Counting the Cost

Jill Duggar undergoes profound personal change over the course of this memoir. Who is she at the beginning of the story? Who is she at the end? Make reference to the text when developing your answer. Analyze how this memoir is one of personal development and growth.

Consider Jill’s upbringing and the challenges she has faced. How does her personal development reflect the difficulties girls and women face in growing up? How are Jill’s difficulties unique to her, being a child of the Duggar family? Analyze how these difficulties might intersect.

Jill describes the behind-the-scenes filming process for many specific episodes of TLC’s coverage of her family. Watch one of these episodes and examine your perspective on it. Analyze how the episode might reflect some of the themes in this memoir. Are these issues evident in the episode? If not, how are they covered up?

How does Jill’s relationship to her religion change over the course of the novel? Analyze this arc and explain why perhaps this change occurred. Are the themes of the memoir reflected in this change? How does Jill’s experience with religion differ from her siblings’?

How does Jill’s reflection on Bill Gothard and the IBLP nuance the content in this memoir? What might the IBLP say about the experiences described in Jill’s account? Does it seem like Jill’s parents were also deceived by the organization?

This is Jill’s second book, the first being Growing Up Duggar: It's All About Relationships. Compare and contrast her perspective as portrayed in both texts. Consider how the difference between the books reflects her personal growth.

There are several things Jill mentions only obliquely, including Josh Duggar’s sexual abuse of her and her siblings, Derick’s anti-gay and anti-trans tweets, and her family’s political beliefs. Why do you think she chooses to omit these details? Analyze how Jill’s current personal beliefs might illuminate her decision.

Jill is the second of her siblings to publish a memoir about disconnecting from her family; her sister Jinger Vuolo (née Duggar) released Becoming Free Indeed in early 2023. How are the sisters’ journeys different? How are they similar? What does this tell you about their shared experiences of growing up in the Duggar family?