Uncultured

The author was born and raised in the Children of God cult, a particularly nasty world-wide sex cult. (Interesting side note: One of the founders of Fleetwood Mac was one of the early leaders, and one of the worst offenders against the children in the cult.) The book is her story of surviving innumerable traumas and finally escaping the cult as a teenager. She manages to graduate high school, living mostly on her own, and then attend college. Then, she joins the US Army and becomes one of the first females to serve in combat. The narrative is extremely well-written, and deeply affecting. If there's any quibble, it's that she sees the world through the lens of cults, but who wouldn't after all the many things that happened to her. She is show more now a scholar on the topic of cults and has presence on many digital platforms, illuminating cults and cult/group thinking. There are simply not enough powerful women voices who've broken through in our time - Daniella is the tip of the spear.

5 bones!!!!!
Highly Recommended!!!!! show less

This is a story in which I had to let marinate for a while. It is hard to process because it is hard to believe that this can happen, does happen and is still happening.

Daniella is truly an exceptional woman. The trauma she has experienced is heart wrenching. And to know, all the adults around her failed her. But…they were brainwashed too…still doesn’t make it any easier to process. She then proceeds to be outstanding in other areas of her life and to be a leader of men in a the man’s world of the US Army.

In this book she is humble, tough, smart and breakable all at the same time. I had a ton of questions while reading this and I headed to her TikTok page and proceeded to watch her videos for hours teaching me about cults. I show more have a better understanding but little patience with these people.

Daniella narrates this book herself and I do not think anyone else could have done it! She is amazing.

This is a book that TikTok made me buy and you should run…don’t walk…and get it today! show less

THIS. Is a very GOOD book. In unCULTured, author Daniella Mestyanek Young uncovers the horrors of growing up female in the "religious" cult The Children of God, aka The Family. Unlike Lauren Hough's essay collection, LEAVING ISN'T THE HARDEST THING, about the same experience, Mestyanek Young gives us a more or less chronological record of her life in The Family, telling how she was repeatedly abused, molested and raped by the cult "Uncles" from the time she was only five or six years old until her "escape" at sixteen. Forced to live in a children's dorm, she only saw her parents on weekends. The cult branch she was in moved, often just ahead of the law, from Brazil to California to Mexico and back to the U.S., to Texas, where Mestyanek show more Young finally managed to break free and attend regular high school, all the while working part-time jobs Aided by a sympathetic counselor, she managed to attend UT Dallas, where she became part of a world-class chess team, enabling her to travel widely. She also married while in college, a union with a controlling charmer, possibly bisexual, which would not last. After graduating college at the top of her class, she joined the army, attending Officer Candidate School after Basic Training and becoming a Military Intelligence officer. She did two tours in Afghanistan, rising to the rank of Captain, gradually realizing what an "old boys' club" the military was, something that nearly cost her her health and sanity. But she did distinguish herself as a champion-class runner and marathoner, and one of the first women to be part of a combat unit. She also met her husband, a chopper pilot, during that second tour.

Throughout her narrative, Mestyanek Young shows how almost any 'culture' - high school, college, military, etc. - has cult-like similarities that are not good, especially for women. After seven years active duty, Mestyanek Young left the Army.

My pat little summary does not begin to show the disrespect, abuse, pain and suffering that Mestyanek Young endured as a girl, a teen, and even as a young woman, despite her myriad accomplishments. Male white supremacists and mysogynists are real and so are cults. And, despite attempts to eliminate sexual trauma from the military, it remains a serious and ingrained problem.

I repeat. This is a VERY GOOD BOOK. Read it!
My very highest recommendation.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER show less

Daniella is raised in the Children of God cult until she escapes at 15. She starts a new life for herself in Texas, enrolls in high school and goes on to excel in college. The ghosts of her past haunt her when she enrolls in the military, even though she becomes an intelligence officer. She has to maneuver her way through male-dominated territory where the first advice from her senior is "Don't get raped" , as if that is an option for her. Daniella sees a clear correlation between groups like the military and the cult she left, as the physical toll of abuse catches up with her. An eye-opening biography to life in a cult as well as an interesting perspective from a rare very resilient woman advanced in the military.

i think this is a very well written story and it's the kind of story that grabs you from the beginning and you want to stay to hear the whole things. this is the third story i've listened to by somebody who was in the children of god cult and it does not get easier to hear what these people went through. and it's important to note that this stuff is still happening even in 2023 Daniella's story is very thorough and i appreciate her sharing how easy it is to fall into a cult even when you just left one. it's really hard to rate someone's personal story.. who am i to judge? but then that's the point of writing reviews and sharing my opinions... there's two parts to this book which i think could've been two separate books because think the show more author could've written so much more about her two lives if it wasn't all in one book show less

Listened to the audio book, which was narrated by the author. This memoir is about the author's life being raised in the Children of God cult, escaping that cult, getting an education and then joining the army, which is a cult in its own way. This was a tough story to listen to. It has all the abuse; physical, sexual, emotional, verbal, etc... with some suicidal ideation thrown in. You need to be in the right frame of mind when reading this.

This is a hard book to read, but wow. Worth the trauma for me. Excellent book