Fascinating, thoughtful, and surprising in its sensitivity. 
 I assumed this book would mainly be the author's amusing observations about her fellow prisoners and prison culture. Certainly there was some of that, but there was also a deeper journey here. Kerman went from pleading guilty in the interest of leniency to understanding the damage of her crime and being truly penitent. 
 Her account of modern prison life, even in minimum security, was interesting, as well. I was surprised both by what freedoms the women had and didn't have, and how they affected her as she passed the time, doing her time. It seems that emotional survival in prison requires a delicate balance between respecting life on the inside while never forgetting life on the outside. Stray too far in either direction and you risk becoming too vulnerable to make it out in one piece. 
 Like some others here, I wished for more of an epilogue, but I suppose I can just follow her on Twitter now, eh?