What do you think?
Rate this book
Coming Home
From the nine-time women’s basketball icon and two-time Olympic gold medalist—a raw, revelatory account of her unfathomable detainment in Russia and her journey home.
On February 17, 2022, Brittney Griner arrived in Moscow ready to spend the WNBA offseason playing for the Russian women’s basketball team where she had been the centerpiece of previous championship seasons. Instead, a security checkpoint became her gateway to hell when she was arrested for mistakenly carrying under one gram of medically prescribed hash oil. Brittney’s world was violently upended in a crisis she has never spoken in detail about publicly—until now.
In Coming Home, Brittney finally shares the harrowing details of her sudden arrest days before Russia invaded Ukraine; her bewilderment and isolation while navigating a foreign legal system amid her trial and sentencing; her emotional and physical anguish as the first American woman ever to endure a Russian penal colony while the #WeAreBG movement rallied for her release; the chilling prisoner swap with Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout; and her remarkable rise from hostage to global spokesperson on behalf of America’s forgotten. In haunting and vivid detail, Brittney takes listeners inside the horrors of a geopolitical nightmare spanning ten months.
And yet Coming Home is more than Brittney’s journey from captivity to freedom. In an account as gripping as it is poignant, she shares how her deep love for Cherelle, her college sweetheart and wife of six years, anchored her during their greatest storm; how her family’s support pulled her back from the brink; and how hundreds of letters from friends and neighbors lent her resolve to keep fighting. Coming Home is both a story of survival and a testament to love—the bonds that brought Brittney home to her family, and at last, to herself.
On February 17, 2022, Brittney Griner arrived in Moscow ready to spend the WNBA offseason playing for the Russian women’s basketball team where she had been the centerpiece of previous championship seasons. Instead, a security checkpoint became her gateway to hell when she was arrested for mistakenly carrying under one gram of medically prescribed hash oil. Brittney’s world was violently upended in a crisis she has never spoken in detail about publicly—until now.
In Coming Home, Brittney finally shares the harrowing details of her sudden arrest days before Russia invaded Ukraine; her bewilderment and isolation while navigating a foreign legal system amid her trial and sentencing; her emotional and physical anguish as the first American woman ever to endure a Russian penal colony while the #WeAreBG movement rallied for her release; the chilling prisoner swap with Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout; and her remarkable rise from hostage to global spokesperson on behalf of America’s forgotten. In haunting and vivid detail, Brittney takes listeners inside the horrors of a geopolitical nightmare spanning ten months.
And yet Coming Home is more than Brittney’s journey from captivity to freedom. In an account as gripping as it is poignant, she shares how her deep love for Cherelle, her college sweetheart and wife of six years, anchored her during their greatest storm; how her family’s support pulled her back from the brink; and how hundreds of letters from friends and neighbors lent her resolve to keep fighting. Coming Home is both a story of survival and a testament to love—the bonds that brought Brittney home to her family, and at last, to herself.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published May 7, 2024
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 441 reviews
May 30, 2024
4.5 Stars
"The system put a mark on us. You're not the same as everyone else. And nobody ever asked who we were. As Black and Brown people, it's as if we were born guilty."
-Yuself Salaam of the Exonerated Five
I'm old so I remember when the WNBA started. I was a little kid and I was super excited about it. I loved basketball and I love supporting women. I used to watch it all the time but I haven't watched any basketball of any gender in years but I still recognize the big stars. So when Britteny Griner was held hostage by Russia I was shocked by how this happen to such a big star.
Russia and the United States are not exactly besties. Our countries have had its ups and downs throughout history and currently its very down. So on February 17, 2022 when BG was detained for have 2 cannabis vape pens with 0.2 grams and 0.5 grams respectively. Even here in Kentucky where Weed is still illegal that amount won't get you arrested. It was clear that she was being held for not the crime she was charged with but for political reasons.
Coming Home is about the Hell BG went through in those prisons but the mental anguish she continues deal with till this day. It's a heartbreaking read but it also will make you smile. BG and her wife Relle are the strongest people on Earth. Relle didn't stop fighting everyday until they she was able to bring BG home. Russia is still holding another American Paul Whelan who may or may not be a spy but should definitely be brought back home regardless.
I could have read this book faster but I think I'm heading into a reading slump. Don't let my slow reading pace stop you from picking this book up. It's an important read and BG is a funny and nice person who is always trying to become a better person.
"The system put a mark on us. You're not the same as everyone else. And nobody ever asked who we were. As Black and Brown people, it's as if we were born guilty."
-Yuself Salaam of the Exonerated Five
I'm old so I remember when the WNBA started. I was a little kid and I was super excited about it. I loved basketball and I love supporting women. I used to watch it all the time but I haven't watched any basketball of any gender in years but I still recognize the big stars. So when Britteny Griner was held hostage by Russia I was shocked by how this happen to such a big star.
Russia and the United States are not exactly besties. Our countries have had its ups and downs throughout history and currently its very down. So on February 17, 2022 when BG was detained for have 2 cannabis vape pens with 0.2 grams and 0.5 grams respectively. Even here in Kentucky where Weed is still illegal that amount won't get you arrested. It was clear that she was being held for not the crime she was charged with but for political reasons.
Coming Home is about the Hell BG went through in those prisons but the mental anguish she continues deal with till this day. It's a heartbreaking read but it also will make you smile. BG and her wife Relle are the strongest people on Earth. Relle didn't stop fighting everyday until they she was able to bring BG home. Russia is still holding another American Paul Whelan who may or may not be a spy but should definitely be brought back home regardless.
