SECRET CEREMONIES IS A HONEST PORTRAYEL OF MORMON LIFE THRU THE EYES OF A EXMORMON. ITS HUMOROUS AND WELL WRITTEN. I GOT SO INVOLED IN THE BOOK I READ IT IN 1 DAY.

I purchased this book when it was first released. I am a non-Mormon, and I used to live in Utah--in the late 70's and early 80's. I want to start off by saying that I love Utah, and have thought of moving back. I still have very close friends in Utah, that are Mormon and whom I respect very much. But as far as the religion it's self---it definately has cult-like qualities. Examples being: having their own doctrine--The Book of Morman, having missionaries travel from door to door, having secret ceremonies that only "worthy" Mormons may participate in---they learn secret handshakes, receive secret names, watch secret plays, and then have to wear special garments to "protect" themselves. Well, growing up around Mormonism, and seeing the guilt and hypocrisy. The "not feeling worthy". I have done other research on the creators of Mormonism---Joseph Smith, founder, claimed he had visions, from what I understand he was an alcoholic, and his mother was into mysterious type , psychic ritual things. Brigham Young, well known polygamist--loved to indulge menois tois. I wouldn't classify that as being very pure. If one reads the Bible--one will find that the Lord very much discourages these types of behavior. I commend Ms. Laake for her honesty--I am sure that it is very hard to spill your guts about something that was drilled into your head to sacred and true!

I felt that the book was exceptional. I do however realize that the book may not hold the same message to non-Mormons or even Mormons outside of the sate of Utah as it did with others or myself. Some of the reviews state that Deborah should have been more accountable for her actions. I tend to always agree with this statement for all people, however I really didn't feel that she was trying to blame anyone, or play a victim. To me her story was more about the experiences she had while a member and the persecution she went through after the book was published. She openly admits to her mistakes with marriage. However the LDS church is a very controlling religion, I believe the book illustrates that in many examples. The manner in which the church promotes marriage is very powerful and can be very dangerous. I felt when reading this book that I reading the stories of many of my very close female friends and even as a man I could relate in a very intimate way. I think the book can help those that have left the LDS church who "feel the lie" and hold remorse for those who can't.

I just received this book last night and already by this morning I was finished. It's that good! A very good depiction of her strict upbringing and struggle to find her voice after so many years of being slient (both by the church and her husbands). The down side of the book were the numerous run-on sentences, which by the time I'd finished them, I couldn't really remember what she was talking about. And, there's some mormon jargon that I didn't get even after she tried to explain it. But, I still finished the last page wanting more. I empathized with her immediately. I think this is a book all young women should read, mormon or not. There is very much a bit of all of us in there! What an eye-opener!

I found this book in my parents' house so I took it home with me. As a first-generation member of the LDS church, I found this book very offensive. From the title you would think that the church had done something horrible to her. In reality, her problems stemmed mostly from low self-esteem, an inability to stand up for herself, and a tendency to go into depression. While it did reveal a few temple "secrets," the book was more an exploration of her efforts to figure out who she was, and was pretty sexual in nature. It's too bad that Deborah feels that the church and her upbringing in it was the cause of all her misery and depression. I find her assumption that all Mormon women (and some men) would also find the church "too conservative," "repressive," and "old-fashioned" offensive to the millions of faithful LDS people all over the world.