Ali Millar’s *The Last Days* is a raw and profoundly moving memoir that courageously recounts her journey of breaking free from the suffocating constraints of a Jehovah's Witness upbringing. With stunning honesty and poetic prose, Millar shares her story of identity, faith, loss, and self-liberation, creating a book that is both deeply personal and universally resonant.

From the first page, Millar’s voice captivates, pulling readers into the complexities of her world. Her vivid storytelling brings to life the tension between the rigid beliefs she was raised with and her own evolving understanding of who she is. The exploration of faith and the power it holds over individuals and communities is both thought-provoking and heart-wrenching.

Millar’s ability to articulate the emotional turmoil of questioning and ultimately leaving her faith is exceptional. She writes with unflinching honesty about the toll it takes on relationships, the pain of ostracization, and the strength it requires to start anew. Yet, amidst the struggle, there is an undeniable sense of hope and triumph as she reclaims her sense of self and builds a life of her own choosing.

What makes *The Last Days* particularly powerful is its universal appeal. While it delves deeply into the specifics of Millar’s experiences within the Jehovah's Witness community, its themes of self-discovery, resilience, and the search for freedom resonate far beyond any single faith or belief system.

Ali Millar’s memoir is a testament to the power of storytelling as a means of healing and connection. It’s a beautifully written, courageous work that will stay with readers long after they’ve turned the final page.

A thought-provoking memoir which highlights the complexity of living within organised religion. Very open and startlingly honest, this is really well-written and gave me lots to think about.

Ali Millar's "The Last Days" is a captivating memoir that delves into her life within and eventual departure from the Jehovah's Witnesses. Millar's prose is raw and intimate, offering a poignant look at the struggles of living under the rigid constraints of a high-control religious group. Her journey of self-discovery and liberation is both heart-wrenching and inspiring.

The memoir shines in its honest portrayal of the emotional and psychological toll of leaving a close-knit, insular community. Millar's narrative is compelling, shedding light on themes of identity, freedom, and the resilience of the human spirit.

Overall, "The Last Days" is a powerful and moving read, providing valuable insights into the complexities of faith, family, and personal growth.

"The Last Days" by Ali Millar is a fascinating memoir of her journey through and eventual escape from a strict religious upbringing. Millar's storytelling and emotional honesty bring her struggles and triumphs to life. Sometimes I found the narrative to be intense, but it is ultimately an inspiring tale of resilience and self-discovery. This memoir is a poignant and thought-provoking read that left me with a lasting impression.

This memoir is fantastic and very open and honest. This is beautifully written. It is a very courageous book to write. A book that everyone should read

This was an interesting and compelling read that’s I couldn’t get enough of, so interesting and I wanted more!!! Was surprised at how much I enjoyed it thank you

I found this book completely compelling to read. I am a Christian but often wondered about the beliefs of the JW. I have had friends and relatives who are members but had not fully appreciated the control exerted over its members. Definitely worth reading even if only to understand other view points. Beautifully written.

I received an advanced reading copy in exchange for this memoir.
Thank you to NetGalley, Ebury Press, Penguin Random House and the author Ali Millar.
Very interesting insight into the life of Jehovah's Witnesses, the corruption and abuse of the organisation, and the archaic treatment of women as second-class citizens. Really shocking at times. However very slow moving and difficult to work through. For that reason, 2.5 stars.

I read and watch a lot of true life stories about religion as I'm really intrigued about how people live and this story really piqued my interest. I don't know much about Jehovah's Witnesses other than they can't get blood transfusions so this was a real eye opener for me. The story is very candid and there should be some trigger warnings as there are quite a few triggers for people; eating disorders, abuse, abortion. It really gave insight on how a child can be affected by religious beliefs.

I gulped this book down in one day, and have been thinking about it ever since I read it this summer.

