[Book] Know My Name by Chanel Miller - #16 in Memoir 📚
Know My Name by Chanel Miller [Book & Audiobok Review]
✨ Best Memoir Books ✨
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
Know My Name is not just a memoir—it’s a reclamation. Chanel Miller, once known only as "Emily Doe," is the woman Brock Turner raped behind a dumpster while she was unconscious. The case became a national outrage when Turner received a shockingly lenient six-month sentence. Chanel’s powerful victim impact statement went viral, eventually leading to the recall of the judge who delivered that sentence. But that statement was just the beginning.
Chanel reads the audiobook herself, and listening to her voice—steady, vulnerable, fierce—makes the experience all the more personal and devastating. Before I began, I honestly questioned how an entire book could be built around one incident. I assumed it might stretch to a long-form article. I was so wrong.
This memoir reveals everything we don’t see behind the headlines: the emotional toll, the years of limbo, and the sheer amount of time and energy victims are expected to pour into the pursuit of justice. Chanel’s life was put on hold for more than three years, during which she couldn’t hold down a job and had to relive her trauma repeatedly, all while the public narrative fixated on the future of her assailant. I kept asking myself—how does anyone find the strength to endure a trial like this?
What surprised me most was Chanel’s resilience and creativity—she even took up stand-up comedy as a form of healing. I tried to find clips of her performing, curious to see how someone could turn pain into punchlines. I didn’t find her act, but I did watch her interview with Trevor Noah, and was struck by her dry wit and grace. Her humor, like her writing, is sharp, layered, and quietly defiant.
Throughout the book, Chanel meticulously deconstructs rape culture—how the media emphasized Brock Turner’s swimming career, his potential, his pain. How little space was given to her life, her trauma, her name. Turner’s father famously complained that his son shouldn’t be punished for “20 minutes of action,” as if a life-altering crime could be dismissed with a shrug. That line still makes my stomach turn.
Know My Name is an unflinching, vital read. Chanel Miller doesn't just tell her story—she reclaims her identity, her voice, and her power. It’s a deeply human, brilliantly written memoir that challenges us to rethink justice, empathy, and the way we treat survivors.
Highly recommended—especially in audio.
Where can I grab a copy of this book?
Don’t miss out on this captivating journey!
This memoir isn’t just a life story—it’s a layered journey of discovery, filled with hard truths and unexpected turns that draw you in and keep you thinking long after the final page.