I could have read this book faster but I think I'm heading into a reading slump. Don't let my slow reading pace stop you from picking this book up. It's an important read and BG is a funny and nice person who is always trying to become a better person.
May 17, 2024
I was surprised by how much I liked this book (I read on audio). The story is well told and gives the reader what they're looking for in terms of Griner's experiences in Russia. I think this book is aiming toward a very wide audience and at times tries to really explain things (like racism, Black women's hair, queer identity) that feels very basic. I also think Griner was not allowed to divulge center information and also wasn't privy to other things so there are gaps. It is a very smooth and clear narrative that I was engaged with from start to finish.
May 23, 2024
Wow. Just wow. I am in awe of BG’s grace, strength, clarity, faith, and moral conviction as she shared her story in her own words with the world. BG is a role model and queer trailblazer and feel such gratitude that she has shared her story with the public.
This memoir is a candid pulling back of the curtain of BG’s experience of being wrongfully detained in Russia and the challenges she’s faced upon her return. I wept at countless points throughout, but the humor and wit woven throughout made me laugh out loud at others.
As someone who followed BG’s detainment closely from the US, wrote letters and prayed daily, it was deeply emotional to read all of the moments that made the news in the US: her re-classification as wrongfully detained, her trial dates, her plea, the state department missing BG’s phone call to Cherelle, from BG’s perspective.
I was deeply moved by BG’s friendship with Alena and the way she wrote of all the relationships she built while wrongfully detained. I was struck by the candor in which BG shared her struggles with PTSD and adjusting to life after returning to the US.
What a gift it is for all of us that BG chose to share her story.
This memoir is a candid pulling back of the curtain of BG’s experience of being wrongfully detained in Russia and the challenges she’s faced upon her return. I wept at countless points throughout, but the humor and wit woven throughout made me laugh out loud at others.
As someone who followed BG’s detainment closely from the US, wrote letters and prayed daily, it was deeply emotional to read all of the moments that made the news in the US: her re-classification as wrongfully detained, her trial dates, her plea, the state department missing BG’s phone call to Cherelle, from BG’s perspective.
I was deeply moved by BG’s friendship with Alena and the way she wrote of all the relationships she built while wrongfully detained. I was struck by the candor in which BG shared her struggles with PTSD and adjusting to life after returning to the US.
What a gift it is for all of us that BG chose to share her story.
May 27, 2024
Coming Home is a heartbreaking and inspiring story of resilience, strength, survival, and hope. Not only did Brittney have to endure being a prisoner in Russia under inhumane conditions but she also faced horrible discrimination for being black, gay, and an American. Following Brittney’s journey from being arrested in Russia, to awaiting her trial/sentencing in jail, to a labor camp, and finally to freedom and her struggles to adjust back home was such an emotional rollercoaster.
Brittney is such an amazing role model and I am astounded by her grace and humility. Since her release, she has worked with the BOFH (Bring Our Families Home) campaign and used her platform to bring awareness to all those who are unjustly detained overseas. Her story is a reminder of all the Americans who are political prisoners around the world like Paul Whelan who are still imprisoned in Russia and how we should not forget them.
I listened to the audiobook version (which was phenomenal) of Coming Home which was read mostly by Andia Winslow but Brittney read the prologue, epilogue, and acknowledgments.
Coming Home by Brittney Griner was published on May 7 so it is available now. Many thanks to Penguin Random House Audio for the gifted audiobook!
Brittney is such an amazing role model and I am astounded by her grace and humility. Since her release, she has worked with the BOFH (Bring Our Families Home) campaign and used her platform to bring awareness to all those who are unjustly detained overseas. Her story is a reminder of all the Americans who are political prisoners around the world like Paul Whelan who are still imprisoned in Russia and how we should not forget them.
I listened to the audiobook version (which was phenomenal) of Coming Home which was read mostly by Andia Winslow but Brittney read the prologue, epilogue, and acknowledgments.
Coming Home by Brittney Griner was published on May 7 so it is available now. Many thanks to Penguin Random House Audio for the gifted audiobook!
July 6, 2024
I enjoy a good story of someone overcoming adversity. This is an inspiring one. The shock and horrors of Russian prisons is even worse than I imagined.
May 9, 2024
You will never read another story like Brittney Griner’s. A professional basketball player, a Black lesbian, imprisoned in Russia for 293 days. Her memoir is a vulnerable account of a harrowing experience and her struggles after coming home - the residual effect of being an inmate in a gulag (labor camp). Griner’s strength and fortitude, scaffolded by her loving partner and family, is a testament to the power of the human spirit.
July 17, 2024
I noticed people fawning over this with a deluge of overwhelming praise and high ratings, and wondered why. Being quite familiar with the subject’s escapades, on and off court, I wasn’t buying it. With no intention of ever reviewing this book initially, I read a very long — maybe 30 + pages as I recall —sample of this. It was exactly what I expected, and that’s not good.
Seven words into this victim embracing book, we of course get the F-bomb, and in a couple of pages it quickly becomes clear this is going to be a “poor little me” memoir of this person embracing their victimhood, while shirking and ignoring all accountability for her own actions.
Everyone pretty much knows about the bigger international scandal, but perhaps not the “Glorious” domestic fiasco among a segment of society (LGBTQ) with astronomical rates of abuse and domestic violence; most notably within the lesbian community. This is often swept under the rug by the woke left in favor of targeting men — Black and White and Hispanic men — but especially White men — in campaigns to end domestic violence. Yet there is nary a peep about the community with the highest rates of abuse and violence, because statistics and honesty is too politically incorrect to mention for the left, but quite politically expedient to ignore. Just blame men in general, especially White males. Makes you wonder if the woke and the WNBA community cares more about pushing an agenda and narrative than they actually do about the real issue, doesn’t it?
