roisin_killen's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
seventhswan's review
3.0
"The symbol of justice may be a woman, but why should we settle for symbols?"
This book was more academic/dense than I expected, and a little dated now - neither of those things are the fault of the author, just different from what I was expecting. It comprehensively covers the 20th-century history of women in the criminal justice system in a variety of roles - lawyer, judge, victim and defendant - and illustrates the impact of misogyny throughout without being preachy. Occasionally I felt there were too many descriptions of very similar cases, which while illustrating how widespread these issues are almost became a bit sensationalised. However, the key messages were sound and I would still recommend this to anyone of any gender with an interest in justice and the law.
This book was more academic/dense than I expected, and a little dated now - neither of those things are the fault of the author, just different from what I was expecting. It comprehensively covers the 20th-century history of women in the criminal justice system in a variety of roles - lawyer, judge, victim and defendant - and illustrates the impact of misogyny throughout without being preachy. Occasionally I felt there were too many descriptions of very similar cases, which while illustrating how widespread these issues are almost became a bit sensationalised. However, the key messages were sound and I would still recommend this to anyone of any gender with an interest in justice and the law.
georgiatust's review
5.0
'The law mirrors society with all its imperfections and it therefore reflects the subordination of women, even today'
asiacampagna's review
3.0
Though at times repetitive, meandering and indulgent to the general publics morbid fascination with true crime details, ‘Eve was framed’ makes good observations on the failures of our courts in establishing true equal sentencing, in particular making insightful points on the treatment of minority women and how the intersection of various circumstances join with that of existing as a woman to create large legal disadvantages in a system created by men for men.
Maybe the better points in the book were lost slightly by overwhelming amounts of unnecessary and often identical case studies, and I would have preferred a more direct and in-depth analysis of the law at practice itself. However I enjoyed Kennedy’s exposures of how the court room environment together with social opinion creates an inhospitable and unkind territory for women, victims and criminals alike. 3.5/5
Maybe the better points in the book were lost slightly by overwhelming amounts of unnecessary and often identical case studies, and I would have preferred a more direct and in-depth analysis of the law at practice itself. However I enjoyed Kennedy’s exposures of how the court room environment together with social opinion creates an inhospitable and unkind territory for women, victims and criminals alike. 3.5/5