This book is definitely not a page turner or a masterpiece but it did what I wanted it to do: give me some insight into Scientology. There were lots of places where I zoned out of the narrative while working or cooking or whatever but I got enough info to let me know that growing up as a member of the cult was miserable and I can understand how difficult it would be to leave it behind.

I would recommend this book for anyone who has a burning desire to learn more but not for anyone looking for sensationalism. This is a slow journey from very early childhood to an adult woman who realizes she's been brainwashed her entire life. ( )

I've been fascinated by cults since I was in my early teens but never gave them much thought. I have known about Scientology for a while now but, again, never really tried to find out more about them. Coming across this book, however, really pulled me into trying to understand how this so-called religion could exist even as I struggled to understand why and how anyone would want to be a part of it.
Jenna's story really is unbelievable but also quite frightening. To think that people - much less children- are led to be treated as horribly as that all in the name of the greater good?! There is some serious kool-aid addiction to behave that way and think that it isn't wrong!
Quite an eye-opening saga... ( )

Jenna Miscavige’s grandparents were the first to introduce their family to Scientology, which remained a mostly casual part of their lives until Jenna was about a year old and her parents decided to dedicate their lives to working for the Church. Shortly thereafter, L. Ron Hubbard passed away and her uncle, David Miscavige, took over as the leader of the Church of Scientology. From that point forward, Jenna’s childhood was immersed in Scientology beliefs and indoctrination, a mindset from which she was not able to break free until her young adult years when the controlling and power-hungry nature of the Church became impossible to ignore.

It’s fascinating and also a bit scary to see how someone can get sucked into a cult like this. On the surface, it seems like a very reasonable self-help type of ideology, but by the time you get deep enough into it to realize how toxic the organization really is, you’ve already invested so much time and money into it that it’s hard to extract yourself without a lot of struggle.

Jenna Miscavige Hill now actively works to share her story and those of other ex-Scientologists to spread the word of what actually goes on within the Church and to help others who are trying to leave. ( )

This book was more like a 3.5 but not enough to make it four stars. It needed better editing as there were some basic errors. I also thought that the writing was very simplistic for having two writers. That being said, Jenna was very brave and I commend her for coming out about Scientology. This could not have been an easy book to write. ( )

This book was very enlightening and full of things I had heard about but never fully understood. My only real complaint is that the passage of time was poorly conveyed. I never had a grasp on how much time had passed between events or how old she was while things were going on.

Overall, I'm very glad I read it. ( )