Book Review: Know My Name by Chanel Miller

Title: Know My Name

Author: Chanel Miller

Series/Standalone: Standalone

Genre: Nonfiction, Memoir

Pages: 384

Publisher: Viking

Year Published: 2019

Format: Audiobook

"She was known to the world as Emily Doe when she stunned millions with a letter. Brock Turner had been sentenced to just six months in county jail after he was found sexually assaulting her on Stanford's campus. Her victim impact statement was posted on BuzzFeed, where it instantly went viral- viewed by eleven million people within four days, it was translated globally and read on the floor of Congress; it inspired changes in California law and the recall of the judge in the case. Thousands wrote to say that she had given them the courage to share their own experiences of assault for the first time.

Now she reclaims her identity to tell her story of trauma, transcendence, and the power of words. It was the perfect case, in many ways- there were eyewitnesses, Turner ran and away, physical evidence was immediately secured. But her struggles with isolation and shame during the aftermath and the trial reveal the oppression victims face in even the best-case scenarios. Her story illuminates a culture biased to protect perpetrators, indicts a criminal justice system designed to fail the most vulnerable, and ultimately, shines with the courage required to move through suffering and live a full and beautiful life.

Know My Name will forever transform the way we think about sexual assault, challenging our beliefs about what is acceptable and speaking truth to the tumultuous reality of healing. It also introduces readers to an extraordinary writer, one whose words have already changed our world. Entwining pain, resilience, and humor, this memoir will stand as a modern classic."

My Rating: 5/5

This story was truly heartwrenching, but it's so intensely important to read it. This is the story of Chanel, whose identity was stripped away through a two-year wait of trials, and still didn't receive the justice she deserved. While she is a victim and she is finding what that looks like in her life post-trial, she is also a person. Someone who worked through an unjust system, a system made to keep the victims in these crimes. To have her identity and who she was before the rape not even considered in court unless it was to slander her character was heartbreaking. The use of hearsay for her vs. the way that Turner was able to use character witnesses made me sick. With everything going on in the US at the moment I think we can agree that progress has taken a step back for the rights of women and while this book was painful to read, it is necessary to voice these pains and all the problems that surround victims of assault. 

Thanks for reading,

Sidny