The Last Days is a memoir about growing up in and then leaving the Jehovah's Witnesses in central Scotland, and the writing is so good I had to remind myself as I sped through the pages that this wasn’t fiction, although it read like a thrilling, beautifully written novel. Every so often, something shocking happens (I'll leave it to you to read it and discover these moments for yourself), and it stops you in your tracks, reminding you this all really happened to the author.

There’s a reason The Last Days is on so many “Best of 2022” lists – it’s one of my favourite books of the year too, and I can’t wait to see what Ali Millar writes next.

Opening a can of worms on Jehovah’s Witnesses : Living within a doctrinaire cult

Ali Miller’s mother, a single parent of two, from a professional family, seemed to have a history to form attachments with unsuitable men – drink dependent, serial womaniser. She was vulnerable, and ripe for picking by a religion (business) which would give her rules to live by and offer the promise of feeling she was elect.

Ali’s older sister and her mother were more or less accepting the doctrinaire, restrictive, thoroughly and repressively patriarchal impositions. Despite being very young when her mother came under the influence of the Witnesses, Ali herself was clearly a child of more inquiring, independent thinking, and seems to have been from the start understandably terrified by the teachings, - dreadful nightmarish pictures of the end of the world, Armageddon – taught as something to be welcomed for the elect.

Miller has written a searing account of her upbringing, challenges, mental health fragility caused by all of this, and of her growing realisation that somehow, she had to escape. Her reason for writing this particular book is exactly to expose how sinister this organisation is.

Like perhaps many, as someone who has never been drawn to cults, or the doctrinaire I regarded the Witnesses (those knocks on the door, attempts to sell the Watchtower, invite you to hear the good news, etc) as credulous, well-meaning but naïve or delusional people. I did not realise though how corrupt, corrupting and wicked the organisation itself is, its wealth, its playing of the system, its abuses,

What drew me to read this was really the praise for Miller as a writer, which hinted that this was going to be far more than just a misery memoir or journalistic exposure from the inside.

Miller writes her account from the first person, starting when she was very young. Her narration seamlessly moves from the viewpoint of a young child, to school age, through adolescence towards young adulthood and beyond

I thought, whilst reading it, a lot about another book recounting the brutal repression of a doctrinaire ideology, by another searingly honest woman who writes beautifully, reflectively – The pianist Zhu Xiao-Mei, growing up in Mao’s China, in her book The Secret Piano.

Obviously, Maoism and Jehovah’s Witnesses have very different ideologies – but the repression, the way in which brainwashing is done, and society encouraged to police and reeducate and shame those who transgress against the official line of the time – not to mention the way history gets rewritten, seemed startlingly similar

This is a memoir of the author’s life growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness. I have relatives who are Jehovah’s Witnesses but I know very little about the religion and was interested in learning about it.

The book is surprisingly readable and I found it quite sad. I feel the author didn’t have a carefree and fun childhood because she was worried about the end of days and what Jehovah would think of her for sinning.

As she gets older she becomes disillusioned with it and eventually leaves. This is a long process and the religion and their beliefs have had a huge impact.

The book deals with other issues including eating disorder and abortion.

It’s difficult to review a memoir as it’s the author’s life story. I think it does a good job in showing people what it’s like to be a Jehovah’s Witness and how isolated from society they can be. It also shows that there are some very questionable goings on within the religion that they cover up.

I would recommend this book as I found it interesting, but it’s not a cheerful read by any means.

Thanks to Bury Publishing, Penguin Random House and NetGalley for a copy to review.

Really enjoyed this, great to read about other people perspectives on things that perhaps you don’t know much about.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

An eye-opening account of one woman’s experience as a Witness.
Desperately sad at times, the book leaves us with hope that Ali will come out wiser and happier.
Often a difficult read, but a worthwhile one.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing this book for review.

Such a powerfully emotionnal memoir is hard to review... It's both very intimate and so universal, and will help you better understand the world - and the people who live in it.

