This has to be one of the most-read books of the year, and I liked reading it a lot. It's a page-turner kind of book because it’s a true story. Well, a true story to one person: the one writing it. This history belongs to Tara Westover, who details her life growing up in a family who shunned the government and medical establishment. Without attending public school, she finds herself with a different kind of education and embarks on a life in academia starting with college. What's compelling is the horror of her memories and her dazzling journey into formal education and society.

Westover delicately lays out her memories and constantly advises on what may or may not be true based on the tricks of our minds. She tries to paint as full a picture as possible, and notes where the memories of other witnesses (usually her brothers) varied and therefore, the reader must understand that these things are close to true, and there are facts (someone was burned, he has scars), but they are shrouded by the haziness of remembered details (how immediately were the burns treated, who helped, how exactly it happened). And in doing so, Westover kind of admits she's an unreliable narrator. Just as we are unreliable in our own memories, no matter how clearly we think we remember something from years ago. I found this quite fascinating.

So I read this skeptically, but not in a way that this book felt like lies. It felt like Westover was saying, here's the best that I could do. And hell, she did it. She escaped an abusive family (several times) and wrote a bestseller. Where my skepticism was most loudly ringing was her detailed ascent in formal education. She had so many mentors who helped her academically, mentally, and financially. She was lucky AF, this woman. She doesn't deny it, either. Doesn't mean I can't side eye how easily she climbed these academic milestones. The question of 'how' is easy to answer, especially in light of other narratives about overcoming odds.