Book 3 review

Some memoirs tend to be sappy and it seems like the author is trying to make you feel bad for them. But for Piper Chapman, that is not true at all. Piper extends on her time in jail and all of the struggles she went through. But not only did she talk about her struggles, she talked about jail in a way that made it seem like it was kind of a fun place to be; despite the drama here and there. Orange is the New Black is an intriguing book and definitely makes you want to keep reading. Some say that the Netflix series is more of a ‘can’t stop watching’ rather than the book.

Piper made bad decisions in her early twenties and definitely has some consequences to deal with. She was stupid, just like most people at some point in their life, and definitely was put in a situation that made her make up for it. “I closed myself off, telling myself that I have gotten into this mess and it was no one’s fault but mine.”(21) Being a pretty blonde girl, you wouldn’t think that she would fit into jail. In the beginning, she is nervous and doesn’t know what to expect in any way shape or form. She can’t believe that this is happening but knows that she has to deal with it. Before she goes into jail, she is most nervous about leaving her fiancé and doesn’t know what to expect with that. The only thing that keeps her going is knowing that he’ll be able to visit and she can’t wait for that.

As Piper didn’t know what she was in for when she first got there, she soon found out that she was in for a treat. Nothing can be better than your biggest enemy being in jail with you, right? Luckily she didn’t cause any trouble but that still made Piper felt like she was scared for her life. As the book went on, she definitely got less scared and jail didn’t seem as bad as she thought it would be. She met some friends and some she could be nice to but there were also some that she knew she needed to stay away from. She would call her fiancé every now and then and tell him everything that has gone on. He was always willing to listen but something just didn’t seem right. As time kept moving, Piper noticed that their connection was leaving. She didn’t know what was wrong but something just wasn’t there anymore. She tried to keep talking to him but the visits wore off and soon their relationship was definitely fading.

There wasn’t much that she could do because it was all such a huge change and definitely put a toll on both of their lives. She noticed herself finally feeling more comfortable and finding her niche. Some of the girls were rude and did things to her that she didn’t like. “Once it was clear that I wasn’t her future boo, Crazy Eyes quickly lost interest in me.”(120) At first it really made Piper uncomfortable but as time went on, she got used to it and realized who she needs to keep her distance from and who she can tell things to.

The jail life isn’t what Piper wanted in life; but she couldn’t do anything about it. This story wouldn’t be good from anyone else’s perspective. Piper gave her true and honest input on her time in there and told the story how it truly was. If anyone else were to tell the story, there would be a lot of details missing and it wouldn’t be as interesting and intriguing. Not everyone can make a good jail story, but Piper Chapman definitely did it right.