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cowmingo's review against another edition
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
eastcoastbooktart's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like this book. Really, really. But there are a few issues I have...
1. The characters are nothing. There's no information on them, really. There's no development. And for that reason, I found it hard to invest myself into this. I didn't feel as heartbroken as I imagine the author wanted me to. I didn't really feel heartbroken at all spare for thinking of all of the times this has happened in real life.
2. Being inspired by another novel is one thing. Essentially copying it and removing all of the good bits of it is another. This novel shares at least 7 major plot points with The Hate You Give. Now, granted, I do expect overlap if we're going to discuss the black experience in the US or police brutality in the US. But this is not that.
3. The language is very... under-developed? If you take out the swearing it reads at a junior high level.
4. Plot holes, plot holes, plot holes. The biggest of which is the whole damn point of this book.
I'm hoping his next novel is Comeback of the Year > Sophomore Slump but this did not give me a great amount of hope.
1. The characters are nothing. There's no information on them, really. There's no development. And for that reason, I found it hard to invest myself into this. I didn't feel as heartbroken as I imagine the author wanted me to. I didn't really feel heartbroken at all spare for thinking of all of the times this has happened in real life.
2. Being inspired by another novel is one thing. Essentially copying it and removing all of the good bits of it is another. This novel shares at least 7 major plot points with The Hate You Give. Now, granted, I do expect overlap if we're going to discuss the black experience in the US or police brutality in the US. But this is not that.
3. The language is very... under-developed? If you take out the swearing it reads at a junior high level.
4. Plot holes, plot holes, plot holes. The biggest of which is the whole damn point of this book.
Spoiler
I find it incredibly hard to believe a cop shot a kid, mom reports THE VERY SAME KID missing IN PERSON with his IDENTICAL F*CKING TWIN and no one is like, "oh, yeah, that kid? he's in the morgue!"I'm hoping his next novel is Comeback of the Year > Sophomore Slump but this did not give me a great amount of hope.
wylanslcve's review against another edition
4.0
Stranger Things Readathon 2020 book #4
I loved this book. Full review to come!
— Aisha.
I loved this book. Full review to come!
— Aisha.
indecisivesailorscout's review against another edition
4.0
Poignant and powerful. Compared to it's recent contemporaries, this debut novel is a little rough around the edges, but it is still very much worth picking up. I cried as much as I laughed, and shared several whole passages with teacher friends that have been resonating in their classrooms lately. Violence against black youth is never an easy thing to talk about but it is always necessary if we are going to do better for the kids who come after us.
gkeebs's review against another edition
5.0
I believe that this book was one of the best ones I've ever read. It was written so well and SO poetic. The words dug into me and stuck so much. I was speechless and I think that everyone should watch.
the_lissauros's review against another edition
5.0
I really loved this book which tells a story about police brutality and the black community in America. Beautifully written and with a theme and tone you don't see often in books, this story manages to both be relevant, but also abstract and give you a whole new experience of what it's like to live with fear because if the colour of your skin.
Just amazing!
Just amazing!
djkirsikirs's review against another edition
2.0
If I had a dollar for every time a character in this book says some version of "What the fuck?" or "What the hell?" I'd have a good amount of money. If I had another dollar for every time the main character talks about wanting to cry and throw up at the same time, I'd have enough to buy a different book.
I really like Jay Coles as an author and was excited to finally read his first novel after reading all his others. After finally doing so however, I was so disappointed. A lot of the dialog was bland and/or repetitive and I kept finding myself wishing that the narrator was showing rather than telling how he and the other characters in the book felt. Marvin would think about how he felt upset, but you couldn't really see that in his actions or words. Maybe part of that was because the reader doesn't really ever get to know Marvin at all.
No one in the book, not even Marvin, was really fleshed out at all. His best friends didn't really have personalities and neither did his brother, which left me feeling less invested once Tyler died.
I also was really put off by the letters that the main character receives from his father. They read more like the father's journal entries rather than letters to his son.
I think the subject matter that this story is exploring is so important, I just wish that it was a little more engaging. Maybe I'm just not the target audience for this book.
I really like Jay Coles as an author and was excited to finally read his first novel after reading all his others. After finally doing so however, I was so disappointed. A lot of the dialog was bland and/or repetitive and I kept finding myself wishing that the narrator was showing rather than telling how he and the other characters in the book felt. Marvin would think about how he felt upset, but you couldn't really see that in his actions or words. Maybe part of that was because the reader doesn't really ever get to know Marvin at all.
No one in the book, not even Marvin, was really fleshed out at all. His best friends didn't really have personalities and neither did his brother, which left me feeling less invested once Tyler died.
I also was really put off by the letters that the main character receives from his father. They read more like the father's journal entries rather than letters to his son.
I think the subject matter that this story is exploring is so important, I just wish that it was a little more engaging. Maybe I'm just not the target audience for this book.
pachypedia's review against another edition
4.0
Este libro es estremecedor. Además leerlo teniendo tan recientes los acontecimientos de semanas atrás en EEUU es tremendo. Me ha gustado mucho el personaje de Marvin y su evolución, también la forma tan real de mostrar cómo se enfrenta a los sucesos tan terribles que tiene que pasar, quizás porque el autor se basa en su propia experiencia con la pérdida de un familiar por la brutalidad policial. Sí es cierto que el libro tiene algunos problemillas, como que los buenos son muy buenos y los malos son muy malos, y me hubiera gustado saber más sobre el padre de Marvin y Tyler, pero me parece un libro muy recomendable. Y la cubierta es preciosa.
bcat0124's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
cosmicjess's review against another edition
3.0
*3.5 stars
(triggers at the end)
this was fantastic. it showed the sides to police brutality that would only be heard from stories of those who'd lived it, and this book very much tells that story in the forefront. like other books in this subgenre of hard-hitting contemporary, it looks at the tough, and difficult aspect to police brutality, gang violence, and racism that plague the lives of black people and our journey day in and day out. something i thought to myself while reading this was how close to home it all hits, sometimes it got overwhelming with it.
but then honestly, ask most black folk, and we'll have similar answers: it hits close to home for expereiences we deal with in our white, eurocentric, homogenous society.
besides the message, i thought it was well-written and gripping, but i found myself connecting with the characters kind of shallowly. we had similar experiences, but i wasn't connecting with them like i would in other ways, like their personalities weren't fleshed out incredibly much or their relationships, past the brotherly relationship between marvin and tyler. that was magnificent and heartbreaking to read about.
trigger warnings for
racism, colourism, police brutality, gang violence, drug/alcohol abuse, death of a loved one, grief
(triggers at the end)
this was fantastic. it showed the sides to police brutality that would only be heard from stories of those who'd lived it, and this book very much tells that story in the forefront. like other books in this subgenre of hard-hitting contemporary, it looks at the tough, and difficult aspect to police brutality, gang violence, and racism that plague the lives of black people and our journey day in and day out. something i thought to myself while reading this was how close to home it all hits, sometimes it got overwhelming with it.
but then honestly, ask most black folk, and we'll have similar answers: it hits close to home for expereiences we deal with in our white, eurocentric, homogenous society.
besides the message, i thought it was well-written and gripping, but i found myself connecting with the characters kind of shallowly. we had similar experiences, but i wasn't connecting with them like i would in other ways, like their personalities weren't fleshed out incredibly much or their relationships, past the brotherly relationship between marvin and tyler. that was magnificent and heartbreaking to read about.
trigger warnings for
racism, colourism, police brutality, gang violence, drug/alcohol abuse, death of a loved one, grief