On the larger, more recent, and far more infamous scandal in this player’s life, which is the main subject of this overpraised book, only PREFERENTIAL, PRIORITIZED treatment entirely BECAUSE of who Brittney Griner is, and the “lettered” groups she speaks for who came to her defense with social and political pressure, got her out of that jam, but at a tremendous cost.
Anyone with a modicum of common sense, living in the real world, starts rolling their eyes when Brittney Griner begins painting herself as a victim right from the outset of the book. I decided I’d had enough after the very long sampling; I don’t need to read more of the same to discern this is a snow-job all the way. Whether that’s ideological to the point of being lefty-cult-like in nature, or just someone young and immature being enabled and applauded by the woke and militant WNBA culture, remains to be seen.
What any honest and evenhanded person has to ask themselves prior to making an attempt to tackle Coming Home, is this:
Had a fictitious, hypothetical NBA player — we’ll call him Larry Stockton — pled guilty to disorderly conduct after a well publicized domestic fight with his soon to be pregnant girlfriend — one that reportedly involved wrestling, punches, biting, and throwing and swinging objects at each other — and been ordered by the court to complete 26 weeks of domestic violence counseling, would the same folks heaping praise here on Griner and her book be bringing that up about old Larry, and have an entirely different take on this for Stockton, him being a White heterosexual male in the NBA?
Everyone knows the honest answer is a resounding, YES they would, you BET they would. They’d be foaming at the mouth, protesting Larry Stockton all over the place, and probably try to “cancel” him (which is simply trying to bully someone into adopting your position), as the woke left SO loves to do, while hypocritically railing against, you know, bullying. You can’t make this stuff up, which is why people are fed up with the angry, PC, Woke, “Progressive” movement who demonizes anybody who doesn’t agree with them, and takes no responsibility for the often tragic fallout.
Let’s parallel this scenario further down the road, and say NBA player Larry Stockton had later been arrogant enough, or forgetful enough, to carelessly pack hash oil and vape cartridges in his luggage when entering a foreign country.
{Frankly, that’s tough for me to buy in Griner’s case, since she had apparently been to Russia before, and had to be aware of the controlled substance laws (she should thank her lucky stars it wasn’t Indonesia she was entering)}.
After an international fuss no other citizen would have garnered, old Larry is finally rescued from his own folly by his country’s government in a swap for a guy known as “The Merchant of Death”. Larry then chooses to write — or perhaps have ghostwritten — a book about it, portraying himself as a victim.
Would the same folks loving and praising Griner’s book have quite a different take on the fictitious White, heterosexual NBA star Larry Stockton, whose only connection to lettered communities is maybe belonging to the NRA? You BETCHA they would, it really isn’t even arguable.
But let’s suppose Larry Stockton were a Black or Hispanic or Asian NBA player, heterosexual, Christian, and he won’t refuse to come out for the Anthem because he deems it disrespectful, despite being against endless wars and many other things? How would that version of Larry make out in these scenarios? Not much better than White Larry, that’s how. Because it’s about far more than that.
The blatant hypocrisy and misandry is strong in today’s leftist woke activists and radical feminists with their angry, violent, incendiary rhetoric — off the charts strong. If the flimsy argument made for Larry Stockton being anointed as an iconic hero and victim, being lauded as a trail-blazing “role” model, doesn’t make sense — and it doesn’t — then as Dave Chappelle said about another hot-button issue, maybe this entire argument doesn’t make sense. In fact, it seems pretty delusional.
That has nothing to do with race or gender, it is simply common sense, and a truthful observation shared by the millions who won’t be buying this book because they’ve seen enough and heard enough already to know what the deal is with this. But that’s something the woke loathe. They try to cancel/bully you for having an opinion based on facts, applying your own personal values and standards for conduct. If your conclusion is different from their own, all you’ll get is an angry cacophony of vitriol and hate, name calling or deadly silence, the black-balling cold shoulder for not kneeling to their absurd wishes to remake society in an image contrary to your own personal values and moral center.
I don’t have to agree with someone’s lifestyle and/or actions to still have a degree of sympathy, even empathy, for another human being in an awful situation. Your instincts are to feel compassion. But this embracing of victimhood for the end result of terrible actions brought about by a chosen lifestyle, and by ignoring all common sense, while at the same time being so preachy about both, just doesn’t cut it for me — nor does it I suspect, for the millions upon millions of others commonly referred to as the silent majority.
Coming Home does, however, highlight the social activism and mindset of much of the WNBA league, which Black sportswriter Jason Whitlock has pointed out time and again. This book in fact seems to be — from my long but admittedly incomplete sampling — a kind of microcosm of the biggest reason people don’t watch the WNBA, which has needed to be subsidized by the NBA (dreaded MEN) for decades because it’s been such a money-losing venture. That won’t change, until the WNBA ceases to be about gender and social activism more than it’s about basketball…
Only one star, because zero stars is not an option.
Seven words into this victim embracing book, we of course get the F-bomb, and in a couple of pages it quickly becomes clear this is going to be a “poor little me” memoir of this person embracing their victimhood, while shirking and ignoring all accountability for her own actions.
Everyone pretty much knows about the bigger international scandal, but perhaps not the “Glorious” domestic fiasco among a segment of society (LGBTQ) with astronomical rates of abuse and domestic violence; most notably within the lesbian community. This is often swept under the rug by the woke left in favor of targeting men — Black and White and Hispanic men — but especially White men — in campaigns to end domestic violence. Yet there is nary a peep about the community with the highest rates of abuse and violence, because statistics and honesty is too politically incorrect to mention for the left, but quite politically expedient to ignore. Just blame men in general, especially White males. Makes you wonder if the woke and the WNBA community cares more about pushing an agenda and narrative than they actually do about the real issue, doesn’t it?
