Content Warning: This guide includes discussions of sexual, spiritual, physical, and emotional abuse; rape; sexism and misogyny; miscarriage; child molestation; anti-gay bias; anti-trans bias; racism; school shootings; and gang violence. 

Counting the Cost begins with three introductory sections: a dedication, a family tree, and an epigraph. Jill dedicates her book to “those who have been harmed in the name of ‘religion’” (6), especially those who have been silenced. She hopes all victims and survivors like her are able to find their voices. The family tree depicts the Duggar family, including parents Jim Bob and Michelle and their 19 children. There are 10 sons and 9 daughters. Jill is the fourth-eldest child. The tree also includes her husband, Derick, and their three sons. The introduction concludes with a Bible quote: Luke 14:28-29, which advises counting the cost of an undertaking before beginning.

It is February of 2014. Jill and her boyfriend, Derick, are playing in the snow with many of Jill’s siblings. Jill and Derick are soon to be engaged. The rules of their courtship, laid out by Jill’s parents, forbid them from holding hands or from having “in person, one-on-one conversations without another adult or mature chaperone present” (9).