A rarity for me: this is actually one television show that I’ve kept up with and am caught up on. Another rarity for me: I decided to go back and read/listen to this book after seeing its adaptation first. I’m not sure if that decision made a difference in my opinion of the book or not, to be honest.
This book is very…interesting. It does indeed capture a year inside of a women’s prison, as the subtitle indicates. I was expecting a gritty and raw detail of prison life – and there are some of those details, sure – but I also found stories of a privileged life before prison and the privileged life that would be waiting for Piper after prison. I have to be completely honest and say that it got a little redundant hearing Piper talk about how great her life was versus the other prisoners. (Example: She talked about how she was well-read, about how she had a job waiting for her when she was released, about how she had so many visitors on visiting days and some others didn’t, etc.) Also, I was surprised at the length of time it actually took for Piper to actually go to prison. For example, if I understood correctly, there was a six-year period of time between the date Piper pled guilty in court and the date she returned to court to find out when she would actually go to prison. SIX YEARS. During those six years, my understanding is that Piper lived in New York, working as a creative director for web companies, visiting awesome places in NY, vacationing and such. Living it up because she would be spending time behind bars. Okay. Okay. Perhaps little details like this ruined the actual PRISON part of the book for me? I don’t know. But it was interesting.
What I wanted was the down and dirty of the prison experience. I eventually got (some of) it, but when I did, I found that some of the Piper’s true life isn’t how it is on the Netflix show. Am I disappointed by this? Well, if I tell you that I AM, you may want to know WHY but I don’t want to spoil anything HERE. (SPOILERS AND ALL OF THAT.) Happy to discuss elsewhere, though!
The book is interesting, but be warned: just like with much of the book-to-movie/TV, it is very different. Maybe you should skip it if you don’t like that type of thing. Or read it first, which is even better actually. I’m glad that I read it but I’m also glad I borrowed from the library and likely won’t reread. I’ll stick with the show.
About Asheley
Asheley is a Southern girl. She loves Carolina blue skies, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and NC craft beer. She loves all things history but prefers books over everything.
You can find her somewhere in North Carolina, daydreaming about the ocean.
Find Asheley on Litsy @intothehallofbooks!
The Maze Runner! I highly enjoyed that movie but didn't like the book. I had compiled a list of books last week that have movie adaptations that I've liked, I think I might post it in the coming weeks.
I love the show Orange is the New Black but I haven't read the book. And I've seen the movie for Something Borrowed as well -but haven't read the book. Same goes for The Help -although that's probably a book I should really read.