On the larger, more recent, and far more infamous scandal in this player’s life, which is the main subject of this overpraised book, only PREFERENTIAL, PRIORITIZED treatment entirely BECAUSE of who Brittney Griner is, and the “lettered” groups she speaks for who came to her defense with social and political pressure, got her out of that jam, but at a tremendous cost.
Anyone with a modicum of common sense, living in the real world, starts rolling their eyes when Brittney Griner begins painting herself as a victim right from the outset of the book. I decided I’d had enough after the very long sampling; I don’t need to read more of the same to discern this is a snow-job all the way. Whether that’s ideological to the point of being lefty-cult-like in nature, or just someone young and immature being enabled and applauded by the woke and militant WNBA culture, remains to be seen.
What any honest and evenhanded person has to ask themselves prior to making an attempt to tackle Coming Home, is this:
Had a fictitious, hypothetical NBA player — we’ll call him Larry Stockton — pled guilty to disorderly conduct after a well publicized domestic fight with his soon to be pregnant girlfriend — one that reportedly involved wrestling, punches, biting, and throwing and swinging objects at each other — and been ordered by the court to complete 26 weeks of domestic violence counseling, would the same folks heaping praise here on Griner and her book be bringing that up about old Larry, and have an entirely different take on this for Stockton, him being a White heterosexual male in the NBA?
Everyone knows the honest answer is a resounding, YES they would, you BET they would. They’d be foaming at the mouth, protesting Larry Stockton all over the place, and probably try to “cancel” him (which is simply trying to bully someone into adopting your position), as the woke left SO loves to do, while hypocritically railing against, you know, bullying. You can’t make this stuff up, which is why people are fed up with the angry, PC, Woke, “Progressive” movement who demonizes anybody who doesn’t agree with them, and takes no responsibility for the often tragic fallout.
Let’s parallel this scenario further down the road, and say NBA player Larry Stockton had later been arrogant enough, or forgetful enough, to carelessly pack hash oil and vape cartridges in his luggage when entering a foreign country.
{Frankly, that’s tough for me to buy in Griner’s case, since she had apparently been to Russia before, and had to be aware of the controlled substance laws (she should thank her lucky stars it wasn’t Indonesia she was entering)}.
After an international fuss no other citizen would have garnered, old Larry is finally rescued from his own folly by his country’s government in a swap for a guy known as “The Merchant of Death”. Larry then chooses to write — or perhaps have ghostwritten — a book about it, portraying himself as a victim.
Would the same folks loving and praising Griner’s book have quite a different take on the fictitious White, heterosexual NBA star Larry Stockton, whose only connection to lettered communities is maybe belonging to the NRA? You BETCHA they would, it really isn’t even arguable.
But let’s suppose Larry Stockton were a Black or Hispanic or Asian NBA player, heterosexual, Christian, and he won’t refuse to come out for the Anthem because he deems it disrespectful, despite being against endless wars and many other things? How would that version of Larry make out in these scenarios? Not much better than White Larry, that’s how. Because it’s about far more than that.
The blatant hypocrisy and misandry is strong in today’s leftist woke activists and radical feminists with their angry, violent, incendiary rhetoric — off the charts strong. If the flimsy argument made for Larry Stockton being anointed as an iconic hero and victim, being lauded as a trail-blazing “role” model, doesn’t make sense — and it doesn’t — then as Dave Chappelle said about another hot-button issue, maybe this entire argument doesn’t make sense. In fact, it seems pretty delusional.
That has nothing to do with race or gender, it is simply common sense, and a truthful observation shared by the millions who won’t be buying this book because they’ve seen enough and heard enough already to know what the deal is with this. But that’s something the woke loathe. They try to cancel/bully you for having an opinion based on facts, applying your own personal values and standards for conduct. If your conclusion is different from their own, all you’ll get is an angry cacophony of vitriol and hate, name calling or deadly silence, the black-balling cold shoulder for not kneeling to their absurd wishes to remake society in an image contrary to your own personal values and moral center.
I don’t have to agree with someone’s lifestyle and/or actions to still have a degree of sympathy, even empathy, for another human being in an awful situation. Your instincts are to feel compassion. But this embracing of victimhood for the end result of terrible actions brought about by a chosen lifestyle, and by ignoring all common sense, while at the same time being so preachy about both, just doesn’t cut it for me — nor does it I suspect, for the millions upon millions of others commonly referred to as the silent majority.
Coming Home does, however, highlight the social activism and mindset of much of the WNBA league, which Black sportswriter Jason Whitlock has pointed out time and again. This book in fact seems to be — from my long but admittedly incomplete sampling — a kind of microcosm of the biggest reason people don’t watch the WNBA, which has needed to be subsidized by the NBA (dreaded MEN) for decades because it’s been such a money-losing venture. That won’t change, until the WNBA ceases to be about gender and social activism more than it’s about basketball…
Only one star, because zero stars is not an option.
June 8, 2024
Wow.
I remember walking down Fountain Mall on my way to class, and seeing Brittney Griner for the first time on Baylor’s campus. I remember thinking “now that is power and strength embodied; what must it be like to walk around with everyone always seeing you?”
This book broke my heart and put it back together again. What a powerful story of one mistake completely changing your path in life and how you have to forgive yourself in order to fully heal.
