Book review: Corrections in Ink

I’ve found myself picking up more and more memoirs in the last year. I enjoy reading about the lives of some people. I was drawn to the cover of ‘Corrections in Ink’, then read the synopsis. It mentioned prison. Some background about myself - I majored in criminal justice focusing on the courts and prison system. I also worked as a Probation officer for a year. I learned a lot from that time in NYS. So with that, I was definitely interested in reading about someone’s experience in a women’s prison. I also was intrigued that it had local ties. The synopsis mentioned Cornell University, I grew up 40 minutes from Ithaca, NY.

Synopsis:

An electric and unforgettable memoir about a young woman's journey—from the ice rink, to addiction and a prison sentence, to the newsroom—and how she emerged with a fierce determination to expose the broken system she experienced.

Keri Blakinger always lived life at full throttle. Growing up, that meant throwing herself into competitive figure skating with an all-consuming passion that led her to nationals. But when her skating career suddenly fell apart, that meant diving into self-destruction with the intensity she once saved for the ice.

For the next nine years, Keri ricocheted from one dark place to the next: living on the streets, selling drugs and sex, and shooting up between classes all while trying to hold herself together enough to finish her degree at Cornell. Then, on a cold day during her senior year, the police caught her walking down the street with a Tupperware full of heroin.

Her arrest made the front page of the local news and landed her behind bars for nearly two years. There, in the Twilight Zone of New York’s jails and prisons, Keri grappled with the wreckage of her missteps and mistakes as she sobered up and searched for a better path. Along the way, she met women from all walks of life—who were all struggling through the same upside-down world of corrections. As the days ticked by, Keri came to understand how broken the justice system is and who that brokenness hurts the most.

After she walked out of her cell for the last time, Keri became a reporter dedicated to exposing our flawed prisons as only an insider could. Written with searing intensity, unflinching honesty, and shocks of humor, Corrections in Ink uncovers that dark, brutal system that affects us all. Not just a story about getting out and getting off drugs, this galvanizing memoir is about the power of second chances; about who our society throws away and who we allow to reach for redemption—and how they reach for it.

Review:

I’ll be honest, I was expecting a juicy prison drama book, this definitely did not fall in the category. This was a very raw memoir, tough to read at times! It’s that kind book that opens your eyes and makes you think about it, even after you’ve finished reading it. First of all, I appreciate the honesty and vulnerability of the author, how she shared about her life experiences. Especially with the drug addiction, it really shows that it could happen to anyone. The author clearly was a very bright student, had make it into an Ivy League school but the drugs doesn’t discriminate anyone. The book also was informative about the prison system, it is a real look inside. The author’s writing was very fascinating and impressive. I will be recommending this book to anyone who wants to know more about the prison system.

Corrections in Ink will be released on June 7th.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.