Book Review: Educated

What a book! I would say I feel this book on a spiritual level, but one of the first things the author said in the book is that this book is not about Mormonism or religion - except a big part of it really is.

Religion played a huge role in the author's life and how she was brought up.

She grew up with survivalists, and part of the book reminded me of My Absolute Darling, but this was not fiction.  Tara Westover really lived this life. (Disclaimer: My Absolute Darling is really weird. I only finished it because I have an issue with starting things and not completing them.)

The whole time I was rooting for her to get out and be safe. I know she did because I read about the author on the cover, but I kept anticipating the moment I knew she was free.

For anyone that grew up in a place or family where you felt like you did not belong or were different, you can relate to this memoir.

While Tara lived a life that most of cannot imagine - not having a birth certificate, going to the doctor, stepping foot in a school (until university), she does describe the angst of being a first generation college student very well.

I find it almost miraculous that someone that was not formally educated and hardly educated at all found her way to college. It is amazing.

Education, like for many of us, was her way out.

Being educated gave her the a different way to view her former life.

Sometimes with first generation college students, your family and friends back home start viewing you differently.

You start viewing things with a different lens, too.

A chasm can grow between your former and current life.

And sometimes you do not think to mourn the loss of what was, of who you once were. Even though you can go back and visit and even live where you grew up, your horizons have been expanded and even things that were once very familiar can look foreign or different to you.

Education can change people. Education can change the world.

Education changes us. Education changes everything.

This book was so good that I am going to say that it is the best book I have read all year. 

10/10 highly recommend