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4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Violence, Trafficking
Minor: Animal death, Terminal illness, Excrement
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Keri Blakinger tells her harrowing story about addiction to drugs and disordered eating in her memoir, Corrections in Ink. She lands in prison and reconstructs her experience from scribbled journals kept on purloined paper that miraculously survived the cruelty of fellow inmates as well as correctional officers.
Full review is available on my book blog, TheBibliophage.com.
Full review is available on my book blog, TheBibliophage.com.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Memoir Ice skating, drugs, prison
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction
Moderate: Confinement, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt
fast-paced
When I listened to the author on a podcast, I immediately ordered the book. Blakinger has such a compelling story - a promising career in figure skating, an Ivy League student, and a heroin addict/dealer that finds herself in prison. I always find insider stories about prison fascinating and I really appreciated Blakinger bringing attention to the many ways prisons fail to rehabilitate and humanize the prisoners. It's clear that Blakinger is a bright woman and I'm sure her ability to turn this experience into a positive is reflective of that, but we all know that most of the prisoners in the system aren't as lucky. While I don't have any constructive thoughts on these disparities, I think it's important to continue the conversations in hopes that real solutions can be made. Blakinger is very forthcoming in her experiences and it was a very insightful read!
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I found Corrections in Ink to be a really interesting memoir. The author is a former top level ice skater and A grade college student who became addicted to heroin, did time in prison, and went on to become an award winning journalist exposing flaws and abuses in the prison system, thus improving the lives of many still behind bars. The style was upfront and open, with no effort to hide her crimes or evade responsibility. Several aspects of this book make it worthwhile read. The first is the way it highlighted the toll competing in top level sport can take on a young female athlete, especially one already suffering from poor mental health, and the lack of pastoral care when it comes to bumps in or the end of a sporting career. All too often young athletes are easily expendable once they no longer seem likely to bring sporting glory to their club or coach. The second is its exploration of the impact of an eating disorder, something in this case inexorably linked to the author’s sporting life. Third, and arguably the most far-reaching, is the exposé of the prison system, its total inhumanity, its utter lack of care for prisoner welfare, the vulnerability of prisoners to the capricious whims and abuses of often power hungry guards, and the failure of the system to do anything to enable prisoners to make a success of their life in the outside world following the end of their sentence. Such deficiencies cost society as a whole, although obviously the incarcerated suffer most. Finally, I really appreciate the way the author recognises and highlights they way her privilege, as a white woman from a relatively wealthy family, contributed to her being able to succeed outside of prison. Determination and hard work are obviously important but they are insufficient and the odds are stacked against former prisoners who are Black and brown, poor and or members of the LGBTIQA+ community.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced