Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Know My Name: A Memoir by Chanel Miller

85 reviews

amelianotthepilot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

A story of resilience
Chanel Miller, the story of a woman who has survived a rape and rape trial and a female targeted school shooting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, and Grief

kateriv's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Chanel Miller provoked a visercal response from me with her book. She took me on a painful journey in such vivid detail that I felt as if I was a ghost who she was leading by the hand through this part of her life. Not only did she do this most eloquently,  but she achieved what I saw as her ultimate goal - making victims seen as individuals, their trauma at the end of a long list of what has made up their lives, of who they are as PEOPLE. I do not think “I read about Chanel Miller, who is a victim of assault.” I think “Chanel Miller writes so beautifully, and makes such interesting art. Chanel Miller is such a ferociously loving sister. I cant believe she did stand up comedy - how cool is that!” To me, she is an intricate, interesting woman who I would love to know. 

Not that she would ever see this, but I closed this book whispering a string of thank yous to her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment and Rape

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Cursing, Gaslighting, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Sexual content, and Gun violence

seagirl_13's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Rape, Racism, Violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

pucksandpaperbacks's review against another edition

5.0

CW: sexual assault, police brutality, death, school shooting, misogyny

A must read. A powerful,  raw story about the author's sexual assault and the feelings and trauma it brought her. This is a very hard story to read, so please check all of the trigger warnings before reading. I only listed the one's I could remember. This is a story that will make you angry for the right reasons. Fuck Brock Turner and fuck the justice system that keeps failing victims of sexual assault. I felt so hard for Chanel as she tried to balance her life while going through trials and her own trauma. The way this affected her and her family was brutal.

Know My Name is beautifully written. The way Chanel shares stories of her life and experiences and connects them back to the Standford case shows how talented she is as a writer.  Chanel recounts all of her feelings from the time she was assaulted to the end of the trial as her mind is spinning in circles. She takes the reader through her life mapping out every location and every detail worth noting. I read Know My Name via audiobook which is narrated by Chanel Miller and you can hear her emotion really come through. What a heartbreaking but notable story. I wrote down so many quotes because Chanel's words were so lyrical. I'm so glad I read this and it's a story I will never forget. 

Some of my favorite quotes:
“Why should I carry the shame for the things that were done to my body?”
“I wondered how it happened, that I was now spending more time with my rapist than with my friends”

“Victims are usually automatically accused of lying, but when a perpetrator is exposed for lying, the stigma doesn’t stick. Why is it that we’re wary of victims making false accusations but rarely consider how many men have blatantly lied about, downplayed, or manipulated others to cover their own actions?” 

“I was tired of existing as an object of observation. Powerless as my narrative was written for me.” 

“Is an apology valid without change?”

“The judge had given Brock something that would never be extended to me: empathy”. 

“I’ve grown used to being unseen, never being fully known. It did not feel possible that I could be the protagonist”

“Victims are all around you” 

“Victims are not fractions. We are whole”

“The truth holds weight”

“Assault is NOT an accident” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Sexual assault, Misogyny, and Mass/school shootings

camillej's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Alcohol, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Rape, Violence, Sexual assault, and Medical trauma

marissasa's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Alcohol, Blood, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Vomit

emilily's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Violence

Minor: Gaslighting and Mental illness

lauraluuu24's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail

linguaphile412's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, Sexual harassment, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, and Gaslighting

Minor: Drug use, Sexual content, Vomit, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Medical content, Domestic abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

michaelanormand's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

as a SA survivor I can see much of myself in Chanel and her book is a beautiful and realistic look at how the justice system treats survivors and the more personal issues we face after an assault, but also in the wake of a case - whether it be criminal or title ix. it’s heartbreaking, honest, and realistic 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Mass/school shootings