She owed no one this story, but I hope that similarly to how she listed every hostage that is still out there, this book sheds light on the stories of so many other people locked up abroad.
I remember walking down Fountain Mall on my way to class, and seeing Brittney Griner for the first time on Baylor’s campus. I remember thinking “now that is power and strength embodied; what must it be like to walk around with everyone always seeing you?”
This book broke my heart and put it back together again. What a powerful story of one mistake completely changing your path in life and how you have to forgive yourself in order to fully heal.
She owed no one this story, but I hope that similarly to how she listed every hostage that is still out there, this book sheds light on the stories of so many other people locked up abroad.
July 22, 2024
Thank you Knopf for the finished copy.
This has to be one of the most well-written memoirs I have ever read.
BG's authenticity and vulnerability shine through in this memoir. The timing of this memoir is almost perfect. Everything from her upbringing, sexuality, race, and image all connects to her wrongful detainment. And that is what I loved about the connections made; they gave me an insight into not only her mindset during the detainment but also before and after. It all made for a well-rounded memoir where I left with more knowledge than what I went in knowing. And that's what I personally look for in a memoir.
Prior to this memoir, I had known little about BG's life and career, to the extent of what all happened in Russia. I didn't watch interviews or seek out information. I just basically waited for the right moment for BG to tell her story through a vessel I communicate well through, a literary piece. As I listened to this book, I felt the emotions BG wanted to convey, I believe. It was anger, sadness, happiness, hopefulness, and gratitude. The point that BG wanted to make was made.
It is such a powerful story. BG is a survivor, and no one will know the torment she endures daily because of the decisions that she made that caused that moment in time. I am happy she made it through, and now she is looking forward to her next chapter.
I do wish we would've gotten more of an inside look at her mental state now after everything, but I realize some things do need to be held back for the sake of healing, which BG is absolutely still doing and probably will continue to do so. I’d highly recommend this one.
One of my favorite quotes from the book:
“When your life has been stolen. You stop counting in months, instead you count the memories you’re not making.”
This has to be one of the most well-written memoirs I have ever read.
BG's authenticity and vulnerability shine through in this memoir. The timing of this memoir is almost perfect. Everything from her upbringing, sexuality, race, and image all connects to her wrongful detainment. And that is what I loved about the connections made; they gave me an insight into not only her mindset during the detainment but also before and after. It all made for a well-rounded memoir where I left with more knowledge than what I went in knowing. And that's what I personally look for in a memoir.
Prior to this memoir, I had known little about BG's life and career, to the extent of what all happened in Russia. I didn't watch interviews or seek out information. I just basically waited for the right moment for BG to tell her story through a vessel I communicate well through, a literary piece. As I listened to this book, I felt the emotions BG wanted to convey, I believe. It was anger, sadness, happiness, hopefulness, and gratitude. The point that BG wanted to make was made.
It is such a powerful story. BG is a survivor, and no one will know the torment she endures daily because of the decisions that she made that caused that moment in time. I am happy she made it through, and now she is looking forward to her next chapter.
I do wish we would've gotten more of an inside look at her mental state now after everything, but I realize some things do need to be held back for the sake of healing, which BG is absolutely still doing and probably will continue to do so. I’d highly recommend this one.
One of my favorite quotes from the book:
“When your life has been stolen. You stop counting in months, instead you count the memories you’re not making.”
May 14, 2024
I am a Baylor alum and an ardent athletic supporter. I was a student when the women’s basketball team won their first national championship and followed along during their historic 40-0 season. Brittney Griner is responsible for a large part of Baylor’s rise to success (no thanks to coach Kim Mulkey—their tension post-college is not a well-kept secret), but I will admit that I had mixed feelings about some of her choices after she stopped playing for Baylor (kneeling during the anthem, drug use, etc.). However, after reading her harrowing, traumatic story of her 10 months spent in a Russian prison, I realize that much of what I thought about BG was influenced by the media and not actually factual. Her memoir of her fight to come home is gripping, maddening, uplifting, and inspiring.
To supplement her WNBA Phoenix Mercury income (a pay disparity from the NBA that is a whole separate story), Griner spent several months of each year playing basketball abroad. China, Italy, and Russia are popular markets for American athletes. The morning of her flight to start her season in Russia, she was in a rush and forgot to remove two small cartridges of cannabis oil from her duffel bag. She has doctor’s approval to use medical cannabis, but in a lockdown country like Russia, even the gram that she had was cause for arrest. Her detainment, incarceration, and complete violation of human rights was an atrocity for months on end. Because of her celebrity, she was used as a pawn in negotiations between Russia and the US for potential prisoner exchanges, but the time and the toll on her mental health almost cost her the ultimate price.
Griner endured her months away in the most inhumane and humiliating conditions by making the correct friends in prison, learning not to trust certain people, leaning on her talented Russian lawyers, renewing her faith (she devotes an entire chapter to her deepening faith, often quoting entire passages of Scripture that were meaningful to her in that time), and especially her family who worked tirelessly to keep her name and cause front and center. Her wife, Cherelle, graduated from law school and passed the bar exam during the time BG was gone and became close friends with President and Dr. Biden. Griner’s eventual release came at the controversial cost of a well-known Russian arms dealer and did not include the release of longtime detainee Paul Whelan. In the time since her release she has continued to be an advocate for the release of those unfairly detained internationally and has used her voice to amplify their stories.
