https://padlet.com/warnekyl000/n30y7850toib2auh en-us 2023-02-02 19:16:24 UTC 2023-03-01 19:20:44 UTC hello@padlet.com warnekyl000 https://padlet.com/warnekyl000/n30y7850toib2auh/wish/2467993900 With this first portion of reading, I seem to really like this book. The timeline seems to go pretty quickly, I do wish it would slow down and go a little more in to detail about some things. It is a very fast paced book but I don't have much trouble keeping up with it. The more I read the more invested I am in it. I am rooting for Tara to get out of this lifestyle and gain enough courage to leave. 


]]> 2023-02-03 18:59:15 UTC https://padlet.com/warnekyl000/n30y7850toib2auh/wish/2467993900 warnekyl000 https://padlet.com/warnekyl000/n30y7850toib2auh/wish/2473955578 This portion of reading had a lot of twists. The family visiting Arizona once again and Gene decides to leave right before dark. They get into another accident and this time Tara becomes pretty injured from it. Shawn, who has been gone for awhile doing his own things, comes home and seems to build a relationship with Tara. Then towards the end his becomes violent with her. Another shocking thing that happened towards the beginning of reading this section is when Luke's whole leg was set on fire. Nobody seems to have the story straight as to how it happened and how he got back down to the house. I am still waiting for something to happen between Tara and the boy she met at the theater, as I am surprised a relationship has not sprung between them yet.

]]> 2023-02-08 18:55:31 UTC https://padlet.com/warnekyl000/n30y7850toib2auh/wish/2473955578 warnekyl000 https://padlet.com/warnekyl000/n30y7850toib2auh/wish/2480142610 This was another wild chunk of reading. Shawn is still terrorizing Tara and it is something that truly angers me, because she does not deserve it at all. Another thing that happened was that Shawn has been involved in yet another accident. I do not understand how he can still be alive. Gene still does not like the idea of Tara going to college, but he seems to be accepting it a little more now. I am curious as to what might have changed his mind about that. It is really hard to see Tara struggle through trying to go to school, make friends, and fit in all at once. She was just thrown into the adult world and does not seem to know what exactly she is doing. I noticed that Tara seems to find comfort in her religion though, even though she might be uncomfortable going to classes with people she calls "gentiles." 


]]> 2023-02-13 19:16:32 UTC https://padlet.com/warnekyl000/n30y7850toib2auh/wish/2480142610 warnekyl000 https://padlet.com/warnekyl000/n30y7850toib2auh/wish/2488009347 Shawns abuse towards Tara continues as I the book goes on. I now am seeing a lot of Gene's actions show through Shawn. The cycle of abuse is something that is really hard to break, and Shawn unfortunately is unable to end it. He is constantly using the N word towards Tara and this makes both her and me upset. It makes this portion hard to read, as it is not something I want to be thinking about the entire time. Now that Tara is gone for months at a time away for school, Shawn and Gene both are coming to realize that she is now making her own life decisions and they can not control her as much as they used to. I am beyond proud of Tara for having the perseverance to continue on with schooling, and even score herself another scholarship. Money is another issue Tara struggles with and refuses help almost entirely, until the bishop convinces her to apply for a grant. Shawn gave her money to finish out another year of schooling. Why does his kindness come in waves? While studying psychology, Tara begins to realize that her father is mentally ill and confronts him about it. Later on he is involved in a horrific accident and suffer from bad burns all over. Abuse and accidents are both things that never seem to end in this book and it makes me wonder how Tara survived this all.]]> 2023-02-20 04:23:42 UTC https://padlet.com/warnekyl000/n30y7850toib2auh/wish/2488009347 warnekyl000 https://padlet.com/warnekyl000/n30y7850toib2auh/wish/2492772227 "Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds"
This quote made me think about how Tara is the only person who can free herself from the "mental slavery" she endures from her family. She is in control of who she surrounds herself with now that she is off and has gone to college. I think that this can also apply to Emily. In the last chapter I read for this portion of reading, Emily has run to the house with hardly any clothes on nor shoes, in freezing cold temperatures. Shawn kicked her out so she ran to Gene and Faye's for help, sobbing and trying to explain what happened to her. I hope that she is able to get out of that relationship as soon as possible, because she might end up dead if things like this continue. 
It is so hard for Tara to understand that she has control over her life now and that she does not need to be worrying about what her mother, father, and siblings think about her. She is her own person who can make her own decisions, I just wish she would have discovered this much sooner. ]]> 2023-02-23 15:54:52 UTC https://padlet.com/warnekyl000/n30y7850toib2auh/wish/2492772227 warnekyl000 https://padlet.com/warnekyl000/n30y7850toib2auh/wish/2496657409 During this reading, Tara struggled mentally. She would second guess herself, wondering if the abuse she thought she went through had even happened. All her life her parents and siblings would gas light her and up until to this point she questioned her memory. That is, until Shawns ex girl friend, Erin, told Tara about stories she remembers revolving around the abuse. Even then, Tara questioned Erin because she had been psychologically traumatized by Shawn as well, and Tara thought that maybe her brain had tricked her into thinking it was worse than it was too. Four years later, a man, Erin's cousin, recognized her and told her about how Shawn had almost killed Erin years ago. This relieved Tara, as she understood that she was not crazy and her memories were not false. It is hard to read and comprehend all the adversities Tara has gone through, and then years later for her to turn on her own recollections of what had happened. I think that proves how bad the abuse she endured really was. It all happened, but she thought she was being overly dramatic about it all. I am curious as to how she deals with this trauma today. Does she still go to therapy? I am thinking that writing a whole book of her life was hard enough, but maybe this was a coping mechanism for her. ]]> 2023-02-27 16:32:34 UTC https://padlet.com/warnekyl000/n30y7850toib2auh/wish/2496657409 warnekyl000 https://padlet.com/warnekyl000/n30y7850toib2auh/wish/2498489933 As stated a lot before throughout these blog posts, I am so beyond proud of Tara for overcoming the things she has gone through. To come from the place she grew up in and to end up studying at places such as Harvard and Cambridge is so crazy. The abuse, both mentally and physically, that Tara experienced at such a young age seems to have given her the motivation to push pass everything her parents have said about her. I could never imagine calling my daughter a "demon," like what was going through their head? I am honestly surprised how Tara even survived her childhood. Shawn was so incredibly violent towards her and she was so little. I could not imagine my older brother treating me the way Shawn treated her. 
Overall, this story was chaotic in many different ways. The stories told by Tara in this kept me on my toes the entire time. The things she achieved in the end made me so happy for her and I am still in shock that she ended up where she did.

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