Structure

The memoir is a linear retelling of the 16 months of Chanel Miller's life following her sexual assault by Brock Turner on the campus of Stanford University. The assault took place on January 17, 2015 and the jury reached a verdict on the case on March 30, 2016. Turner was sentenced June 2, 2016. Miller begins the narrative on the 17th, chronicling precisely what she remembers of the night of the party, followed by waking up in the hospital with no memory of being assaulted. Miller's intent is largely to illustrate how sexual assault and the legal process that follows (if charges are brought) affect a victim in order to highlight the cycle of trauma and the legal and social injustices that result.

Covering this entire time frame is effective because it demonstrates that this process is gruelingly slow, and that it upended Miller's entire life. She had to quit her job because of...