5 stars: There were many times when I put down this book– in fear for Tara (though I knew she was ok in the end), sadness for Tara and her family, and just anger towards Tara’s parents (which I know if NOT why she wrote this book).

There will be judgement passed by many about Tara’s parents, upbringing, siblings, etc. But I feel those are unfounded. Could she have had a better childhood– yes. Should her mother NOT looked the other way– of course. Could her father help himself– no. Not at all. Her father was mentally unstable and received no help for his condition– his own fault. But this is still her family. And no matter what happened, it was clear that her parents loved her. You may not see that at first or go through phases where it seems impossible, but they did. Would it be the way I loved my (pseudo)children? No. But did they think what they were doing was right? Yes.

Most kids would stay, whether out of fear of the unknown or fear of what their family may do to them. And we see that fear in Tara. And it is raw and hard to read at times. She dealt with such guilt for so long. Almost ten years of guilt for leaving and becoming who she should be is hard to live with. Even now, I am sure there are moments of guilt for her. Should she feel guilty? Of course not. Tara was not meant to put roofs on barns, while almost dying at work due to poor machinery. Tara became who she wanted to be. But it was not easy, just as this book was not easy to read. I read it in two days, but many times did I have to put it down. Yet, I was pulled back in. We know how Tara ends up before reading– or at least what she is doing now. But that journey we read about, that’s the story.

This is not your celebrity, look at me I had to take small roles before my big break, memoir. This is true emotion. True pain. And a life most of us could never imagine. I cannot put into words how truly well done this book was. More important is I cannot even imagine how hard this memoir may have been for Westover to write.

BOOKS AND READING