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Don't Call It a Cult

The Shocking Story of Keith Raniere and the Women of NXIVM

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Don't Call It a Cult

By: Sarah Berman
Narrated by: Ewa Wolniczek
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As seen in Season Two of the HBO docuseries THE VOW

They draw you in with the promise of empowerment, self-discovery, women helping women. The more secretive those connections are, the more exclusive you feel. Little did you know, you just joined a cult.

Sex trafficking. Self-help coaching. Forced labor. Mentorship. Multi-level marketing. Gaslighting. Investigative journalist Sarah Berman explores the shocking practices of NXIVM, a cult run by Keith Raniere and many enablers. Through the accounts of central NXIVM figures, Berman uncovers how dozens of women seeking creative coaching and networking opportunities instead were blackmailed, literally branded, near-starved, and enslaved. Don't Call It a Cult is a riveting account of NXIVM's rise to power, its ability to evade prosecution for decades, and the investigation that finally revealed its dark secrets to the world.

©2021 Sarah Berman (P)2021 Steerforth Religious Studies Sexual Crimes & Assault True Crime Exciting

Critic reviews

*SHORTLISTED for the 2022 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize*

*FINALIST for 2022 Crime Writers of Canada Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book*

*One of Oxygen.com's best crime books of 2021.*

"...Sarah Berman’s Don’t Call It a Cult is a thoroughly reported work that details a staggering amount of relevant information the TV series left out."—The Atlantic

"...investigative journalist Berman front-loads her startling, comprehensive exposé on the NXIVM group with key information on how the association became popular yet remained elusive to law enforcement...the author’s engrossing reportage meticulously reveals the tumultuous rise and fall of NXIVM after numerous criminal indictments and prosecutions...File this alongside Lawrence Wright’s Going Clear and Jeff Guinn’s The Road to Jonestown...An incendiary, serpentine report on criminal manipulation of staggering proportions."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Investigative journalist Berman debuts with the definitive look at the NXIVM cult, which victimized dozens of women for more than a decade ... This deep dive behind the headlines isn’t to be missed."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Comprehensive Account • Detailed Information • Enjoyable Narration • Fascinating Story • Clarity Provided
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I had been waiting for this book to come out, and it was quite riveting. As someone who has read Sarah Edmondson's book, India Oxenberg's book, and Toni Natalie's book, as well as watching The Vow; This is an EXCELLENT linking of timelines in an easily digestible manner. Interviews with survivors I had never heard from before, and the viewpoint of a truly invested journalist. Book is well worth it. 💙

Amazing Bundling of Stories!

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I had a very hard time focusing on the book. A lot of bouncing around. I couldn’t finish it-just lost interest.

Blah

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I lost a friend when I refused to join NXIVM in 2007. Listening to this makes me sad cause it makes me mourn the loss. But it’s a sad with hope that the more his victims stories get out there the fewer future victims there will.

Hits Home

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I have been obsessed with the NXIVM story this audio book is the most thorough.

Very in Depth

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The narrator is wonderful. There is so much great content and it is arranged very thoughtfully !

Really great

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I needed to read a true crime book to fulfill my online book club's monthly prompt. I read “Don’t Call It a Cult: The Shocking Story of Keith Raniere and the Women of NXIVM” by Sarah Berman. I chose this book because I am fascinated by cults and MLM schemes. I can't handle true crime books about murder or child abuse, so I thought it would be easier to read a true crime book about an infamous cult/MLM scheme. Well...there is child abuse in this book, as well as two mysterious deaths that were ruled as suicides.

I remember hearing about this case back in 2017 when the New York Times did an expose' about a secret society within NXIVM called DOS. I used to watch Smallville and Battlestar Galactica (the reboot tv series) back in the early 2000's, and I was surprised to hear that some of the actresses from those shows were members of NXIVM and/or DOS.

Sarah Berman's book taught me so much about the NXIVM/DOS case that I did not know. It is hard to get through this book at times because of all of the manipulation and abuse that these women suffered, particularly the story of one young woman who was kidnapped and confined to one room for nearly two years. That said, I think this is an important book to read because it is ultimately about how self-help concepts can be weaponized by someone with ill intentions. Raniere was also, among other things, a master at gaslighting, so if you are interested in how people use language and pseudo-psychology to manipulate and control others, you might want to give this book a read.

A couple of people who reviewed this book said that if you have watched the HBO documentary series The Vow, then this book adds nothing new to what you learned from that series (so just a heads up to anyone who has watched The Vow). I have not watched The Vow, but I am tempted to now.

Mind-blowing, frustrating, but also important

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This book gives more detailed information about KR trial and others caught in the NXIVM web of deception.

While we are patiently waiting for Season 2 of The Vow..

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I really enjoyed this book and listened intently daily. This book has more detail information than the Netflix documentary so if you are interested in crime this book is very detailed.

Very informative

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Well-written content with clear, enjoyable narration, this book offered new details from the trials of several people who were involved in Nxivm and its related groups.

Objective perspective

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I think I continue to follow up on this case and try to get as much information as possible on it hoping that at some point I will get to the part where everyone says, just kidding, but what if it really did happen? And nothing! It is insane how something like this happened in the 21st century and gave us so much to follow up on during a pandemic. It such a wake up call that our society and not just millennials and generation Z but that we as a society are so smart yet so gullible. Great reporting, narrating is good too and honestly it just a crazy case that involved people you probably watched on TV on Wednesday nights with your friends because you know Smallville was dope AF!

If it sounds like a cult and people look cultishhh it’s a cult…

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