Debi Pearl

0 stars. I re-read this book for research purposes and had to force myself to finish it.

This is what I learned from it as I read: the men in this woman’s family / religious cult are abusive (I would never feel safe around any of them), and the women have so much deeply internalized misogyny that they work alongside the men to create their own doctrines, twist scriptures past recognition, and export their teachings so they can all continue to normalize the objectification of women and uphold a culture of abuse of women and children together. They train up their sons to be predators who only see women as sex objects. All whilst trying to spiritualize their abuse and blaming women for every sin men commit. My husband found it debased and appalling as well.

It would be better marketed as a textbook on gaslighting, as the author and her husband gaslight the reader all the way through it. It’s full of heresy.

I find it terrifying that they have translated this book into other languages and sent it off into other parts of the world.

I am 100% against burning books, but if I weren’t, this would be the first one I’d throw on the pile.

Worst book I have ever read.… (lisätietoja)

So the opening of this alone is extremely confusing and basically a comedy act opening. There's no way to take this opening blurb and turn it into something serious and not satire.

"What do you get when Islamic terrorists and White-Supremacists go up against a small group of Bible believers in the hills of East Tennessee?"

Stupidity that offends everyone, every race, sexuality, religion, age range, sex, and more.

You can have literature with problematic content, you can have literature with bad ideas, you can even have literature that's two stories in one, this is none of that. This is one of those books that says everyone is bad except for the goody goody Christians. But not just any christians, a very specific type of Christian that is very specific and doesn't really exist.

Our main villains are Muslim, who's only crime are being Muslim. And because they're muslim, they're the bad guys not because they're doing anything bad they're just there. And. Muslim.

What?

Our main heroic guys are trying to convert everyone to christianity, and that's the reason why everyone who doesn't is bad. Yes, this book is about convert to Christianity or burn in hell. The entire world must convert.

The Muslims literally want to just do their own thing and be left alone in this book, and the Christians keep invading and attacking them, so they're bad because they don't want to convert to something and be forced into something they don't want to do. How very non-con of you. Obviously people should consent to converting to a religion not be forced in or ostracized otherwise.

There's this one scene where a guy sees a girl on the side of the road and begs God to help her because he's got a wife and child and doesn't want to go back to jail. My brain read it as he was tempted to rape her/a nonce. So I couldn't stop thinking he was the entire time he was there.

Regardless it's written well, it's garbage propaganda and violating people's rights in a fictional world, but this isn't an atrocious writing level. Characters are bare bones and need deeper development, and the plot is terrible. But it's well-written terrible. Not even atrocious writing to make this better.

So the villains are anyone who isn't white or christian and the plot is terrorism bad, and all outside religions are terrorists.

And the Christians are the aggressor. But they're heroes, we swear!

The guy on the cover isn't even there most of the book... Great job.
He's named Asher btw. His best friend was killed by Muslims. And singing killed his grandma. Actually "he was more than a friend". Oh, how I wish he was gay. But nah, the guy was a father-figure-friend. I don't know the age gap but chances are Asher was calling him daddy and that would have been a better book for sure.

I was bored and sort of in and out entertained by how ridiculous and over the top garbage this book was.

0 stars. Jesus Christ won't even touch this.… (lisätietoja)