I liked how this book shows you that ressources for victims exist, yes, but are not enough. I liked how this book shows you, in details, how r*pe and SA are a matter of public health, how it crushes lives and forms ripples through everyone and everything. How institutions will make you believe they care until it's too expensive or uncomfortable, and how they thrive on our silence, yet one person voice can be powerful enough that they will be forced into action.

The fact that more than 1 in 5 women is faced with sexual violence in their lifetime and that it's something that can be so easily brushed aside should be a collective shame we actively tackle, again and again and again and again. Attorneys and judges should face the blame of the injustice they uphold, the justice system should be rebuild altogether. The book doesn't shy away from social context, from privileges, from inequities. It says out loud how class, money, gender, race, etc., played a part, and basically, that "if the penalty for a crime is a fine, then that law only exists for the lower class". But on top of money, a fine could be time or "lost opportunity", it would still be injust if the same loss for the victims is never allowed to be held in the balance against the ones of the perpetrator. How is it that morgues can have "women only" job offers, yet we still put men in position of outrageous power, sometimes even when we have proof and testimony that these exact men have violated laws and other peoples body autonomy? What kind of fucked up world is this where we take more precaution in the selection of people who will take care of dead bodies than the selection of people who will create laws, vote for or against bills that will impact millions, uphold theses laws, etc. As women, we're proven again and again that the body autonomy of living fully grown human being is less important than cadavres. How is that shame not suffocating?

Chanl Miller's prose is breathtaking. I've read this one through audiobook, and she narrates it herself. You can hear how she masters written and spoken language. It's a really powerful strenght, and we are lucky she also had the strenght to share all of this with us. Everytime I cried while listening, she was collected, she was strong, she was things I couldn't be while hearing her story (as a big sister, every time she talked about how worried she was with her family's reaction to her SA, boy oh boy...). It's outstanding that her voice didn't break more often (for a 15h+ book, at most 4 very short times? it boggles the mind).

Yes, everyone should read this. It's not an easy read, it's heavy sure, but it's also terribly necessary. And if you need some vengeance afterward, follow this book with Iron Widow from Xiran Jay Zhao. They should sell the two books in a bundle.

In the fight against misoginy and injustice, I'm proud to say I'm standing on her side.