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kaitiecakes's review against another edition
1.0
It may have been a good book if I hadn't been expecting to see something closer to "orange is the new black" TV show. Because that's what there both called. So if your looking to see something close to the show this isn't it even a little bit. All that's really the same is Pipers back story. There's no her and Alex or 'Crazy Eyes' or anything. I read books really fast, I can usually read 2 a day, this one took me 2 days to read it because it's so boring!
trin's review against another edition
4.0
I know: weird thing for me to be reading in 2019. I avoided it when it came out, sideswiped it when I eventually caved to peer pressure and started watching the TV series, and thought I'd made my escape when I got too peeved with the show and quit it after season 2. But last week I was asked to read this for work, so I did.
I'm surprised by how much I like it! Real!Piper irritated me a heck of a lot less than TV!Piper, and though I missed some of the ensemble characters who were the show's real draw, I liked the lack of outlandish melodrama here. Really, this is a plain, highly readable account of life inside, and a strongly worded plea for criminal justice reform. Because the system is broken. The system is so, so broken.
Jeez, though. If I were Larry I would sue the show's creators for character defamation.
I'm surprised by how much I like it! Real!Piper irritated me a heck of a lot less than TV!Piper, and though I missed some of the ensemble characters who were the show's real draw, I liked the lack of outlandish melodrama here. Really, this is a plain, highly readable account of life inside, and a strongly worded plea for criminal justice reform. Because the system is broken. The system is so, so broken.
Jeez, though. If I were Larry I would sue the show's creators for character defamation.
salgalruns's review against another edition
4.0
A surprisingly enjoyable read that has been on my TBR shelf for forever! Piper is accused and sentenced to prison based on a 10 year old crime. The memoir serves as an account of her time in a minimum security federal prison.
What's remarkable, throughout her experience, are the people she meets and connects with during her stay. It seems as if she was truly able to take a horrific experience and put a mostly positive spin on it all (the only exceptions, of course, being a frustration with the system when it came to furloughs or to transfers for court appearances).
The part of the book that really hit home for ME was the frustration in our system and Piper seemed equally upset - where is the support for these people, the computers, the trainings, the help to get them to adjust to time outside prison? It's no wonder we have so many repeat offenders when we have done nothing to assist them in being successful beyond the barbed wire walls...
Definitely a worthwhile read!
What's remarkable, throughout her experience, are the people she meets and connects with during her stay. It seems as if she was truly able to take a horrific experience and put a mostly positive spin on it all (the only exceptions, of course, being a frustration with the system when it came to furloughs or to transfers for court appearances).
The part of the book that really hit home for ME was the frustration in our system and Piper seemed equally upset - where is the support for these people, the computers, the trainings, the help to get them to adjust to time outside prison? It's no wonder we have so many repeat offenders when we have done nothing to assist them in being successful beyond the barbed wire walls...
Definitely a worthwhile read!
rachel3000's review against another edition
5.0
Better than the show I thought. More of a memoir and reflection on shortcomings of the judicial system in the US.
dianacherie's review against another edition
1.0
Wow this really sucked !! I had such high hopes given how much I really enjoyed the show
joemdief's review against another edition
5.0
Portraying the “bad guys/gals” as they ought to be seen...humans (just like “us”) capable of error, curiosities of youth, passion, and sometimes downright stupidity.
The American prison system is a subject many citizens would rather not approach, perhaps because they would find that a majority of the prison population would in some way resemble those they are closest to. Rather than facing an issue, it’s easier to pretend the dark truth isn’t there.
I enjoyed this memoir. Despite the heavy material, Kerman was able to maintain a mood of light-hearted realness and genuine humor throughout. The reader can form a connection to each character the author has bonded with; thus illuminating an overall theme that those on the outside are separated from those on the inside merely by one wrong turn and a barb-wire fence.
The American prison system is a subject many citizens would rather not approach, perhaps because they would find that a majority of the prison population would in some way resemble those they are closest to. Rather than facing an issue, it’s easier to pretend the dark truth isn’t there.
I enjoyed this memoir. Despite the heavy material, Kerman was able to maintain a mood of light-hearted realness and genuine humor throughout. The reader can form a connection to each character the author has bonded with; thus illuminating an overall theme that those on the outside are separated from those on the inside merely by one wrong turn and a barb-wire fence.