How Opus Dei Recruits Young People

Former Opus Dei member discusses the general method that Opus Dei uses to recruit young people.
BEST RESOURCES TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OPUS DEI:
Best Websites
Odan.org (Opus Dei Awareness Network)
Best English language website about Opus Dei.
Opuslibros.org
Most comprehensive source for accurate information about Opus Dei. Includes many testimonies from former members. The “Correspondence,” “Your Writings,” and “Vocation Trap” sections are the most useful. It is a Spanish language website. However, by right-clicking and choosing “Translate to English,” Google provides a decent although imperfect translation.
Best Books
Beyond the Threshold: A Life in Opus Dei , by Maria del Carmen Tapia.
The book Opus Dei hates more than any other. Ms. Tapia simply recounts her experiences of Opus Dei and Josemaria Escriva. The problem with this book, for Opus Dei, is that Ms. Tapia paints a picture of Josemaria Escriva which is very much at odds with the false hagiographies it pushes. And her writing is eminently believable. This book may be out of print, but used copies are generally available on Amazon.
Saints & Schemers: Opus Dei and Its Paradoxes , Joan Estruch.
1994 Oxford University Press book that traces the many contradictions in Opus Dei’s telling of its early history. Out of print, but available used on Amazon.
Opus Dei as Divine Revelation: Analysis of Its Theology and Its Consequences in Its History and People , E.B.E.
Former South American member of Opus Dei provides an accurate understanding of how Opus Dei sees itself. This book may be of interest principally to former members of Opus Dei. For anyone looking for a deep dive.
NOT RECOMMENDED
Opus Dei: An Objective Look Behind the Myths and Reality of the Most Controversial Force in the Catholic Church , John Allen, Jr.
John Allen is an excellent journalist. Unfortunately, he widely missed the mark in this book. Kudos to the Opus Dei PR team for dodging a bullet!
Anything approved of or promoted by Opus Dei or its members
These works are pure hagiographies and do not even mention (let alone explain or contextualize) Josemaria Escriva’s many and serious defects. The histories of Opus Dei written by Opus Dei members or sympathizers omit so many important details that they can only be described as materially false.

[@Ugoogolizer]

Hiya [redacted] (just in case you are concerned about doxxing or anything like that). I was one of the high school kids who you worked with. Luckily I was never successfully recruited, though they certainly tried (I suspect because I was precocious and incredibly vulnerable). Because of that vulnerability the effect of Opus Dei on my psyche was decidedly traumatic and a net negative.
However, you yourself are good and were good for and to me, and I remember you still with immense love and affection. I can tell this process of disentangling the knots that OD put around you has been painful but I can also see that you remain the honorable person I always perceived you to be. Good work. For what it's worth I am proud of you.