This was great and really eye opening. Ricordeau discusses the criminal justice system and prison abolition with a focus specifically on women. Ricordeau deftly describes concepts I do not have the vocabulary or knowledge to describe with a relatively digestible style of writing. Keep in mind this is from an academic press, so you should expect to take your time with it.

I was excited to see Free Them All available as I had it on my TBR.

Free Them All provides an insightful and in depth analysis of the prison and justice system. I had very high hopes for this, as I find the addition of feminist theory to be incredible important, but I was a bit let down as the book acted an an overview and at times felt like I was reading a thesis.

I would suggest this book for anyone interested in learning more about abolition but as someone who reads a lot on this subject, this book reiterated a lot of information that is used largely in other texts. I did enjoy having an international perspective (France) since most work tends to focus on the United States.

This is a great topic for a book. Even though I am not new to abolition, reading this made me realize that despite most of my learning about abolition has come from women, I have been severely lacking in a feminine perspective in one of the biggest social movements of our time. I am grateful for this book for making headway in that regard. I also enjoyed the "international" (international to me since I am American,the author is French) point of view on this issue. My favorite section was the discussion on the burdens that fall on women when a loved one is incarcerated, I think that is something that usually happens silently and should be talked about more so we can build better support networks for these women. I would love to see more books on this topic published as I think this book specifically is best as a primer or introduction for people who have learned what abolition is, but are ready to dive deeper. Maybe someone with a basic knowledge of abolition. I also like the pink cover hahaa

When I saw this book and read its description, I was genuinely excited to hear a feminist approach to abolishing the prison system. While the premise was very promising, the book failed to deliver exactly what I was expecting.

I wanted a more in-depth look at how we, as feminists, can subvert the harsh realities of the prison system, but this book seemed to be more of an overview of the issues surrounding the criminal justice system as a whole. It was still interesting and I still learned a lot, but I wanted to see it through a feminist lense.

I will, however, be recommending this to any and all who want to start learning about this topic. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

As someone who is passionate about the toxicity of the prison system and feminism, my expectations for this book were reasonably high. Though, I found I was a bit disappointed. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't known several of the topics and statistics the author discussed. Overall, I felt underwhelmed; the book felt more like a general overview than a piece that went further than the surface level to explore the topics associated with the connections between feminism, social justice, and prison. I wanted the author to delve more into their arguments and use their facts to back up their claims.

If you want to dip your toe into the prison/social justice discussion water, this book is perfect for you.

In this book, the author asks: “From whom and from what does the criminal justice system protect women? Who hears the voices of incarcerated women? Of those women who have relatives and loved ones in jails and prisons? All these questions suggest that there is a conversation between feminism and penal abolitionism.”

I thought this book really clearly laid out a case for prison abolition as a feminist cause. The author effectively refutes the argument that prison abolition lets rapists off the hook, by arguing that our current system rarely sees justice for sexual assault victims, and she presents transformative justice as an alternative. The book also shares the often ignored perspective of the loved ones of those in prison.

I wish this book had been more fleshed out and included interviews with some women who have been adversely affected by the penal justice system. But overall, I would definitely recommend it.