Tara's story is incredible. Fantastic writer to boot. Couldn't put it down!

This book was AWESOME reading. I was amazed at her tenacity and tolerance throughout. Could NOT put this Book down loved every minute and I thank the Author for being such an excellent storyteller. Great story everyone should buy this Book,it really is educating. Thanks again Miss Westover.

A painfully honest and beautifully constructed memoir. Difficult to put down.

I finished this book days ago but I felt I could not write a review that would do this book justice. I wished to inspire everyone to pick it up and read it, so I waited and thought, tried, failed and waited again. In all honesty I still feel unable to review this book sufficiently well but this is my attempt. I had heard great things about this book before I got my hands on a copy, so I was more than intrigued to read it. This book gives you an insight into her family life, their values, her experiences, the challenges, so different from my upbringing. I might even suggest different from most people's upbringing. However, it is also very inspiring when you look at what she and some of her siblings achieved by really educating themselves and having the determination to leave the environment they were born into and discover the world of education in schools, colleges and universities. I will be lucky enough to meet Tara next month (April 2018) in Waterstones Durham and I hope many others will read the book and have a greater understanding of some peoples home environments and assist people trying to find their way in the world of education. I most certainly recommend to all.

I don't know if I could say that I enjoyed this book - it was too painful to read at times, and I found myself crying out in horror at some of the experiences Tara Westover had, growing up in a fundamentalist religious home in Idaho. The writing is gripping, shocking and terrifying by turn; it seems a miracle that she survives her upbringing and at times I could only keep reading because she must have come through it all - otherwise there wouldn't be a book! She doesn't judge her parents or her siblings but describes them as she understood them, growing up; she takes the reader into the mind of a little girl and you can't help rooting for her, even when any progress seems to lead to another setback. She writes about her family with love, however badly she is treated by individual members at times, and an acceptance of the way things are - until she starts to become 'educated'. She clearly has a fearsome intellect, resilience and the determination that ultimately save her, and I feel humbled by her story and very glad to have read it.