Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - Know My Name

Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Know My Name by Chanel Miller

48 reviews

readandfindout's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

4.75

Style/writing: 4.5 stars
Themes: 5 stars
Perspective/knowledge: 5 stars

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katsbooks's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

“My advice is, if he’s worried about his reputation, don’t rape anyone.”

“We don’t fight for our own happy endings. We fight to say you can’t. We fight for accountability. We fight to establish precedent. We fight because we pray we’ll be the last ones to feel this kind of pain.”

“This book does not have a happy ending. The happy part is there is no ending, because I'll always find a way to keep going.”

This was easily one of the best memoirs I've ever read. Miller is a fantastic writer who really brings you into her world and allows you to experience her pains and triumphs first-hand. I'd obviously heard about her case in the news and her attacker's face and name are essentially synonomous with campus rape nowadays. There is something so powerful in how Miller has been able to reclaim the narrative around her assault while her attacker falls away into obscurity. As I was reading this, I felt the rollercoaster that she was on as she navigated the criminal justice system through celebrations and deep disappointments. Her story made me angry but also made me hopeful. I highly reccomend this memoir but if you're not familiar with Miller's story, she gained notereity as "Emily Doe," a victim in a sexual assault case at Stanford in 2015. The depictions of the assault are graphic and numerous and, sometimes, genuinely hard to read. Please take care of yourself (and maybe skip this one) if this topic is triggering to you.

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writingcaia's review against another edition

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dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

It’s hard to review a real life, especially one that had to go through such trauma and scrutiny.
Chanel is a brave woman, although she ended up “deceived” into prosecuting and going through such a terrible judicial experience, even though her rapist was found guilty, it was that which changed her life and due to her bravery and candor so many others. Having her example through actions and thoughts, even when they were being published anonymously, has helped so many feel avenged, feel accepted in their trauma.
I remember this case so well, when I first started seeing it on social media. I was so enraged at the way they portrayed the rapist in contrast with her. As if she was asking for it. But, isn’t it always? Isn’t that the reason so many choose not to prosecute even if they have evidence.
I believe every woman, and this is so sad, so telling of our society, has gone through some kind of sexual abuse, inappropriate touches, cornered in public transportation, the whole sexual harassment in the street, and then some of us, as children or adults, had even worse experiences.
I had.
I don’t even know how they affected me. I chose to forget them, to scrub them off as if they’re lint on my shoulders, but did I? Did I ever? Now when I look back at all that has happened, how I blamed myself for some of them, most of them, how I react to people touching me, even people I love, maybe it went deeper than I thought.
So, when I read this book, when I see someone going through this and being brave to face it and to confront her abuser, it really makes me hopeful for the future. Maybe not for me but for other sexual assault victims.
I want men and women to stop this rape culture, this blaming the victim culture. No matter the circumstances there needs to be consent at all times, otherwise it’s rape. That’s that. No nuance.
Ok, I realise this wasn’t a proper review, so here is more less so. It’s a hard book, may trigger sexual assault victims, but it is a very relevant story, it shows how someone is affected by what may be only 10 minutes of their lives, and how it affects their loved ones, even their communities.
It’s a slow book at times, but I never felt bored or wanting to stop, Chanel is a great writer, the use of metaphors, her soul’s honesty, it touches you, you see and feel it. So, of course I’m recommending it, if you’re ready for it.

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alexhaydon's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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sydneybedell's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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jmbibliophile's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

What an incredible memoir. The writing was excellent, with emotion pouring off the page. Her message was powerful, relatable, and hard-to-swallow. Chanel's story represents a suffering that so many women go through when they report their assault. We follow her battle through the justice system - arduous, painful, and horribly unsatisfactory - a symbol of the broken system that favors the rich, powerful, and white. We also see her battle the court of public opinion, one that required perfection of the victim while continuing to make excuses for the perpetrator. I am so deeply touched and inspired by Chanel's story, her battle, and her strength to keep going. I will never forget Chanel Miller. This memoir is a must-read.

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marissasa's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

After crying many times throughout the 12 days it took me to read this, I sobbed through the ending of the memoir with Chanel's victim impact statement that I had read once before and similarly sobbed to back when it was viral on Buzzfeed in 2016. This is one of if not the most important book I have ever read and there were countless moments throughout that I was left breathless and with chills down my back. This story is so important, Chanel's writing is so important, and the hard realities of the way victims, especially victims of sexual assault, are treated in the justice system are so important to recognize and call out. This book should be mandatory reading for everyone who thinks they know anything about legal justice in America, and honestly for anyone who cares about victims of sexual assault. So much of what is shown in the media is tainted by bias and by politics, and Chanel does not shy away from detailing in all the gruesome ways that her rapist, the law, the media, and society have uprooted her life and left her to pick up the pieces. Despite all this she is somehow able to find the strength and resilience within her to uplift millions of other victims who have read her statement and felt seen, felt heard, felt themselves having a voice again in a world that wouldn't listen. She and her work will live in my heart and mind for the rest of my time on earth as I navigate being a woman whose boundaries were once crossed. Thank you, Chanel.

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