This is a difficult read in places. Westover talks about her upbringing in a survivalist, mormon family, headed by her father. She and her siblings were brought up off grid in rural USA. The father has a complete and shocking disregard for the safety of his children, putting them in harm's way as a matter of course. That's to say nothing of his religious and conspiracy theories. Westover conveys the fact that she did not see anything wrong with how she was brought up at the time - it was normal for her - but she felt scared when her father asked her to do clearly dangerous tasks. Her brother was also very abusive, and it was this that made her leave for good.
It is amazing that she managed to leave the family and receive an education. It is also eye opening in that there must be so many children who are experiencing the same thing. Children who are unregistered and cut off completely from society.
