Customer Reviews: Read 38 more reviews...
 A Friend Has a Similar Childhood April 18, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This was written for me. My next door neighbors were converted to being JW. This was when we were young children. I do stay in touch periodically with this friend who I met when she was only 4 years old. She is still a JW and has raised her children this way. She told me a story of abuse by her Father who was a drug addict and a pedophile. As a child she often went hungry as her father wasn't bringing home income. Her mother allowed her child to associate with me because we had her stay for dinner almost every night, This draws some light for me to her plight. In school where she was forced to stand in the hall during the pledge of allegiance. This is against JW rules. She quit school as soon as possible. She home schooled her children before it was a common thing to do. Not all JW people abuse their children. I can tell you that after her terrible childhood my friend is an excellent mother. She put being a good mother as her top priority in life. Once you are in this religion it's pretty difficult to leave. Normally when you leave a church it's not the end of the world. For these people their whole world crumbles. It's terrible to bully a child because of a parents beliefs. Most people don't realize that joining JW can also effect your health or kill you. You can not get a blood transfusion. A very personal thing for me because I'm alive today because of blood transfusions. I also recommend I Witness which explains in greater detail what JW believes.
 Misleading March 3, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
I ordered this book anticipating a story of someone freeing themselves from a cult as the cover suggests. I guess you can't judge a book by its cover. The first six chapter are from age ten (intro. to JW's) to age eighteen (freedom). After that it is Brenda's life story, with the watchtower popping up every now and then. I have read many books regarding the watchtower, and have personally dealt with JWs. I was bored with the rut the book got into as she told her life story and forgot that her book was about leaving a cult. At times it seemed if anything bad happened it was the watchtowers fault (normal sruggles in life). Many things she went through lots of kids go through when they decide to leave their parents home. Some of the hardships she endured she put on herself. At one point I forgot that the book was about leaving a cult and listened to her complaints about struggles many Americans go through on a regular basis.
 A very gripping, disturbing read January 30, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Reviewed by Kam Aures for RebeccasReads (1/08)
"Out of the Cocoon: A Young Woman's Courageous Flight from the Grip of a Religious Cult" by Brenda Lee is a memoir chronicling the author's escape from the binding hold that the Jehovah Witness religion had on her family and life and the consequences that met her afterward. When Brenda was a young girl, Jehovah's Witnesses visited her Pennsylvania home with their literature and talked her family into doing a free bible study. That one knock on the door would forever change Brenda's life and her relationship with her family. Her mother became immersed in the Jehovah beliefs and decided that the whole family would be baptized as Jehovah's Witnesses. Brenda's father refused and was the only one not baptized although he did attend the meetings at Kingdom Hall.
Jehovah's Witnesses have a very rigid belief system without any room to bend. Growing up in the Jehovah faith was very traumatic for Brenda as she found herself isolated from the rest of her classmates. She could not celebrate the events they celebrated, participate in school activities, or date. Also, as a Jehovah's Witness you cannot be friends with or associate with people who are not of the same faith as you. To top all of it off she even had teachers who abused her because of her religion.
When she finally came of age she escaped to live with a cousin that she had never met in Colorado and tried to start her life anew by breaking free from the holds that the religion had on her. However, her insecurities fostered from being isolated and ostracized as a child followed her into adulthood and there were consequences that followed.
Unfortunately in the Jehovah faith once someone leaves the religion they cannot be associated with anymore by those still in the faith. This even applies to family members. So in a sense by leaving the religion she also lost her family, all except for her father (he was not baptized into the faith). After trying to "save her" and failing, they would not talk to her anymore and essentially they cut her out of their life.
While I understand that the Jehovah faith did have a huge effect on the author's life it seems that she blames everything that goes wrong on that premise which I find a little bit unbelievable. There are other factors involved that cause things to turn out the way that they do. I do understand her anger but in some cases it seems that it is misdirected.
All in all, the book is a very engaging and a fast read! I read all 238 pages from start to finish in one night. I learned a lot about the Jehovah's Witness faith and I was actually shocked by a lot of the things that I read. I honestly had no idea that these people who come knocking on my door believed some of the things that they do. To disown a family member because they choose not to be involved in your faith is, in my opinion, ridiculous! I applaud Brenda Lee for having the courage to come forward and write this memoir and hope that others can benefit from reading about her experience. I think that anyone who is considering becoming a member of this religion or any similar religion should definitely read "Out of the Cocoon" before doing so!
Wonderfully Candid and Inspiring November 6, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I can't say enough about this book. Admittedly the child abuse Brenda describes is sometimes very disturbing to read but what makes it disturbing is that it actually happened and was condoned by this religious group. Chapter 1 starts out with a graphic story that Brenda wrote called, All Alone in the World. You might think her writing isn't good, but that's because she was only 12 when she wrote Chapter 1. The rest of the book is so wonderfully written...Brenda is a remarkable story-teller. I truly felt like I was in her shoes. I felt her pain, confusion, guilt, fear, joyful triumphs. You may think this sounds like a totally depressing book but it's actually quite light-hearted and funny. It contains a lot of Brenda's off-beat humor and many inspiring quotes. Sometimes I laughed and sometimes I cried.
Out of the Cocoon shows how Brenda's mom, a normal all-American Methodist Sunday school teacher could be swept up in the destructive rules imposed by the Jehova Witnesses and how those rules could ultimately sever her family ties forever.
Brenda's book is about so much more than growing up in a cult though. She talks about being a single mom and struggling to survive, feeling vulnerable and alone and rejected by those she loved, being in a bad relationship because she was afraid to be all alone. Every teenager and adult in America should read this book because it helps the reader understand how our childhood so dramatically affects our choices once we become adults. Very insightful!
The message is clear that if you think you're too strong-willed or smart to ever become a member of a harmful group or cult, you have probably just moved one step closer to becoming one. Don't believe your family is safe like her mom did. She thought Jehova Witness seemed so nice when they offered a free study but this is how they trapped Brenda's family into joining them. I was SHOCKED to learn that they even have a door-to-door quota to meet and have to turn in how much time they spend talking to people when they go to people's doors. Then they become downright cruel and shun their own children if they don't want to be a member of their church! Unbelievable!
I highly, highly recommend that you read this book because it could prevent you from losing your child or parent someday. As a parent myself, I feel fortunate that I can share this knowledge with my family. I have a cousin who is a Jehova Witness and now I understand why she became so distant from me when she joined this church.
Bravo to Brenda for being so courageous and saving/helping others through her story!!
Awesome book even for those not former JW's October 6, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I read this book and found it very enthralling. It kept me interested from beginning to end. After reading it I was able to pass it along to my neices who, never being JW's were able to understand what we (those of us former JW's) went through. They could understand it in simple language and we shocked and stunned by the simplicity of the book and yet the complications of being a JW. I wholely recommend this book to any and all who are or have left the JW's to understand the simpliest form of abuse that takes place without even knowing it.
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