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Charlotte May's Reviews > Educated
Educated
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by
Update: Honestly the hate I’ve received for this review has blown my mind.
“you’re an idiot. And a bit of a dick. Grow up.”
“Maybe the fact you struggled with mathematics for 16 years mean you struggle to appreciate quality storytelling.”
Fucking hell. It’s my opinion. My review. You don’t agree that is absolutely within your rights but don’t start tearing me apart, because I will not argue with you. I’ll just delete your dick comments.
*********************
DNF on page 234
I feel like I’m not reading the same book as everyone else?
It’s boring. This happened, and then this happened and then the same thing happens again.
Also I know this is supposed to be a memoir but am I honestly supposed to believe her mother survived a brain injury with not a jot of medical care? How she conveniently managed to scrimp enough money for the next semester of college borders on the unbelievable. Her brother is an asshole and I really don’t want to see how that unfolds. She teaches herself trigonometry. Honestly how? I studied maths in the school system for 16 years and still struggled with it. How does someone with absolutely no prior experience with it just teach herself maths at college level?! I know some people pick it up quicker than others but really?! She even gets 100% on an algebra test at college.
Maybe I’m being overly harsh, but I’m just not having a good time - good on her for standing up for herself, but this is too wordy, definitely exaggerated and there are way too many other books in the world.
“you’re an idiot. And a bit of a dick. Grow up.”
“Maybe the fact you struggled with mathematics for 16 years mean you struggle to appreciate quality storytelling.”
Fucking hell. It’s my opinion. My review. You don’t agree that is absolutely within your rights but don’t start tearing me apart, because I will not argue with you. I’ll just delete your dick comments.
*********************
DNF on page 234
I feel like I’m not reading the same book as everyone else?
It’s boring. This happened, and then this happened and then the same thing happens again.
Also I know this is supposed to be a memoir but am I honestly supposed to believe her mother survived a brain injury with not a jot of medical care? How she conveniently managed to scrimp enough money for the next semester of college borders on the unbelievable. Her brother is an asshole and I really don’t want to see how that unfolds. She teaches herself trigonometry. Honestly how? I studied maths in the school system for 16 years and still struggled with it. How does someone with absolutely no prior experience with it just teach herself maths at college level?! I know some people pick it up quicker than others but really?! She even gets 100% on an algebra test at college.
Maybe I’m being overly harsh, but I’m just not having a good time - good on her for standing up for herself, but this is too wordy, definitely exaggerated and there are way too many other books in the world.
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Quotes Charlotte Liked
“You can love someone and still choose to say goodbye to them,” she says now. “You can miss a person every day, and still be glad that they are no longer in your life.”
― Educated
― Educated
Reading Progress
March 12, 2018
– Shelved as:
to-read
March 12, 2018
– Shelved
March 14, 2019
– Shelved as:
own-tbr
April 21, 2020
–
Started Reading
April 21, 2020
–
0.26%
"About time I found out what all the hype is about. This sounds really good!"
page
1
May 1, 2020
– Shelved as:
dnf
May 1, 2020
– Shelved as:
contemporary-recent
May 1, 2020
– Shelved as:
biography-memoir
May 1, 2020
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 144 (144 new)
message 1:
by
Veronika
(new)
-
rated it 3 stars
May 01, 2020 12:00PM
Finally someone who didn't like this book. I am sorry for your bad reading experience, but happy I am not the only one :D
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@Veronika: I seem to be hating on the all hyped books recently! Glad to join the club though 😊
Felt the same. And found the writing bland to top it off. Sounds like you've been generous to even give it 3!
@Matthew: I’ve been thinking that, felt mean to give less - but I might change it after some thought.
I think some people get swayed by the subject matter/content, and that makes for a higher rating!
@Sofia: Yeah, maybe that’s why 😊
Charlotte wrote: "@Matthew: I’ve been thinking that, felt mean to give less - but I might change it after some thought."Ha! I know how you feel, I do the exact same. I feel as if I'm too kind sometimes, but then once I've had some time away I drop a star, as if I'm afraid of anyone seeing how mean I am.
I DNFd this too a while ago - just couldn’t get into it at all!
@Eva: So glad I’m not alone! 😁😂
I did finish it but was far from enthralled. While I admire the family hardships and unusual environment Tara had to deal with, I couldn’t shake the skeptical feelings that remained strong throughout the book.
@Brandice: Good on you for finishing! 😊 Completely agree with you regarding the sceptical feelings.
I did like this book, but can understand the skepticism around some of the college parts later. I questioned how she was able to get into some of the top schools. I’m sure the information is verifiable somewhere, so it must have happened to some extent, but I agree the writing of that part left me with some questions.
@Whitney: Thanks Whitney, glad you enjoyed it more 😊
I agree it was way too wordy and it dragged on. There was no explanation on HOW she accomplished anything, like the math and money and somehow earned a PhD even though she skipped class so much. No details where they matter.
@Kelsey: Absolutely with you there! Considering the number of pages I’m sure they could have put more explanations in
DNFd this too! Really tried to understand the hype, but it was just boring
I really did not enjoy this book - I feel like my review was a little harsh though! Yours is great, I mean, her parents were eccentric but she paints this very harsh picture.
