Unshackled, the third book in the Camille Delaney Mystery series by Amanda DuBois, is a non-stop, complex page-turner with a social conscience.
The book, which sees lawyer Camille Delaney embroiled in a cold case that intertwines with the worlds of addiction and its impact on women, straddles a fine line between shining light on the plight of women in the prison system for drug related crimes and preaching on the subject. While at times somewhat repetitive, the underlying mystery of a missing child taken at birth and the framing of that child's mother is heart-wrenching, and the reader learns along with Camille as she navigates a different type of law practice.
The characters are compelling, the storyline full of action, and the book difficult to put down. And just when you think where it's going to go, you end up surprised.
I am thankful to have received an ARC of #Unshackled from #NetGalley.

This compelling, fast moving book taught me a lot about incarceration and the unbelievably painful status of women in prison. What is even more alarming is the situation of those women's children, and the inability of the women to retrieve their children once they leave prison.The book is suspenseful, emotional, and educational. As a former university professor, I would definitely recommend this book for students, especially female students. There's a lot to be learned here.

I did like the disparate cast of characters who work with Camille, the lawyer who is trying to help Charli, who had her baby abducted just minutes after she was born in a prison setting. Although there were a lot of characters in the book, they all added something substantive, including Camille's mother. (Of course, the fact that I have worked multiple times with refugees on a Greek island endeared me to her.) Camille's team is also rich with diversity, and that is important to the structure of the plot and its conclusion.

The settings of the book also create and establish multiple backdrops that lend depth to the book. Seattle, the San Juans, and the Olympic National Park provide contrast to the action of the plot.

The aspect of drugs and their negative impact on the women in prison and on their families and abandoned children is also highlighted in the book. And, a plot twist at the end is certainly surprising but logical.

Thanks to Flashpoint and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book. It is my first by Amanda Dubois, but I will definitely read the two earlier books by the author.

A story about the trials and treatment of incarcerated woman, what put them there, and a kick-arse team of professional woman and others that help them.
Amanda Dubois has a way of making you feel you're in the story. The tears and truimphs of the woman feel almost like your own. An emotional read with a plot twist I did not see coming!

(2.5 stars)
“We aren’t bad people in here. We’re traumatised people who society doesn’t care about.” Unshackled is a worthy book, but not necessarily a good one. It’s poorly and tediously written with lots of laboured points and unnecessary detail. It’s very much tell rather than show. Every little thought in the writer’s mind is there on its pages: “She clicked on her local delivery to order Cornish game hens and ingredients for the garlic-lemon sauce.” For example, readers literally do not care how much Camille highlights a journal article, yet we’re told twice in two pages that: “Highlights of every conceivable colour filled the page.” This level of unnecessary and irritating stream of consciousness obscures the story, which isn’t terrible but deeply buried, with a “twist” that didn’t feel believable.

You can see the author was inspired by herself for her lead protagonist, Camille Delaney, a nurse then lawyer. The character is actually hard to like, a white saviour largely oblivious to the plight of others socially different from herself: “Camille has been surprised to discover that Lucia had served sixteen months in prison on a drug charge, but she’d embraced Lucia, along with her background.” Both race and class are at play: “Camille blinked back her implicit bias as she realised the assumption she’d made about this Black woman sitting in front of her.” I think Camille’s most cringeworthy comment was about women in gaol: “They really take pride in their appearance. I had no idea.”

The tedious repetition of facts and statistics relating to women’s incarceration is heavy-handed and unnecessary: “renamed based on research—the trauma-to-prison pipeline”. I get that the book is about the gendered experience of incarceration, which leads to intergenerational trauma and poorer outcomes including the incarceration of future generations, but don’t treat readers like idiots who can’t retain information when told it once. This book was a chore to read, and needed a bloody good edit. Might also want to reconsider the comment about Kamala Harris being the “good old days—when we actually believed women had a chance to lead” as with the fullness of time, it may not date well.

I thought this was a great book. It brought to light a lot of issues women in prison deal with and how hard it is to succeed once released. It also talks in depth of how hard it is for the women to be reunited with their children after prison. There was suspense and even some twists!! The book was a little long and slow in some parts which is mostly due to the research involved to educate the readers. I love how the author created the Unshackle Her Fund to really help those who are affected by this kind of thing, it’s a great charity to support. I hope many people read this book and understand the struggles these women face.

Thank you to Flashpoint Publisher and NetGalley for my pre-publication digital copy of this book. It is the first I have read by this author.

I found this a compelling read, though at times I thought the plot a little unbelievable, having said that I do know that life can be stranger than fiction, in terms of coincidences etc! I have been in the periphery of prisons in the UK when I was a social worker, and found it interesting, though very disturbing, to read some ofthe statistics for female prisons in US. I know this must all be factual background information for the story as Amanda DuBois is a lawyer. Charlis story with Camille Delaney representing her and other women in heartbreaking cases is really well written, described and executed. It’s definitely a page turner which I recommend, and I learned a lot from it which is always a bonus.

Received this ARC courtesy of netgalley in exchange for my review. This is due to be published on 04/02/2025. It appears to be part of a series however it was a great standalone story.

Wasn't sure what to expect as I've not read anything by Dubois before and wasn't sure I'd have time to complete in one sitting, however, I couldn't put it down.

It certainly challenges perceptions of people incarcerated particularly women who are imprisoned for a variety of crimes. I think this book shows the issues faced with women who are not only treated differently because of their gender but also the impact it has on their children. Those issues are well interwoven into a detailed story that takes you on a bit of an adventure. There's a few twists and turns with the biggest to the end.

I started the journey feeling really angry for Charli and her experience and I think that's what pushed me to finish the book. I needed to know what happened to Willow and needed to know there'd be justice for Charli.

Charli has just given birth to her daughter while in prison. Immediately her baby goes missing but with no resource she is unable to search for her baby.
It’s been years and now attorney Camille Delaney has stepped into the picture.
Charli must work together not on,y to find her daughter but prove that Charli is innocent of her crime.. Luckily Camille believes her and then they find a witness and the world starts to spin again.
It won’t be easy but Charli has nothing to lose.

Interesting read I wasn’t really drawn into these characters thought.

Thank you #netgalley #flashpoint for this ARC