Good but redundant at times
I have read both Escape & Stolen Innocence. Stolen Innocence is unnecessarily too long and so redundant at times. I skipped a bunch of pages, especially in the end. However, with that said Elissa Wall tells a very interesting and unfortunate story.

Fascinating
This book had fascinating content. The life of the FLDS women is so different from anything like other women in the US. Reading this book is like a window into a different world. I think it gives us more compassion and understanding for people who are not raised with our freedoms, be they FLDS or other religion within the US, or in another country. Most amazing to me is how Elisa was able to slowly come around to freeing herself, and the attitudes of the women who just cannot free themselves.

Yes, the writing style is "amateur," but the editing is mostly sound, and since this is written in the voice of someone with an 8th grade education (a deficient one, at that), it is authentic. It's not "Angela's Ashes," but despite a little bit of a slow pace, it is a good read that somehow sucks you in. The style of it actually seems mostly like a testimonial in a courtroom. Seeing as a legal proceeding was the reason why Elisa had to relive all of this, that makes sense. I am glad she had the courage to come forward.

Very interesting book
I am fascinated by the mind games that are played in the name of religion and applaud this young woman for her ability to see past her indoctrination and begin making decisions for herself. Unfortunately the gentleman in charge of this organization needed psychological help and never got it because of the blind faith of the people around him. The consequences for all involved are dire, including Mr. Jeffs. This was a very interesting read and it helped me to understand the mind of those who embrace these philosophies. I wish the author the best in her "new life" and hope she always questions the path someone else lays out for her and instead charts her own path.

Mesmerizing
It was really hard to put this book down. It's one that you just want to curl up with and read from cover to cover. A very different way of living than I am used to, or would want to be used to, but very interesting to read about.

Difficult Read / Fascinating Story
Difficult Read / Fascinating Story

While I applaud Elissa Wall for her willingness to share her trials and tribulations in the FLDS, I am totally baffled by the fact that HarperCollins publishers were willing to print a book with a zillion grammatical errors. As a veteran teacher and media specialist, I was shocked by the number of errors. While I realize she only had an eighth grade education, didn't she have a co-author and an editor???? The book had numerous errors such as:

*dropped articles (a, an, the)
*misspelled words
*pronouns not agreeing with nouns
*incorrect verb usage
*run-on sentences
*typo graphical errors (Spell Check does NOT identify misuse of correctly spelled words)

If Americans are truly concerned about our children being educated, let's blame others in our culture besides teachers. Even the sub-heading of chapter 29 is missing the article "a" within a quote from Emily Dickinson!!! I am thinking she would have turned over in her grave with such a glaring oversight. Merril Jessop's name is misspelled in several places (he took over the FLDS after Jeffs' incarceration).

This would have been an excellent book for high school students to read IF it had been written grammatically correct. I would never recommend this book to anyone as it exists today, which is a travesty in my eyes. Her courage to leave the FLDS cult and stand up to the dictator Warren Jeffs could have been a tremendous example to so many people who face insurmountable odds.

However, I would strongly recommend Escape by Carolyn Jessop, Shattered Dreams by Irene Spencer, and Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer.
The most positive aspect of the book was Jeffs' trial and his incarceration.

I kept literally shaking my head "no" as I read all of these books because of my inability to relate to each follower's situation. I kept thinking HOW MUCH ABUSE IS TOO MUCH??? It is extremely difficult as an outsider to understand how Jeff's followers and now Merril Jessop's followers blindly believe everything they are told. I hope that other women and children who are abused will also be able to escape this Evil Empire.