Title: Educated
Author: Tara Westover
Genre: Nonfiction; Memoir
Year Published: February 20, 2018
Date Started: December 1, 2022
Date finished: December 12, 2022
This is a story about author Tara Westover. She takes us through her younger years and into adulthood. We learn about her upbringing, her education, and life as a Mormon in rural Idaho.
I listened to the audio and found the beginning a bit slow but when it picked up it got a little more interesting. The life Tara lead was pretty sad but even though she wasn’t exposed to much, I found it unbelievable that she was able to attend BYU. Most students with little education would normally attend a community college and go from there. If she was able to go directly to a university without a GPA, transcript, test scores, etc., she was very lucky. Most of us had to do all the work, and even then, sometimes we didn’t make it into a university.
As for her family life, I think because of her choices she put herself in danger. If the fear was real between her crazy brother and herself, she’d find a way to stay in Utah and never return. He literally tried to kill her. It wasn’t just threats. I just couldn’t imagine why she kept returning home and kept putting herself around him. I mean, once, twice, maybe, but it was way too often. And, home life wasn’t even great. Aside from a dad who was just so strange and a mother who was submissive, they refused to believe her when she confronted them and made it seem like she was the problem. I think the author tried hard to make us feel sorry for her, but in the end, I just felt confused and that there had to be more to it. Real life is a little more raw and this felt very fiction.
Overall, it’s not a bad read. The writing style feels a bit like a younger person writing it and not so much an adult (and one with an education) revisiting her life.
Who should read this book: If you’re into memoir, you might enjoy this.
From My Corner of the Universe 
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