I agree with your review, be thankful you stopped. I made it to the end and gave it a 3 stars for decent fiction writing.
I would just like to point out that - while unusual - it is possible to teach yourself maths to a high level. One of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century, Srinivasa Ramanujan, was self-taught. However, the book still sounds pretty poor. I won't be adding it to my tbr list
i finished but did not like, and i remained skeptical through and through
Oh my god you took the words right out of my mouth. On page 211 and I was questioning myself considering everyone was absolutely raving over this... thank you for the confirmation that I’m not an alien with bad taste in books.
Couldn't get into this at all. Sorry it didn't work for you either:-/
Hmm. I enjoyed the book and found it rather inspiring, but I can understand why some folks aren't a fan. As for how she afforded her education, I think she won a Gate's scholarship. It wasn't until Bill Gates read her book that he realised she was a recipient of his own money. He was so impressed, he asked to interview her. It's on Youtube. Like you though, I was extremely skeptical of her mum's hocus pocus cures for just about everything. I just accepted that and moved on.
Thanks for the review. I'll avoid this one.
I couldn’t finish it. Too boring!
It took me more than 8 months to finish reading this book. I found most bits tedious to read.
There’s a lot of questions, but this book was extensively fact-checked, so as impossible as the curing and ACT scores were, it most likely was true as more than one person could confirm it, as well as there being paper proof. I myself got into college without a GED and just an ACT score, so this part of the story does check out for me. You can also look up the family essential oil business, which is actually a booming enterprise, just like Tara described it becoming.
Yeah... totally agree. My bullshit meter was in the red zone thru this entire book.
one star just thought some of this book was bullshit
you raise some very good questions.
I’m on page 67 and I’m about done with it too
You can always raise your doubts with the professors she mentioned.
Based on the number of folks here agreeing with you I am surprised it is one of those that everybody loves.
Thanks Joe 😊 I think a lot of people are frightened of rating popular books low for fear of the backlash 🤷♀️ I’ve had a few haters
This review, these comments are quite alarming. Think about it, she not only went to Cambridge, but also to Harvard. Clearly she is capable, they do not just let anyone in. Also if you look up the article that BYU wrote about her before she ever stepped foot in Harvard, it’ll make more sense to you.
Yeah, Charlotte, maybe the fact that you had to struggle for 16 years with Mathematics makes you struggle to comprehend quality writing and quality storytelling. Also, she didn't self teach all the time, she had help from her brother and friend. But again, you need to read the book and understand it in order to see this. In any case, it's pointless to try and make you see reason, but I am sorry for anyone who sees your review and agrees with it.
George wrote: "Yeah, Charlotte, maybe the fact that you had to struggle for 16 years with Mathematics makes you struggle to comprehend quality writing and quality storytelling. Also, she didn't self teach all the..."I have lot of red flags with this book, what she telling the whole truth the whole time and not making stuff up maybe she was ,but my bull shit detector went off in this book more than one or twice lol
@George: I’m not forcing anyone to agree with my view. I’m just voicing my thoughts. There is absolutely no need for you to be a dick about it.
I'm with you on this, I thought it was worth just 1 star too. They're dicks. Not us.... 😉
Wow, here we have a personal space to express our personal (meaning: subjective) opinions on the books we read and is this what we get in return? Freedom of speech, personal opinions, anyone? I never would have thought an unpopular opinion could get such hateful, offending response here on Goodreads. I enjoyed this novel, never did the fact-checking or questioned it for that matter, I just read it and it offered some food for thought. I can understand why a person may not enjoy it if you consider the seemingly unrealistic, too-good-to-be-true events; I just read it like any other work of fiction. I see why you’re so worked up, some books frustrate me so much that I just want to write a hate-review, too. 😂
@Gizem: Honestly?! It’s not like my 1 negative review disregards all those other positive reviews. Some people are just next level 😂😂
I have this on my table right now 😐😐Don't what how I will feel. But I get your point. And yes, everyone might not like the same book. I don't see why there should be a conflict about it!
People hide behind the phrase 'It's just a personal opinion' because they cannot come up with all the facts needed for an argument. Look, I apologize if I came off as ignorant and condescending. I just read the book and it made me furious to see how people bash someone's life without knowing reading all the book and actually understand it and put yourself in her shoes. Tuition at her school per year is currently $5970, which might have been significantly lower since the book is written a few years ago (say maybe around $4500 - $5000). She mentions that she can save around $2000 per summer and she also gets the Government grant of $4000. This covers the tuition for a semester, rent (which is super cheap, since she's living in some sort of dorm) and some books (and she doesn't even have all of them). Not to mention the fact that she's working at least three jobs for this.And she didn't learn algebra and calculus by herself, she was helped by her brother and her friend.
I understand skepticism, but when you have the narration there, especially since it's recent narration, not just memories from when she was 7, then why so much hate? Some other people choose to take this book with a grain of salt, but to discredit her entire work just because you don't see one thing there possible is like saying that Bill Gates did nothing good in his life because he forgot to pay a phone bill when he first started out. Really?!
Aww, I'm sorry to see this. This is why I only permit friends to comment on my reviews, and I'm very selective about who I accept as friends. :(
Haters gonna hate. You do you and screw everybody else 🖤
