2.5 stars. Tara Westover is on her own journey and I respect that, but there's some things I find issue with in this book. First, I think the writing in this book is very good, powerful. I listened to the audiobook and it's an intense listen. Things will be going great and fun to horrific QUICK. You'll be driving, like me, listening to this to find yourself at a red light listening to Tara's description of her brother fearfully pulling metal between two giant blades??? Man, I don't even know. Tara and her family have been through some terrible shit.

Now, I'm not the most eloquent so I'll stick to examples in the book that had me scratching my head. She rarely mentions that she grew up Mormon. Religion is vaguely referenced as going to "the church" and reading the Bible but not so much about Mormonism itself. She does mention it (and wrote her PhD dissertation on it) so it's not missing, but I think this was a choice made during the writing or publishing process to help with selling the book. But what do I know?

Also, when Tara discovers that feminism exists (lol) she begins reading Second-wave feminist writers, but finds that too radical for her, so she moves back to First-wave feminist writers and then spends a strangely long time describing how she was seemingly enlightened and saw things completely different after reading John Stuart Mill, I think. It was definitely a man she wrote a lot about and it's very simple "wow all these women have said it already but hearing it from you, a man, suddenly it all makes sense!"

Finally, as you'd expect in the title, she talks a lot about her education, but even that I'm like ummmmm. She learned to read (which already puts her above those who do not learn) from the Bible and speeches from the 1800s. Damn, Tara. That's some complicated English, my dude. That hard for me, anyway. It's no small task that she taught herself basically all the math needed for the ACT, but I can't ignore how her journey is really White. She adores Europe and seems to only read European philosophers (but also what do I know about philosophers and where they come from??)

Whatever this is too long. I say this book was 2.5 stars because the writing was really good and the audiobook is chef's kiss. Great reading, but you at times are left wondering and hoping that Tara will stop being so White. I hope she does, at least.