The Last Days tells the author's account of life as a Jehovah's Witness, starting from childhood, through to the modern day. It took me until about a third of the way though to get into this book which I think is a fascinating, thought-provoking and eye-opening memoir. I think the writing is stronger as the author approaches adulthood and perhaps this is when she began writing more frequently and jotting her thoughts down. I think this a brave memoir, lifting the lid on life as a Jehovah's Witness and a lifestyle the author came to be very unsettled by (for reasons explained in the book). It's not an easy read and is very sad at times but ultimately, the author has put pen to paper, sharing her experiences with the world and that will hopefully make a difference to those who may be in a similar position.

Very interesting and quite shocking.
Ali is brought up as a Jehovah's Witness and this book gives us a good insight into the religion and the way it forces members to follow rules.
Try to leave and it becomes clear how much of a cult it really is.
Ally story is harrowing and emotional but gripping.
I really enjoyed this book and found it sad that so many people follow on in these religious cults and think this is the way to live.

A really interesting UK look at jehovahs witnesses, and the exhausting journey some people have to make to leave their toxic family behind, a grief with no grave to visit

Wow. This memoir absorbed me from the beginning and made me feel very angry, sad, hopeful and finally joyous, as the author took me with her on her journey from indoctrination to true freedom.

Growing up as a Jehovah's Witness, Ali Millar never truly felt at ease with its teachings. Ali developed a devastating eating disorder which was her way of making herself smaller, as well as being something she had control over. Close to losing the battle, she attempts to embrace her religion. But an unhappy marriage and utter humiliation at the hands of the elders finally sees her turn her back once and for all.

The joy and freedom Ali experiences as she navigates her way into a new life was so uplifting. I thought this was a brilliantly and sensitively written memoir, but also a brutally honest account of corruption and manipulation

When I spotted Millar’s memoir on NetGalley, I immediately clicked the request button. Why? Well, I went to primary school with a girl who was a Jehovah’s Witness, and her childhood was incredibly different to mine - she wasn't allowed to take part in any ‘religious’ activities such as making Easter or Christmas cards, she rarely attended any after school activities due to the ‘hall meetings’ and perhaps seemingly most bizarre at the time she wasn't allowed to watch TV. Like Millar, this girl renounced her faith in adulthood. I wanted to read this and learn about another experience.

Picture the scene, it is 1982, and in the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, the elders preach about how the state of the world shows us the end is close, and Satan is like a roaring lion, seeking to devour them.

Young Ali Millar is waiting for this Armageddon. Born into the Jehovah's Witnesses in a town in the Scottish Borders, her childhood revolves around regular meetings and spending most of her time trudging from door to door with her mother, trying to sell the message (and Watchtower magazines) to interested parties. At night when dreaming, she is haunted by vivid images of the Second Coming, her mind populated by the bodies that will litter the earth upon Jehovah's return.

In this frightening, cloistered world, as Ali ages, she starts to question the ways of the Witnesses and their control over nearly every aspect of her life.

As she marries and seemingly is expected to become a Watchtower-toting Stepford wife who derives no pleasure from intimacy - there's a truly appalling scene in which three elders, all men, naturally, as Jehovah seems to regard women as second-rate, quiz her about her sinful premarital sex life with her husband to be. On a scale of one to five, she is asked how much pleasure she got from heavy petting and what it consisted of. Somehow the fact that this is in her own Edinburgh sitting room, or even in the 21st century– makes it seem even more grotesque, and has a daughter within the religion, she finds herself pulled deeper and deeper into its dark undertow, reckoning with its malicious influences; her mind tormented by one question: is it possible to escape the life you are born into?

This memoir of faith, desire and freedom will make you question the dogma of religion and cultism. Yet, as interesting an insight as it is, the book is rather repetitive in places, and the misery relentless. After a while, you feel as stifled as Millar must once have done in the seemingly never-ending Kingdom Hall meetings, though maybe that's the point.