BG’s story is sad and powerful and difficult to read. I was hopeful that she would narrate it, but she chose a wonderful narrator and voiced the prologue and afterword (which takes 30 minutes to explain all the examples of detainees abroad and ways people can help advocate for their release). Listening to her story gave me some new perspective and opened my mind even more about her plight. She is someone’s daughter, spouse, sister, cousin, teammate, and friend. Her celebrity status might have helped her story become widespread more easily, but using her voice to continue to fight the atrocities and tragedies others face is the silver lining from such a dark time.
To supplement her WNBA Phoenix Mercury income (a pay disparity from the NBA that is a whole separate story), Griner spent several months of each year playing basketball abroad. China, Italy, and Russia are popular markets for American athletes. The morning of her flight to start her season in Russia, she was in a rush and forgot to remove two small cartridges of cannabis oil from her duffel bag. She has doctor’s approval to use medical cannabis, but in a lockdown country like Russia, even the gram that she had was cause for arrest. Her detainment, incarceration, and complete violation of human rights was an atrocity for months on end. Because of her celebrity, she was used as a pawn in negotiations between Russia and the US for potential prisoner exchanges, but the time and the toll on her mental health almost cost her the ultimate price.
Griner endured her months away in the most inhumane and humiliating conditions by making the correct friends in prison, learning not to trust certain people, leaning on her talented Russian lawyers, renewing her faith (she devotes an entire chapter to her deepening faith, often quoting entire passages of Scripture that were meaningful to her in that time), and especially her family who worked tirelessly to keep her name and cause front and center. Her wife, Cherelle, graduated from law school and passed the bar exam during the time BG was gone and became close friends with President and Dr. Biden. Griner’s eventual release came at the controversial cost of a well-known Russian arms dealer and did not include the release of longtime detainee Paul Whelan. In the time since her release she has continued to be an advocate for the release of those unfairly detained internationally and has used her voice to amplify their stories.
BG’s story is sad and powerful and difficult to read. I was hopeful that she would narrate it, but she chose a wonderful narrator and voiced the prologue and afterword (which takes 30 minutes to explain all the examples of detainees abroad and ways people can help advocate for their release). Listening to her story gave me some new perspective and opened my mind even more about her plight. She is someone’s daughter, spouse, sister, cousin, teammate, and friend. Her celebrity status might have helped her story become widespread more easily, but using her voice to continue to fight the atrocities and tragedies others face is the silver lining from such a dark time.
June 23, 2024
Edit: I changed from 5 stars to 4 stars on 6/23/24 on further reflection. It was well executed for what it was, but it was a relatively narrow scope, basically just describing what happened to her.
Brief detour from NASA books as a lot of people are waiting for this book behind me. I’m glad BG wrote this book so that people can see how she was treated which was awful. She keeps it pretty focused on retelling everything that happened in Russia with some brief detours into her past to explain her relationships with certain people and how she became who she is today. Her dad was very homophobic and she had to leave home in high school when another parent outed her to him. Eventually he came around somewhat and they have a better relationship today.
The Russia experience is about what you’d expect - BS charge, no due process, awful conditions, 12 hour work days, freezing cold. There are a few English-speaking prisoners who are nice to her and without them it would have been even worse.
The main takeaway here is to never go to Russia, and to hope that one day things get better there.
Kim Mulkey is nowhere to be found in this book. Not a word of support for your former star wrongfully detained in Russia? Hmmmmm. Dawn Staley and Tara VanDerveer are both shouted out for their support. Also shout out Steph Curry for calling for her release multiple times.
As far as books about Russia doing terrible things that I have read, I liked Red Notice better than this because it was broader in scope and had the finance angle. But I would still recommend this to anyone.
As BG points out, there are still more Americans wrongly detained in Russia. Bring home Evan Gershkovich, Andre Khachatoorian, and Paul Whelan!
Brief detour from NASA books as a lot of people are waiting for this book behind me. I’m glad BG wrote this book so that people can see how she was treated which was awful. She keeps it pretty focused on retelling everything that happened in Russia with some brief detours into her past to explain her relationships with certain people and how she became who she is today. Her dad was very homophobic and she had to leave home in high school when another parent outed her to him. Eventually he came around somewhat and they have a better relationship today.
The Russia experience is about what you’d expect - BS charge, no due process, awful conditions, 12 hour work days, freezing cold. There are a few English-speaking prisoners who are nice to her and without them it would have been even worse.
The main takeaway here is to never go to Russia, and to hope that one day things get better there.
Kim Mulkey is nowhere to be found in this book. Not a word of support for your former star wrongfully detained in Russia? Hmmmmm. Dawn Staley and Tara VanDerveer are both shouted out for their support. Also shout out Steph Curry for calling for her release multiple times.
As far as books about Russia doing terrible things that I have read, I liked Red Notice better than this because it was broader in scope and had the finance angle. But I would still recommend this to anyone.
As BG points out, there are still more Americans wrongly detained in Russia. Bring home Evan Gershkovich, Andre Khachatoorian, and Paul Whelan!
May 19, 2024
“What I have is a hope that we can be gentler with one another - that we can imagine what it feels like not to fit” - Brittney Griner.
Who knew I was a fan of BG? Welp, I am now! What an intense life story that Griner now uses to move forward with strength, grace and an eye focused on gratitude and justice. Between 4.5 / 5 ⭐️
Who knew I was a fan of BG? Welp, I am now! What an intense life story that Griner now uses to move forward with strength, grace and an eye focused on gratitude and justice. Between 4.5 / 5 ⭐️
May 14, 2024
#ad I received a finished copy of this book / many thanks to @aaknopf + @penquinrandomhouse #partner
“It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.” - Nelson Mandela (Part IV: Labor Camp)
I recently just watched Brittney Griner’s first TV interview, and the very next day this beauty of a book showed up on my doorstep. What a coincidence.
