Review by Laila_Hashem -- The Cult Next Door
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Laila Hashem
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Review by Laila_Hashem -- The Cult Next Door
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Cult Next Door" by Elizabeth R. Burchard, Judith L. Carlone.]
In The Cult Next Door, Elizabeth R. Burchard describes her experience prior to joining a cult and the 20 years she spent in it, and Judith L. Carlone describes how she manages to convince Elizabeth to leave. It starts with Elizabeth describing her childhood and how she suffered through her mother’s physical abuse, lunacy, and emotional abuse. She recounts how her mother made her meet a biofeedback specialist, George, who was insensitive and invalidated her emotions, causing her to second-guess a lot of her decisions, beliefs, and emotions, eventually destroying her identity entirely. After gathering enough patients, George started to shared his distorted beliefs and treatment with many others, convincing them that the outside world was bad for them and that the people in their group were the only ones that could be trusted, leading Elizabeth down a dark road. After 18 years of isolation, she meets Judith, who describes how shocked and appalled she was by the cult and how she planned on gradually getting Elizabeth to realize how toxic George and his group were.
The book’s plot is presented in an extremely emotional way, grabbing readers' attention and making them feeling everything that the characters are feeling. It was heart-breaking to read about the loss of identity and autonomy that one goes through when joining a cult, but I believe it is very necessary for readers to experience these emotions so they can fully understand the concept. Through describing Elizabeth’s childhood, the book tells the full story of how she wound up in a cult, not just the deception that got her there, but the years of pain and abuse that rendered her emotional state fragile, led her to desperately crave love and belonging, and, ultimately, opened her up to George’s deception.
Elizabeth’s experience with George shows readers the signs of dealing with fraudulent doctors and how these doctors can be the cause of one’s complete destruction, which is an important lesson that many learn too late into their treatment. The characters’ tones, actions, and inner thoughts are explained so well that I found myself relating to them easily despite never having been in their situation. The authors also did an exceptional job describing how hard it is for a person to leave a cult even when they desperately want to. The book meticulously explains how every aspect of Elizabeth’s life, including her career, education, and social life, was taken over by the cult and its members, leaving her isolated from the outside world and more vulnerable to the cult’s manipulations.
I appreciate how the book explains and disproves common myths about cults, thus spreading true awareness about the issue. Judith’s side of the story is also extremely helpful for readers who want to be more educated on the issue. People often do not know how to react when their loved ones go astray, and end up pushing them away. Judith is presented as patient, considerate, persistent, and reasonable, and I believe readers could learn a lot about helping others from reading her side of the story. Finally, the book is clearly professionally edited since I only found one spelling mistake.
Due to all the aforementioned good qualities of the book and the fact that, in my opinion, it has no bad qualities, I give it a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. There are many triggers in this book, including eating disorders, sexual assault by coercion and force, child abuse, domestic violence, animal torture, and mind control. Anyone who could be negatively triggered by those aspects shouldn't read this book. However, I believe readers who are curious about the nature of cults and interested in reading about an individual’s experience with them would love this book.
******
The Cult Next Door
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
In The Cult Next Door, Elizabeth R. Burchard describes her experience prior to joining a cult and the 20 years she spent in it, and Judith L. Carlone describes how she manages to convince Elizabeth to leave. It starts with Elizabeth describing her childhood and how she suffered through her mother’s physical abuse, lunacy, and emotional abuse. She recounts how her mother made her meet a biofeedback specialist, George, who was insensitive and invalidated her emotions, causing her to second-guess a lot of her decisions, beliefs, and emotions, eventually destroying her identity entirely. After gathering enough patients, George started to shared his distorted beliefs and treatment with many others, convincing them that the outside world was bad for them and that the people in their group were the only ones that could be trusted, leading Elizabeth down a dark road. After 18 years of isolation, she meets Judith, who describes how shocked and appalled she was by the cult and how she planned on gradually getting Elizabeth to realize how toxic George and his group were.
The book’s plot is presented in an extremely emotional way, grabbing readers' attention and making them feeling everything that the characters are feeling. It was heart-breaking to read about the loss of identity and autonomy that one goes through when joining a cult, but I believe it is very necessary for readers to experience these emotions so they can fully understand the concept. Through describing Elizabeth’s childhood, the book tells the full story of how she wound up in a cult, not just the deception that got her there, but the years of pain and abuse that rendered her emotional state fragile, led her to desperately crave love and belonging, and, ultimately, opened her up to George’s deception.
Elizabeth’s experience with George shows readers the signs of dealing with fraudulent doctors and how these doctors can be the cause of one’s complete destruction, which is an important lesson that many learn too late into their treatment. The characters’ tones, actions, and inner thoughts are explained so well that I found myself relating to them easily despite never having been in their situation. The authors also did an exceptional job describing how hard it is for a person to leave a cult even when they desperately want to. The book meticulously explains how every aspect of Elizabeth’s life, including her career, education, and social life, was taken over by the cult and its members, leaving her isolated from the outside world and more vulnerable to the cult’s manipulations.
I appreciate how the book explains and disproves common myths about cults, thus spreading true awareness about the issue. Judith’s side of the story is also extremely helpful for readers who want to be more educated on the issue. People often do not know how to react when their loved ones go astray, and end up pushing them away. Judith is presented as patient, considerate, persistent, and reasonable, and I believe readers could learn a lot about helping others from reading her side of the story. Finally, the book is clearly professionally edited since I only found one spelling mistake.
Due to all the aforementioned good qualities of the book and the fact that, in my opinion, it has no bad qualities, I give it a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. There are many triggers in this book, including eating disorders, sexual assault by coercion and force, child abuse, domestic violence, animal torture, and mind control. Anyone who could be negatively triggered by those aspects shouldn't read this book. However, I believe readers who are curious about the nature of cults and interested in reading about an individual’s experience with them would love this book.
******
The Cult Next Door
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Freddy Finds a Friend by Charles W. Page MD
