Amanda Knox: Waiting to Be Heard book Review

Reading Amanda’s account of her ordeal in Perugia brings back all of the emotions I, and many others on Vashon, felt after her arrest. Furious anger, frustration, sadness, fear, sorrow, surprise, disappointment, hope, compassion, love, admiration of her bravery, relief and finally unbridled joy. As we witnessed her family endure this judicial debacle since November 2007, I came away with the odd sensation of "reading the book after watching the movie" as each page brought back memories and sensations. The many tears shed for them during her years of captivity and the pure unabashed joy we shared after she came home; the intense relief at seeing her at SeaTac with her family at her side.
 
Our personal mantra, during those years, was "When the plane touches down, it’s over." And so it was, but yet it isn’t. We go on supporting Amanda and her family and they continue to navigate the Italian judicial system.
 
The first few chapters of Amanda’s book will remind us all of how idealistic we were in our 20’s, how innocent, how full of hope for the future, how excited we were to taste adult freedoms. But by the end of the book one is left with the realization that Amanda is now older and wiser beyond her years.
 
Her memories of Meredith Kercher are touching and poignant as she recalls the fun they shared before Meredith’s life was cut short during a home invasion in the apartment the young women shared. And she owns her part in this mess, her naïveté, her faux pas, while the Perugian officials continue to deny their mistakes, their rush to judgment before any evidence was processed, their refusal to release Amanda and her friend, Raffaele Sollecito, after it was learned that only one person’s DNA was at the crime scene—local burglar Rudy Guede.
 
Amanda guides us through her dismay to believe that she’d be put in prison for something she didn’t do to her shock at finding out that is exactly what happened to her grit and determination to fight back against all odds.
 
She also tells readers about how her family never doubted her word and never stopped supporting her, though she was 6,000 miles from home. How they plunged into debt to save her. Amanda also tells of, once they both realized the cops lied to them, how Raffaele became her close friend and a rock within the prison system, how they endured together the pitfalls of being unjustly incarcerated.
 
Her frustration of dealing with the corrupt Perugian system is heart wrenching as the prosecution twisted Italian law and used the tabloids to aid in the Smear Campaign that swept the world, to this day factions are at work to continue the heinous lies laid down in 2007.
 
And she tells of the anguish she feels of not only losing her friend, Meredith Kercher, but also being blamed for her death. Amanda makes a heartfelt plea to the Kercher family to see that she would never harm their daughter and that she hopes for reconciliation in the near future.
 
Raffaele’s book, "Honor Bound" was released in 2012, underscores how this young man became a hero to Amanda and all who love her for his integrity, he would not betray her to save himself from a prison sentence. He tells the story of how he stood firm against the insistence of the Perugian authorities so that Amanda was not lost to her family.
 
Both of their stories are a cautionary tale of knowing your rights and guarding your personal safety while abroad. The extraordinary real-life accounts of both of these young adults are available at Amazon.com, plus the audio book of "Waiting to be Heard" was recorded by Amanda herself.