Thank you MacMillan for this outstanding and powerful audiobook, Jodie Comer does justice to Suzie Miller's story and prose. This is a challenging topic, one that deals with assault and the justice system so readers should be cognizant of the topic ahead of time.

What works?
1. This is a play moved into book format and it is so well done because characters and emotions are woven into the story so well. Comer brings to life the voice of the main character and the complexity and trauma.

2. Miller takes time to let the story unfold, the pacing is strong and the development of the character and the story are well paced. She lets the story tell itself, the work is not overburdened by dense writing which helps Comer's narration come through.

3. I feel Miller never tells a reader/listener how to feel but allows the story to elicit reflection, to develop empathy, and to see how the character herself changes in response to assault but also in response to her legal identity, her identity as a woman, and then as a survivor.

Outstanding. Suzie Miller's handling of a painful, soul-breaking subject is remarkable, thanks to her talent for character development, keen observations of sexism and class prejudice, and her skill for elegant, often poignant phrasing. I didn't know that this was originally a stage play, and was very impressed by the story development and the clearly delinated personalities of each character. Now I can easily imahine how Tess' story -- particularly the court scenes -- may have worked onstage. I had the good fortune to listen to the audiobook performed by Jodie Comer, whose reading is excellent. Miller's handling of classism is right on target. As a Librarian, I recommend this work to book clubs, people that may have found themselves in difficult conversations about sexism and gender roles (note -- queer representation isn't a focus of this story, though it deals accurately with heterosexism), and anyone who has had to stand up for themselves even when their own voice shakes.

PRIMA FACIE
Suzie Miller

Based on the award-winning play, PRIMA FACIE by Suzie Miller is a stunner!

Tessa Ensler has a promising career as a criminal barrister. A criminal barrister acts on behalf of the defendants in criminal cases. According to law, a person is innocent until proven guilty and part of Tessa’s job is applying that standard in her cases and giving them the best representation she can, guilty or innocent.

On what should have been a relaxed morning with the early sun and a cup of hot tea, Tessa is raped. It changes everything. Now Tessa is in the role of the victim instead of the barrister and it’s not where she wants to be. Tessa quickly learns a lesson in what it truly means to be protected by the law.

The role reversal in PRIMA FACIE is everything. The dynamics are so interesting. Who Tessa is at the beginning of the book is not who she is at the end. The change is heartbreaking to experience, and I was glad of its length when I got into the meat of the story.

It’s 288 pages long, which felt perfect. It didn’t linger to make its point. It was rather succinct, and I liked that considering the subject matter. There are a couple of hard chapters to listen to. I recommend you look up content warnings for this one if that is something you do.

Although this is tough material, it is worth your time. It is frustrating and anger-inducing and those are just a few of the good things about it.

PRIMA FACIE will be published next Tuesday, January 30, 2024. Make sure you pick up your copy and tell a friend about it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy!

PRIMA FACIE…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐞
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐒𝐮𝐳𝐢𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫
𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫: 𝐉𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟑𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Thank you Henry Holt and Macmillan Audio for my #gifted copies of Prima Facie!

This is probably one of the most difficult reviews I’ll have to write. While this is without a doubt a five star read, it just feels so wrong to sit here and write about how much I enjoyed a book that also broke my heart and made me so angry. This book is so raw and honest and at times, I honestly felt sick reading/listening to it. Prima Facie is a book I will never forget. This is such a timely read and should be on the top of your TBR. (Please check trigger warnings).

🎧I alternated between the audiobook and the physical book, narrated by Jodie Comer. When I saw Comer was the narrator, I knew I had to get my hands on this audiobook. If you weren’t aware, Comer performed Prima Facie on Broadway. While I never got to see her perform live, I am so glad she was selected as the audiobook narrator. I can’t recommend the audiobook enough. I found it easy to follow with the alternating timelines, and the emotion displayed by Comer is unlike anything I’ve listened to before.

Posted on Goodreads on January 24, 2024: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- on or around January 30, 2024: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on January 30, 2024
**-will post on designated date

Originally a play, Prima Facie is a moving, uncomfortable read.

Premise - a rising young lawyer in London is acquaintance-raped after having consensual sex with the same man earlier in the evening.

This is a hard story to read, because a lot of women have had “bad experiences” but most of us don’t consider ourselves victims of rape… the protagonist here does, however, and it’s clear she’s deeply affected by that night. She makes a compelling argument that the system is broken, but leaves it open-ended as to what the solution is - she doesn’t say he belongs in jail (wow jails would be PACKED if these guys went - we can’t afford those taxes) but she’s also clearly disappointed with the ruling. There’s a lot of fodder for book club discussion here.

📚 Series or Standalone: standalone
📚 Genre: contemporary fiction
📚 Target Age Group: adult
📚 Cliffhanger: no

✨ Will I Reread: maybe
✨ Recommended For: readers curious about the legal process for rape cases

💕 Characters: 5/5
💕 Writing: 5/5
💕 Plot: 4/5
💕 Pacing: 4/5
💕 Unputdownability: 4/5
💕 Enjoyment: 4/5
💕 Book Cover: 4/5

Thanks, NetGalley and Henry Holt Publishing, for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a novelized version of the play—I think I would do lots of illegal things to see the play, after finishing this book, but in book format (even as an audiobook) it felt very on the nose. I would give it 3.5 (rounded up).

Read if you like: Jessica Knoll, Megan Abbott

Please note that the plot is almost entirely about a sexual assault case and so there is graphic discussion and description of an assault early on and throughout the book.

This was such a great (but at times difficult) read!! A well-off, highly respected British defense lawyer finds herself a rape victim and faced with the difficult task of letting her rapist (a fellow defense lawyer) get away with it or risking her reputation and career by trying to get justice through the court system.

Powerful and heartbreaking but oh so relevant for the many, many women who find themselves victims with little recourse for justice. Great on audio too! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review! This was my first book by Suzie Miller and I really enjoyed it!

This book was pretty slow going in the beginning, so I was worried I wouldn’t like it. However I ended up really liking it but still think the beginning could’ve been chiseled down a bit but once it gets going you’ll feel just as enraged as Tessa.

I thought this was really good at explaining the roller coaster of emotions and swirling thoughts / confusion that come with a sexual assault. Especially in the position Tessa held as a barrister who typically defended rapists.

I thought it was really well done. I really liked when Tessa found her voice towards the end of her testimony. It was empowering.

One thing I learned was that lawyers in other countries wear wigs and robes. I had no idea.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ARC!

Let me start off by saying Jodie the narrator did an outstanding job! I felt the pain that Tessa was going through in Prima Facie. This is an important read and I think everyone should read it! It’s a very empowering story with solid characters.