Educated

Author: Tara Westover

Genre: Memoir

Elevator Pitch

Raised by extremist, survivalist Mormons in rural Idaho, Tara Westover recounts her journey from the school-less backwoods, to her magna cum laude degree from BYU, and finally as the recipient of a doctorate from Cambridge.

What I Thought

To say that processing this book is draining, both mentally and emotionally, is an understatement. I can, in my own way, identify with Westover. Upon entering the "real world", I found a major difference between my ultra-conservative Mormon upbringing, and my own desires as a person and as a woman. However jarring my experiences were, they don't hold a candle to Westover's.

This book BLEW MY MIND. Westover jumps from one shocking experience to the next. Unfortunately, the more success and scholarly recognition she receives, the more distant her family becomes. With no formal education until college, Tara Westover self-taught herself enough information to score well on the ACT. She entered the modern world and forever combatted an anti-education, anti-doctor, anti-government, radical family. I could feel her pain through the pages.