This was all right. I wish I would have liked it better.
I very much wish I would have tracked down a copy of I’m Perfect, You’re Doomed way back in 2009 when I added it to my TBR. I think that version of me would have been in a much better place to appreciate it. This is a book by a woman who grew up in a Jehovah’s Witness household, and it is written in a humorous style, as you might be able to tell from the title. It’s written from the perspective of a child, not from an adult looking back on her childhood, so there isn’t any overt reflection on her situation. Instead, Abrahams has to use much subtler means to get her point across. It is effective! But I just didn’t enjoy it all that much. I don’t think my brain right now is in the mood to find any sort of fundamentalism funny.
And, as many other reviewers have noted, the second half of the book is much different and more depressing, as Abrahams reckons with her childhood as an adult, on top of many other issues. It’s got a bit of tonal whiplash to it.
I own a copy of this (had to buy it used, my library didn’t have a copy) so I might try it again at a later time and see if a different headspace would improve my reaction to it. If you like reading memoirs about people who escaped from religious cults, this might be up your alley.
Read Harder Challenge 2020: Read a memoir by someone from a religious tradition (or lack of religious tradition) that is not your own.