I learned quite a bit about a religious cult I had not previously heard of in All Who Believed. The account is well-written, honest and open in exploring motivations and misgivings. The author takes a candid look back at how she and her husband were drawn into this society, lived within it and eventually withdrew from it.

The author shares how the communal spirit of belonging and having a role in a society became oppressive, while initially it was seen as a safe haven. I appreciated the insights into how her conflicted feelings were tamped down until they could no longer be ignored. Written in an easy-to-read style, the book engages you while presenting difficult situations to consider.

I enjoyed reading this heartfelt account of life in The Twelve Tribes and hope that the author’s life outside of the experience continues to open up and allow her to thrive. ( )

I live in the area and have written a few articles about the Twelve Tribes myself, so I was excited to see a memoir come out. I found Tamara did a solid job making some of the key theology accessible to people who might not be familiar with the organization's beliefs. I found it to be a quick and engaging read. However, I would have loved her to spend more time reflecting generally on her experiences and getting a bit more depth, and also talking about her (and the family's) transition out and what that process looked like for them, especially as this is a book I could see people who work in social services in areas where the Twelve Tribes are active reading as they think about how to support this population best.
Overall, solid read.

A great a thorough memoir of the author's time with her family in the Twelve Tribes cult. For me, hers was an interesting perspective as she was not born in the cult, but chose to join along with her husband. The narrative is easy to follow and well-written. Cheers to Tamara for her bravery!

A bored white woman joins the most boring cult in the whole world. I skimmed over the long, dull descriptions of life in a community, which (surprise, surprise) is full of hard work and judgemental people. I was sort of interested in reading about her small moments of joy (needs shopping and running) but I would have been more interested in how she and her husband and children learned to live in the world outside the cult, and there was almost no information about that. ( )

Would you recognize a cult if you were in one?
I received this book as part of an early reviewer program.
This is a simple, no-nonsense book describing how a young family gets taken in by a cult without realizing the truth of their circumstance.
Looking for a simple life with like-minded people, this couple finds themselves moving into one of the Twelve Tribes communities. The book chronicles not only how they were taken in, but most of the book describes what the day-to-day life of a “TT” member was like. If you are looking for scandal, you won’t find it here. Indeed, the author has many fond memories of her 14 years with the TT. Various other family members also “join” over the years.
If you look up the Twelve Tribes, you will find many stories about child mistreatment. The organization expects members (mothers, specifically) to use a rod to regularly discipline their children. People who would normally not have treated their children roughly were counseled, sometimes in front of the whole community, if they allowed their child to “misbehave”. This misbehavior was normal child behavior most of the time.
The story helps the reader understand how people inside a cult are brainwashed into accepting new “revelations” that sometimes upended their lives. The chastisement adult members were subjected to was nearly as bad as what the children faced. The cycle of boredom and repetition meant they often lost track of time. Their days were extremely full, particularly for women. Imagine making a meal for 50 people with a baby in a carrier on your back and two children under the age of six in a kitchen with several other mothers and children. Kids were taught to chop vegetables before they could read. I cringed at the thought of all those children with knives; it is amazing they were at the hospital regularly. There were other questionable medical decisions made by the so-called leaders of each community in which the family lived.
Ultimately, this family left the Twelve Tribes and started over when their oldest child was 15 years old. They had to start over with nothing. I wish the book had another chapter or two explaining how they dealt with the new life changes.
The book was very interesting and I’m glad I read it. I was most surprised by how boring a cult can be. I appreciate the author sharing the story with the world and hope others read it before they go all in with any sketchy group.



One of the breaking straws precipitating their exit was a meeting with the cult leaders to admonish them, as parents, because word was out that the older child had the temerity to listen to country music. This “revelation” followed by the author realizing she didn’t feel safe buying a bag of chocolates at the drug store, helped the couple see they had lost themselves in the wilderness of monotony. ( )