education and used it as a path out of her life. She eventually travelled the globe, first on a semester at sea and later as a journalist, and then settled in Cambodia. When she later returned to the United States to care for a sick family member, it is with a much different perspective than the one she left with.

Thank you to @netgalley for the ARC! I listened to this on audiobook and the performance was great and was read by the author. There was a lot of discussion about substance abuse, which was a big part of Snyder’s story, but I was a little surprised that so much of the book discussed this as it wasn’t mentioned at all in the description. I would have loved to hear more about Snyder’s experiences abroad, and I’m hoping those are touched in more in her nonfiction work about domestic violence called No Visible Bruises, which I added to my TBR about this. As a journalist Snyder has spent hours researching and writing about domestic violence, and her memoir definitely adds a lot of context to her life’s work. Readers who enjoyed Educated would probably enjoy this, although I did find it a lot heavier than Educated at times, so sensitive readers may want to pay mind to content warnings.

4 stars

A very touching memoir about Rachel who grew up in a fundamentalist Christian family torn by abuse & violence, became an international journalist investigating war crimes, & eventually found some amount of healing & family reconciliation while caring for her dying parent.

[What I liked:]

•The writer had a difficult childhood of religious abuse, child abuse, & trauma from losing her mother at a young age. I appreciate the complexity with which she writes about the people who both loved her & abused her in sometimes inexplicable ways. It’s hard to grapple with complicated family relationships like that, and also relatable.

•She has had an interesting career, from starting out as a band promoter to transitioning into international journalism. I loved reading about the semester abroad she spent on a ship.

•It was nice that some aspects of her story came full circle & she got to have some resolution with her father & stepmother. The parts when she was caring for her dying stepmother were very touching to read.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•This is not a criticism of the text, but just be forewarned that there are a lot of heavy topics covered including many forms of abuse.

CW: terminal illness, spiritual abuse, racism, antisemitism, child abuse, sexism, domestic violence, substance abuse, infidelity, sexual assault/abuse, discussion of the Cambodian genocide/war crimes

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

This was a very compelling and interesting story. Hearing about her experience as a women makes me more empathetic and understanding that, regardless of culture, we all go through similar things. Stories like this help us understand each other.

Women We Buried, Women We Burned was a fascinating memoir by journalist and writer Rachel Louis Snyder, in which she describes the challenges she faced in her youth and her life traveling all over the world.
When she was only 8 years old, Rachel's mother passed away of cancer and her life took a radical turn when her father uprooted his family, joined an evangelical group, and enrolled her in a religious school. Rachel rebelled against the radical teachings and customs of her father's new faith, and was only met with cruel physical violence as punishment. When her father expelled her from their home at age 16, she had to fend for herself and rebuild her life from scratch. Her path would eventually lead her to go back to school, study abroad, and eventually becoming a traveling reporter and writer.

This memoir was a fascinating foray into Rachel's tumultuous life. I found myself audibly gasping and expressing my frustration at various family members and people in Rachel's life. However, I was at times frustrated by the lack of details in some episodes of her life. I was interested in the deep impact that her father's newfound faith had on him, on Rachel, and on their family, and wished she had delved more into it. The author often jumps from story to story, and the overall narrative often lacks in continuity. The end of the book was also frustrated, as she leaves the reader wondering about her current relationship with her father.

This was a very interesting read, perfect for fans of Tara Westover's Educated, however (and I don't say this often), I wish it had been longer!

Many thanks to Net Galley and HighBridge Audio for an audio copy of Women We Buried, Women We Burned for an honest review.

This is a raw, sometimes brutally honest memoir. I almost hate to say that it kept me entertained because, in retrospect, the author lived it.

A really good book. Non-fiction. It takes a lot for me personally to connect to. but i really liked that these stories are getting a chance in the spotlight

This book is definitely well written but I found it jumped around a lot and I struggled to keep up some of the time. Overall it wasn’t what I expected, though I did enjoy it. I wish it was more evenly split between the author’s childhood/teenage years and her later career, or even focused on just one or the other, as it felt a bit disjointed.

I am not usually a fan of memoirs but I really enjoyed this book. The author was very engaging and kept you interested throughout the entire story. I was drawn to the framing of her life story around the deaths of both her mothers. My only critique is a lot of time was spent discussing a few years and then the story took massive leaps in time toward the end. I had some trouble remembering the age the author was a certain instances.