Profound. Honest. Sad. Hopeful. All at once.

Online kerfuffle over this author’s reviews aside (Google it), I tried to read this on a trusted recommendation. It’s supposed to be a collection of personal essays regarding the author trying to acclimate to society outside the cult they grew up in, but just ends up reading like a laundry list of personal grievances against everyone and everything. (Given the aforementioned online kerfuffle, I am no longer surprised by the bitter resentment underlying the narrative.) I tried hard to ignore the adversarial tone of each essay, hoping it would improve with subsequent chapters as the author ostensibly grew up/older/learned more, but it only worsened, leading me to delete the book from my reader without finishing it. I simply couldn’t take the angry whinging for another paragraph.

For your Twitter rant acting like a child over 4 stars.

This is the very best, most insightful, true-life story of someone’s journey that I have ever read. It helped me see things about myself and about other humans that I should’ve known, but didn’t. The unvarnished, unfinished truth of Lauren Hough’s life, written with humor, and guts, and all the messy pieces pressed into this book, and into my mind. Excellent.

Thank you for being our voice and making me feel like I’m real for the fist time.