Review: Educated by Tara Westover

Wow! I went into this book completely blinded not knowing anything other than it had some great reviews and it made President Barack Obama’s reading list last year! It happens to be some book club picks for a few of my favorites so I decided to join in with them since this book has been calling my name.

Tara Westover has such an amazing story. She grew up as a Mormon in a very sheltered environment. Her only ideas and concepts of the world cake from that of her parents. They were very secluded. They lived on the side of a mountain, didn’t go to school, didn’t visit doctors and hardly knew anyone outside of their family.

Tara’s family was extremely toxic. They called her names, physically abused her (her older brother Shawn did this) and planted crazy ideas into her head. After Tara’s older brother made his way to college, he convinced Tara that she too could attend college and escape this life in the wilderness. How would she attend college not having ever stepped foot in a classroom her entire life. Well, her brother Tyler had found a way and it worked.

This was just the escape Tara needed. Her brother would demean her by calling her a whore, twisting her wrist and shoving her head in a toilet. It even got to the point that he would drag her body over concrete, pin her down and choke her nearly to death because she was a tad defiant. These scenes made me cringe for Tara.

When she enters college, she’s completely lost. She lacks the necessary knowledge, social skills that most kids gain when attending grade school. She quickly had to learn how to adapt and it seems through it all, God has her conquering the impossible.

I really enjoyed reading this and see Tara overcome all the odds. A ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating for me! I finished it in 3 days (this is really good for me and my busy schedule) and was engrossed from beginning to end. Highly recommend.