One massive mishap changed Griner’s life forever when she landed in Russia with her medical marijuana vape cartridges - which she had forgotten in her bag and which is illegal in Russia. Sentenced to 9 years, BG didn’t know what her future would look like again.
I love that I got to watch her interview before reading this book. You can see the shame, pain, and regret in Griner’s face. My heart goes out to her. Although some blame her for everything that happened - it’s not that simple. It’s not always black and white. People need to judge less and understand more.
To me, this is a story of survival. There were moments that Griner wanted to give up. Conditions that most would not accept were her living quarters for almost a year. I can only imagine her despair.
This book gives us the whole picture of BG’s life before, during, and after her time as a prisoner in Russia. I loved the pictures she shares with us.
#ComingHome #BrittneyGriner
“It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.” - Nelson Mandela (Part IV: Labor Camp)
I recently just watched Brittney Griner’s first TV interview, and the very next day this beauty of a book showed up on my doorstep. What a coincidence.
One massive mishap changed Griner’s life forever when she landed in Russia with her medical marijuana vape cartridges - which she had forgotten in her bag and which is illegal in Russia. Sentenced to 9 years, BG didn’t know what her future would look like again.
I love that I got to watch her interview before reading this book. You can see the shame, pain, and regret in Griner’s face. My heart goes out to her. Although some blame her for everything that happened - it’s not that simple. It’s not always black and white. People need to judge less and understand more.
To me, this is a story of survival. There were moments that Griner wanted to give up. Conditions that most would not accept were her living quarters for almost a year. I can only imagine her despair.
This book gives us the whole picture of BG’s life before, during, and after her time as a prisoner in Russia. I loved the pictures she shares with us.
#ComingHome #BrittneyGriner
June 30, 2024
I know I love celebrity memoirs, but this one was next level good to me. I remember watching Brittney play for Baylor in Ames when I was little! (you know me a women’s basketball fan for a hot min!) I was genuinely curious about this book because I tended to lean towards the thinking that she committed a crime, she should serve out her sentence. I learned SO much. This book focuses on the day Brittney left the US to fly to Russia until present day, with background here and there about her life. I’m so encouraged by her story and how she talks about her faith that became real because of her time in Russian prison. It’s incredible that no detail of Brittney’s life has been wasted. She made a mistake, and has since used her position to advocate for other wrongfully detained hostages and used her story to share about her hope in Jesus. Maybe I’m just emotional, but I was weeping at the end of this book.
Read
July 1, 20245/5 had me crying in the lab
April 24, 2024
I love Brittney!
May 9, 2024
This book was both riveting and heartbreaking. Brittney so vividly expressed her entire experience and emotional rollercoaster throughout her struggle. I strongly recommend reading or listening to this book.
May 10, 2024
Incredible story told by an incredible voice. Resilience isn’t a strong enough word to describe how BG handled this one. Relle sounds like an incredible person too. 10/10 would read again, but hope I never have to. Way to make a mess a masterpiece, BG!
May 8, 2024
I preordered this book and couldn’t wait for it to be released. I appreciate BG sharing her story. I felt at times she was holding back some details and rightfully so.
May 23, 2024
A book that one I started listening to, it was so compelling, I wanted to keep listening. It’s astounding to hear BG’s story, and I’m so thankful that she can. She brought to light a reality that seems unfathomable and horrific. Her strength even in her darkest days is truly inspiring, and thank God for her
May 8, 2024
This book was a great book and finished it and one day. It definitely was a page trainer, tearjerker, definitely have Kleenex nearby. Wow she got detained, after reading it it all seem like it was so wrong. It was planned, so unfair. It definitely made me not want to go out of the country, Because once you are in another country all laws are off. It clearly states just in the trial alone. You are so strong, great, me love and appreciate my wife 10 times more. You definitely have a village and so happy that you’re able to come back home. Definitely pick up this book and read it.
June 12, 2024
WOW this story had so many more layers than I expected beyond her wrongful detainment - her struggles with her identity, coming out, reconnecting with faith, the mental and physical transition coming home and redefining what freedom means to her
“I stood up for the national anthem, teared up at its new meaning for me, stood proudly for the reason I once knelt, because I cherished my homeland.”
“I stood up for the national anthem, teared up at its new meaning for me, stood proudly for the reason I once knelt, because I cherished my homeland.”
June 9, 2024
If I went to Russia and got arrested, I wouldn't be rescued. Neither should anyone else. The gall to write a book about it and capitalize on it is just beyond the pale.
Hope she didn't rub it in the face of the journalist that is still trapped there, but she very likely did. The "Merchant of Death" for one woman. What a poor bargain.
Hope she didn't rub it in the face of the journalist that is still trapped there, but she very likely did. The "Merchant of Death" for one woman. What a poor bargain.
June 23, 2024
My few thoughts: I’m always rewarded by reading the stories of humans who experience life so differently from me. Brittney Griner is a beautiful woman and tender soul with the deep voice and giant man’s frame that God made for her. Raised in a loving home but ridiculed by many others, she grew strong and became a champion athlete. Coming Home relates her hellish imprisonment in Russia in 2022 and the resulting physical and emotional issues she brought home upon her release. Predictably then her notoriety made her the target of crazy people filled with venom and hate. The people that don’t want to know the stories of humans who experience life differently from them. Or don’t even want them to exist. This is a well-written, cohesive memoir that reads authentic. One thing that struck me was her caring focus on others. She cried for herself; she felt terror, pain, disgust and shame but her concern for her fellow prisoners, her family, her friends, her basketball teammates and managers, both in U.S. and Russia, never escaped her mind. Throughout the memoir, she wrote with praise and gratitude of every single person involved in every effort on her behalf, be it legal team, state departments, or employers and agents. Hers is a compelling story. Her strength is amazing. I think about what it would be like to walk around in her skin, at 6’9” nowhere to hide, to be so extremely visible and so different that it inexplicably offends some people. She is a kind of parable.
