Piper Kerman's memoir, the inspiration behind the hit Netflix series, is a tough and deeply moving account of her year in Danbury, Connecticut's premier women's prison. The highlight of the book is the cast of characters; women whose lives, hardships, and journeys to prison are heartbreaking and infuriating and will forever harden your view of the prison-industrial complex. Although, at times, the memoir is laugh out loud funny, Kerman really excels at describing the power of female relationships, the mental torment of being denied physical contact, and the harsh injustices within the penal system. The memoir is nearly impossible to put down and left this reader in such emotional turmoil, that my fellow metro passengers must have questioned my mental health when I veered from maniacal laughter to hysterical tears as I devoured this unforgettable book on my morning commute.