Book Review: Educated

I recently finished reading Educated by Tara Westover. It was, without exaggeration, one of the best books I have ever read.

This is a non-fiction memoir about Tara’s life growing up in her survivalist father’s deeply religious household with her siblings. It is gripping and terrifying and I cried more than once. Tara’s discovery of the world outside her father’s home and slow metamorphosis into the woman she would become was all at once inspiring and exhilarating. I have never read a memoir that gripped me in this way- I literally could not wait to come back to it every time I had to put it down.

Tara’s style of writing is gorgeous, with small details used to paint larger pictures. The way she would slowly reveal her life through her memories was poetic; she never beats you over the head with a point. Instead, as the reader I felt like I was discovering things and coming to realizations with her.

She is unflinching in her recollections of her past, yet deeply loving and sympathetic to those in the story. Her love of her family shines through despite (because of?) the reality of the horrors she often faced.

The world is often cruel and unkind. This is a story of one woman’s journey to a world outside of what she knew. Tara Westover is a brave, driven, and intelligent heroine that I will not soon forget.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone.