Texas Raid

My Experience of the Texas Raid on the YFZ Ranch

De: Ammon Jeffs

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

This is the story of the 2008 raid on the Yearning For Zion ranch by Texas and Federal Authorities told from the perspective of the most marginalized group of people caught up in the raid. This is the story of the boys.
The world looked on with unease and morbid interest, hoping the children would be “saved” from this fundamental religious sect they’d been born into. But even though the boys were children, they were treated as “perpetrators in training” and were forcibly detained at Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch by CPS. This is their story of fear, hope, resilience, and faith.
A harrowing narrative delivered in the first person by Ammon Jeffs, the third-born son of Warren Jeffs, this story will make you question what lessons the US Government has learned about intervening to save innocent people caught up in the world of cults.
Ammon’s world shattered when he discovered the truth about his father's crimes. His life trajectory has changed in ways his 18-year-old self in 2008 couldn't have possibly imagined. However, discovering the truth cannot change the raid's trauma and its negative fallout that he and the 72 boys at Boy’s Ranch experienced while in state custody. Ammon’s attention to detail, his honesty in perspective, and the journey the raid set him on for the next 16 years will make you laugh, cry, and want to stand up and shout in happiness about his ability to overcome and set his own course in life.

Good story, but hated the narration being virtual voice.

I’ve read/listened to several books about the FLDS, but there aren’t many written by men. It was great to see how boys lives and perceptions differed from girls in the FLDS. The only thing I didn’t like (actually hated) was the narration being done by virtual voice. It routinely mispronounced things (for example, FLDS was pronounced “fields”). Had I not been so familiar with the FLDS, and various branches of them, I would not have know to what the narration was referring. Apart from that (which really hurt my rating of the book), the book was really good. I would love to hear this book again, but narrated by the author.

AI narration took away from the story

There are very few polygamist stories told form the male point of view so it was interesting to hear. It was also interesting to hear about how the polygamist viewed the raid.

The book is written in a matter of fact way, and the AI narration of this book highlighted that. While there was some nuance to the narration, it felt emotionless, which may have taken away from the story.