Review: Waiting to Be Heard by Amanda Knox

Title: Waiting to Be Heard
Author: Amanda Knox
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publish Date: April 30, 2013
Source: Library

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a non-fiction fan.
• You're a memoir fan.
• You don't mind tough subjects

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "In the fall of 2007, twenty-year old college coed Amanda Knox left Seattle to study abroad in Perugia, Italy for one year. But that November 1, her life was shattered when her roommate, British student Meredith Kercher, was murdered in their apartment. Five days later, Amanda was taken into custody and charged by the Italian police; her arrest and the subsequent investigation ignited an international media firestorm. Overnight, this ordinary young American student became the subject of intense scrutiny, forced to endure a barrage of innuendo and speculation. Two years later, after an extremely controversial trial, Amanda was convicted and imprisoned. But in 2011 an appeals court overturned her conviction and vacated the charges. Free at last, she immediately returned home to the U.S., where she has remained silent, until now."

My Two Cents:

"Waiting to be Heard" is the memoir of Amanda Knox, a polarizing young woman to say the very, very least. Accused of brutally murdering her roommate in Perugia, Italy, Knox rose to fame in the media as a potential harlot, murderess, sex-crazed, American temptress. Her trial was closely monitored both here in America and abroad. After several rounds of trials (the Italian judicial system is oh-so-very different from the American judicial system), Ms. Knox was finally found not guilty and was able to go back home to the United States.

It's a fascinating story that I had been following pretty closely. It was hard not to be intrigued as there had been so much media attention. Throughout the trial, I felt like we were getting only the information that would make a good story and would increase the media attention. It really got to be a little bit too much for me personally. It was really nice to hear Amanda's side of the story as this had never really been covered in the trial. It was interesting to see how she perceived things and how some of the things that she did or said got turned around by people other than herself. That being said, there were definitely a couple things that she did after the murder that probably did not help her at all in the eyes of the law.

This book was definitely engaging. Ms. Knox is very forthcoming and seems very honest in the book. Her storytelling style was very engaging. For those of you who watched and followed the trial, this book will be incredibly interesting to you!