A review by sonygaystation
Know My Name by Chanel Miller

challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

Rating this book feels wrong because it’s so deeply painful and personal to Chanel Miller’s lived experience. It’s difficult to read and naturally graphic in parts as Miller uses this book as catharsis and processing (as is her right). I give it five stars not because I think it’s an incredible work (although I think it’s clear she’s such an eloquent, empathetic person who has spent a long time working hard to process this trauma) but because regardless of anything else, I feel it deserves five stars just for the courage and vulnerability it took for Miller to write so candidly about her violated body and most intimate feelings for everyone outside a courtroom to consume. It’s not an easy read and it’s certainly not a fun read (I’m sure no on expects it to be), but it’s informative and I think, on some level, a lot of people are going to be able to relate to it by virtue of how many women and femme-presenting people experience various forms of abuse and systemic misogyny in their lives. If you’re prepared for any potential triggers related to abuse, assault, or survivorship, it’s worth the read for an even further display of how much the American justice system favours the perpetrators even when you have extremely incriminating evidence.

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