June 21, 2024
Oof, this book. I honestly think this book should be mandatory reading for anyone not already seriously thinking about (global) prison reform and abolition.
I also think this book should be mandatory reading for any world history/Russian studies courses. More than a harrowing story of survival, persistence, and luck, it's an intimate look at the rampant injustice of Russia's legal system.
Griner wasn't just incarcerated for 293 days; she was tortured, isolated, starved, and humiliated. The friendships she was able to forge on the inside kept her alive, kept her sane, and had me sobbing while reading at multiple points.
It's difficult to imagine surviving what she did. It's difficult to imagine the long road she has ahead of her to truly overcome the trauma of being held hostage by Putin and his morally bankrupt "justice" system.
The book ends with a list of political hostages being held in Russia and around the world. Even if I didn't think Griner's entire story was worth knowing (and it is), I would recommend the book for that insight and information alone.
[Five stars for the sheer bravery and heart it took to survive such a ridiculous(ly unfair) ordeal, and then relive it all through the writing of this book.]
I also think this book should be mandatory reading for any world history/Russian studies courses. More than a harrowing story of survival, persistence, and luck, it's an intimate look at the rampant injustice of Russia's legal system.
Griner wasn't just incarcerated for 293 days; she was tortured, isolated, starved, and humiliated. The friendships she was able to forge on the inside kept her alive, kept her sane, and had me sobbing while reading at multiple points.
It's difficult to imagine surviving what she did. It's difficult to imagine the long road she has ahead of her to truly overcome the trauma of being held hostage by Putin and his morally bankrupt "justice" system.
The book ends with a list of political hostages being held in Russia and around the world. Even if I didn't think Griner's entire story was worth knowing (and it is), I would recommend the book for that insight and information alone.
[Five stars for the sheer bravery and heart it took to survive such a ridiculous(ly unfair) ordeal, and then relive it all through the writing of this book.]
June 7, 2024
This memoir is so powerful.
It was difficult to read at times, but I was really engrossed in the story. Brittney Griner and her collaborative author, Michelle Burford, crafted something that was difficult to put down.
I followed BG's case via the headlines, but did not know much more than the points that were highlighted over and over. This obviously is BG's story so it is her POV, but I appreciated how detailed she shared her story. Since the case was so fresh in my mind it was nice to read a memoir so soon after the events took place. I hope BG continues to heal and that writing this book helped with that.
I also am glad I had a physical copy to see the photos.
*thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy & PRH audio for the gifted audiobook; all thoughts are my own*
It was difficult to read at times, but I was really engrossed in the story. Brittney Griner and her collaborative author, Michelle Burford, crafted something that was difficult to put down.
I followed BG's case via the headlines, but did not know much more than the points that were highlighted over and over. This obviously is BG's story so it is her POV, but I appreciated how detailed she shared her story. Since the case was so fresh in my mind it was nice to read a memoir so soon after the events took place. I hope BG continues to heal and that writing this book helped with that.
I also am glad I had a physical copy to see the photos.
*thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy & PRH audio for the gifted audiobook; all thoughts are my own*
June 6, 2024
I find it hard to rate memoirs. How do you judge someone on how the tell their story? The author tells her truths about being a black lesbian (who often was mistaken for a man) who was a prisoner of war in Russia, who struggled with and then found strength in her faith, who created friendships in the most extreme places. She talks about mental health and finding her soulmate. She talks about fear and disappointment both from loved ones and her captors. I appreciate hearing her story and that she is using her platform to shine a light for Americans unlawfully detained in foreign countries, wage discrimination in the WNBA, the LGBTQA+ community and mental health. Her story is worth hearing and she told it in a way I wanted to keep listening.
May 28, 2024
Wow! Just, wow! So much bravery and it’s so incredible that this could happen! I was appalled and horrified and so drawn in by Brittney’s harrowing experience. I am so glad I read (audiobook version) this and would recommend to anyone!
June 15, 2024
“What I hope is that we can be gentler with one another, that we can imagine how it feels not to fit.”
I was surprised by how much I liked this memoir, which isn’t just about Brittney Griner’s experience in Russia and the campaign to free her, but also the aftermath of the prisoner swap. BG reminds the reader that she saw it: the comments about her gender; the social media commentary questioning whether she should have been freed; the racism.
This is a memoir that has you chanting USA! 🇺🇸And being so disappointed in America and Americans…often at the same time.
I really appreciated the simplicity of the writing. It really felt like BG was speaking through the page, and her emotions felt so genuine, and at times truly heartbreaking.
I was surprised by how much I liked this memoir, which isn’t just about Brittney Griner’s experience in Russia and the campaign to free her, but also the aftermath of the prisoner swap. BG reminds the reader that she saw it: the comments about her gender; the social media commentary questioning whether she should have been freed; the racism.
This is a memoir that has you chanting USA! 🇺🇸And being so disappointed in America and Americans…often at the same time.
I really appreciated the simplicity of the writing. It really felt like BG was speaking through the page, and her emotions felt so genuine, and at times truly heartbreaking.
July 18, 2024
I didn’t really know what to expect other than the obvious, but this book is excellent. It’s sad, infuriating, but also powerful and inspiring. Never thought I’d say this but BG made me cry! So happy she’s home.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 441 reviews