Reader's Review: Unfollow: A Journey from Hatred to Hope by Megan Phelps-Roper

**SPOILER ALERT: This review CONTAINS spoilers** 

Unfollow is an emotionally charged memoir written by Megan Phelps-Roper, a former member and part of the founding family of the Westboro Baptist Church (which I personally wouldn't refer to as a church, but more of an extreme religious hate-group). When I finished this book, I had to sit with it and let it settle so I could write a thoughtful review.

The book chronicles how Megan's grandfather founded the church, and she and her family were taught extremism from an early age. She details beatings, extremely twisted religious programming, her realization that she did not agree with the church's doctrine, and ultimately her departure, which resulted in her ex-communication from her family and the church. She embarked on a journey of discovery with her younger sister, ultimately found love.

The story was easy to read, yet it seems unfinished. Perhaps this is because the author is still fairly young
and needs to develop more of her story to tell. I'm unsure why the ending left me underwhelmed. Perhaps, it's because I'd heard from others it was "so good," "great" and "fantastic," so I may have had unrealistic expectations.

Megan says in the acknowledgments part of the book that it was originally intended as an essay - I think that is evident. I am not intending to bash her. It's evident that the author is an educated, well spoken person. Perhaps she just needed more refined editing.

There is some repetitiveness within the book. I think the author tried to provide multiple examples of the extremism to which she and her siblings were subjected. In my opinion, the intricacies of her family dynamics and her journey away from extremism were the more interesting parts of the book.

I read the electronic version. On my device, the title was: "Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving Extremism." It has now been changed to the subtitle of "A Journey from Hatred to Hope." Personally, I think the first title was more appropriate for the book.

Following the book, I watched her TED Talk, which I thought had a much more condensed and clear message. I'd recommend the TED Talk to anyone who is interested in her story.