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Saving Five: A Memoir of Hope

Saving Five: A Memoir of Hope

by Amanda Nguyen

AUWA ·2025 ·224 pages ·Culture
Near the Top
Near the Top
I Index
63/99
Maybe Someday

40/99

Critics

Top of the Pile

86/99

Readers

n/a

Scholars

27/99

Rating

52/99

Volume

81/99

Rating

92/99

Volume

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About This Book

A revelatory and powerful memoir by the Nobel Peace Prize nominee Amanda Nguyen, detailing her tumultuous childhood and groundbreaking activism in the aftermath of her rape at Harvard.At a Harvard fraternity party in 2013, the trajectory of Amanda Nguyen's life was changed forever when she was raped.The American-born child of Vietnamese refugees, Nguyen had long dreamed of attending Harvard, and it had become a place of refuge from a childhood filled with turmoil and trauma. Determined to not let her rape derail the life she'd worked so hard to create, she opted for her rape kit to be filed under Jane Doe, knowing that an active court case tied to her name could hurt her odds of working for NASA after graduation, a goal she'd been working toward for years.But she was shocked to learn this choice meant she had only six months to take action before the state of Massachusetts destroyed her kit, rendering any future legal action impossible. Nguyen knew then that she had two options: surrender to a law that effectively denied her justice, or fight for a change—not only for herself but for survivors everywhere.A deeply affecting memoir of grief, survival, and hope, Saving Five details Nguyen's winding journey of recovery and action, which ultimately led her to create the Sexual Assault Survivors' Bill of Rights, one of the only unanimously passed laws in the history of the United States. Both a tribute to resilience and a lesson on healing, Saving Five is an inspirational story for the ages.


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Reviews

"Nguyen's original contribution will, as its title promises, give both survivors and non-survivors some sense of hope for justice—and, now more than ever, such hope is essential."

Sylvia Brownrigg· The New York Times Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Nguyen keeps the narrative tightly focused on her personal journey of healing and the development of her identity as an activist ..."

Tara Bahrampour· The Washington Post Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Affecting, informative ..."

Margaret Quamme· Booklist Read review ↗ Near the Top

"In just over 200 pages of briskly paced personal narrative, Nguyen launches clear and exacting critiques of a culture of victim-blaming and the often-insurmountable red tape that delays or precludes justice and allows serial assailants to continue harm."

Annie Harvieux· BookPage Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Her memoir excludes almost all details of the event and its perpetrator, which seems odd since headings like '3 Hours Until the Rape' appear to lead up to an account ..."

Kirkus Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

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