Review by Fatima_Palacios -- The Cult Next Door
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Fatima_Palacios
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Review by Fatima_Palacios -- The Cult Next Door
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Cult Next Door" by Elizabeth R. Burchard, Judith L. Carlone.]
The Cult Next Door by Elizabeth R. Burchard and Judith L. Carlone is an insight of a new age cult. The protagonist is the author herself Elizabeth, however, in the book she uses her nickname, Liz. And Judith, the co-author of this book, is the one friend who helped Liz to leave the cult behind.
During the development of the story, they both share how they felt and dealt with the difficult task of getting Liz out of the cult. At some point in the story, Liz was so tied up with the cult, that she ended up providing all her money to it, and even placed her business under the cult head’s name, George.
Liz had to deal all her life with a mother who enjoyed practicing and experimenting with alternative medicine. They met a lot of quack doctors but none of them lasted as long as George did in their lives. Once they met him, Rachael, Elizabeth’s mom, immediately fell for him and all his false treatments. Soon enough both women were paying him large sums of money and trying to get more people in the cult. Of course, they never thought of it as a cult.
What I found very intriguing about this story is how easily you can be a victim of a cult. When people think of cults they imagine sacrifices, gloomy auras, and people that use substances to hallucinate, but that's hardly the case. Cult leaders are often charming people that use emotional abuse to control their victims. They often use advanced social skills to make them distrust anyone that is not part of their group. And sometimes they even make the members dislike and distrust each other so they can't escape the cycle of violence.
I love the way The Cult Next Door is narrated since we get to understand how the cult worked. I found myself many times wanting Liz to leave the cult so much but at the same time understanding why she couldn’t. The story is truly an investing read and a book that can help anyone that might be going through something similar. In fact I believe this book can prevent people from falling into these scams.
Something I didn't like in this book was that sometimes it feels like some descriptions were unnecessary. Just to put an example the author sometimes describes in detail a moment when she is seating close to George while other more impactful moments are barely described. But since the book is based on true events I can understand that some moments might be difficult to write about. That being said please beware this book has explicit content, sexual in nature but most of the time without emotions attached to it. If this is a flag for you, maybe skip this one.
I decided to rate The Cult Next Door 4 out of 4 stars because is great. There are no grammar or spelling errors in the book. It’s written in a clear language and the story is easy to follow. All in all the editing is amazing in this piece. I definitely recommend this book if you’re planning on having a new title on your bookshelf. And I especially recommend this book to everyone who feels that sometimes other people have power over them and don’t know how to escape from that. Please remember abuse is not only physical but emotional abuse also, can be just as bad and it can break a person or even worse, it can make a person lose themselves.
Now if you don't like the idea of cults or have a strong set of beliefs in any particular religion this book might not be for you. During this book we get idols and people acting as the messengers of God, so you can be offended by it.
Lastly I want to mention my favorite part of The Cult Next Door While reading, I noticed that the authors sometimes go over the book and add a few pages. This is their way of updating the story and highlighting the cult and how it has held through time. I found this amazing and in my copy, there are even a few questions so you can discuss the book in your book club or even in class.
******
The Cult Next Door
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The Cult Next Door by Elizabeth R. Burchard and Judith L. Carlone is an insight of a new age cult. The protagonist is the author herself Elizabeth, however, in the book she uses her nickname, Liz. And Judith, the co-author of this book, is the one friend who helped Liz to leave the cult behind.
During the development of the story, they both share how they felt and dealt with the difficult task of getting Liz out of the cult. At some point in the story, Liz was so tied up with the cult, that she ended up providing all her money to it, and even placed her business under the cult head’s name, George.
Liz had to deal all her life with a mother who enjoyed practicing and experimenting with alternative medicine. They met a lot of quack doctors but none of them lasted as long as George did in their lives. Once they met him, Rachael, Elizabeth’s mom, immediately fell for him and all his false treatments. Soon enough both women were paying him large sums of money and trying to get more people in the cult. Of course, they never thought of it as a cult.
What I found very intriguing about this story is how easily you can be a victim of a cult. When people think of cults they imagine sacrifices, gloomy auras, and people that use substances to hallucinate, but that's hardly the case. Cult leaders are often charming people that use emotional abuse to control their victims. They often use advanced social skills to make them distrust anyone that is not part of their group. And sometimes they even make the members dislike and distrust each other so they can't escape the cycle of violence.
I love the way The Cult Next Door is narrated since we get to understand how the cult worked. I found myself many times wanting Liz to leave the cult so much but at the same time understanding why she couldn’t. The story is truly an investing read and a book that can help anyone that might be going through something similar. In fact I believe this book can prevent people from falling into these scams.
Something I didn't like in this book was that sometimes it feels like some descriptions were unnecessary. Just to put an example the author sometimes describes in detail a moment when she is seating close to George while other more impactful moments are barely described. But since the book is based on true events I can understand that some moments might be difficult to write about. That being said please beware this book has explicit content, sexual in nature but most of the time without emotions attached to it. If this is a flag for you, maybe skip this one.
I decided to rate The Cult Next Door 4 out of 4 stars because is great. There are no grammar or spelling errors in the book. It’s written in a clear language and the story is easy to follow. All in all the editing is amazing in this piece. I definitely recommend this book if you’re planning on having a new title on your bookshelf. And I especially recommend this book to everyone who feels that sometimes other people have power over them and don’t know how to escape from that. Please remember abuse is not only physical but emotional abuse also, can be just as bad and it can break a person or even worse, it can make a person lose themselves.
Now if you don't like the idea of cults or have a strong set of beliefs in any particular religion this book might not be for you. During this book we get idols and people acting as the messengers of God, so you can be offended by it.
Lastly I want to mention my favorite part of The Cult Next Door While reading, I noticed that the authors sometimes go over the book and add a few pages. This is their way of updating the story and highlighting the cult and how it has held through time. I found this amazing and in my copy, there are even a few questions so you can discuss the book in your book club or even in class.
******
The Cult Next Door
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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-Eiichiro Oda (Luffy)
Latest Review: We are Voulhire: The Knights of Chalethire by Matthew Tysz
