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raethereviewer's review
I only got 60 pages in. I couldn't stand it. The pacing was really off. I've read a ton of police brutality stories but this one just wasn't it for me.
sarahpelle's review
3.0
AR: 3.5
I had a little bit of a hard time with the writing style, but this story needs to be told and heard.
I had a little bit of a hard time with the writing style, but this story needs to be told and heard.
natassak's review
4.0
This book is so so important and made my heart ache, but most importantly it made me angry over how the (west) world currently looks like. The one thing I would've wanted was 100-200 more pages in order to see certain relationships develop in a more satisfying manner, but the story punched me in the gut enough times, so maybe this small technicality doesn't matter too much.
leandrea's review
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
hmalmal's review
2.0
I really wanted to love this, and I’m disappointed that this book didn’t work for me. The content and subject matter were perfect, but the execution was just a little bit lacking
Tyler Johnson Was Here is described like so on the inside page-flap of the book:
” Tyler /= A Bad dude
Tyler = Bright and Loving
Tyler = My brother Who Was Killed”
These three lines already set this book up to fail since based off of the plot/storyline, it’s not immediately obvious that Tyler was killed. Tyler’s brother Marvin can’t find his brother after a party and all the way up to the 50% mark, we’re waiting for Marvin to find out what we were told before the book started. This makes the impact of what happens softer and just not as impactful as the reader continues to read about “the search.”
Something else that bothered me were the characters. Most of the characters were racist and one-dimensional. This book has been compared to books such as The Hate U Give and Dear Martin, but in truth, this book only resembles them in the subject matter. THUG and Dear Martin both went above and beyond to understand the hatred from both sides and to make us understand racism from every angle. The cop in Tyler Johnson Was Here was a disgusting representation of a human being with little to nothing else remarkable about him besides that he wanted to abuse his power. In Dear Martin and THUG, both of the cops made a snap-decision based off of our-of-context actions and deeply-rooted racism. It was realistic and easy to understand from both sides how this was so very wrong.
In addition, Dear Martin especially mentioned how the people who defended the cops didn’t do it because they were all racist, but because they themselves didn’t have the whole story, and because it’s hard for most people to wrap their head around how someone could kill a child in cold blood with no provocation.
The principal in Tyler Johnson Was Here was a complete asshole. And for seemingly no reason. He was constantly trying to sabotage Marvin and his college aspirations. Which in the end, didn’t seem to have a real reason for adding that, or any change of heart, or any real effect on the story, other than to maybe prove that he was racist towards Marvin for being a smart black dude??
Something that really made this story feel off and not as impactful as I wanted it to be, was the absence of Tyler in a story named after him. We barely get to know anything about him other than occasional interactions with his brother, Marvin, which never really helps the reader to know who actually is Tyler? In THUG and Dear Martin we were given backgrounds on both of the murdered boys, so much so, that even though we know for a fact that Khalil (from THUG) was a known drug dealer we still knew it was wrong for him to die for it.
I’m sure a lot of people will enjoy this book, but for me it fell flat. It’s still so important that this book and others were written and published as they all continue to set building blocks for up-incoming authors to also tackle this important subject matter from new angles.
If you’re like me, and you weren’t super impressed with this book, I highly highly recommend: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, and Dear Martin by Nic Stone, and even Children of Blood and Bone as these all tackle police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement in an impactful way.
Tyler Johnson Was Here is described like so on the inside page-flap of the book:
” Tyler /= A Bad dude
Tyler = Bright and Loving
Tyler = My brother Who Was Killed”
These three lines already set this book up to fail since based off of the plot/storyline, it’s not immediately obvious that Tyler was killed. Tyler’s brother Marvin can’t find his brother after a party and all the way up to the 50% mark, we’re waiting for Marvin to find out what we were told before the book started. This makes the impact of what happens softer and just not as impactful as the reader continues to read about “the search.”
Something else that bothered me were the characters. Most of the characters were racist and one-dimensional. This book has been compared to books such as The Hate U Give and Dear Martin, but in truth, this book only resembles them in the subject matter. THUG and Dear Martin both went above and beyond to understand the hatred from both sides and to make us understand racism from every angle. The cop in Tyler Johnson Was Here was a disgusting representation of a human being with little to nothing else remarkable about him besides that he wanted to abuse his power. In Dear Martin and THUG, both of the cops made a snap-decision based off of our-of-context actions and deeply-rooted racism. It was realistic and easy to understand from both sides how this was so very wrong.
In addition, Dear Martin especially mentioned how the people who defended the cops didn’t do it because they were all racist, but because they themselves didn’t have the whole story, and because it’s hard for most people to wrap their head around how someone could kill a child in cold blood with no provocation.
The principal in Tyler Johnson Was Here was a complete asshole. And for seemingly no reason. He was constantly trying to sabotage Marvin and his college aspirations. Which in the end, didn’t seem to have a real reason for adding that, or any change of heart, or any real effect on the story, other than to maybe prove that he was racist towards Marvin for being a smart black dude??
Something that really made this story feel off and not as impactful as I wanted it to be, was the absence of Tyler in a story named after him. We barely get to know anything about him other than occasional interactions with his brother, Marvin, which never really helps the reader to know who actually is Tyler? In THUG and Dear Martin we were given backgrounds on both of the murdered boys, so much so, that even though we know for a fact that Khalil (from THUG) was a known drug dealer we still knew it was wrong for him to die for it.
I’m sure a lot of people will enjoy this book, but for me it fell flat. It’s still so important that this book and others were written and published as they all continue to set building blocks for up-incoming authors to also tackle this important subject matter from new angles.
If you’re like me, and you weren’t super impressed with this book, I highly highly recommend: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, and Dear Martin by Nic Stone, and even Children of Blood and Bone as these all tackle police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement in an impactful way.
psistillreadyou's review
4.0
Click the link to read my book review: https://psistillreadyou.wordpress.com/2018/06/01/book-review-tyler-johnson-was-here-by-jay-coles/
cableknit's review
4.0
This is really on the nose right now, the entire book. I haven’t read anything like this before (unsurprisingly as a lot of the books I read don’t have a lot of Black, or other ethnicities, characters). This book is a heartbreaking look at losing a loved one due to police brutality and picking up the pieces afterward. Highly recommend it but it is definitely a sad one.
emikachen's review
3.0
this book made me so angry because it’s not fiction, police brutality is real and happening every day in America. i wish we could’ve seen more of Tyler but i suppose that would’ve made it harder to let him go. this book was good but i guess i expected better although i never really had anything in mind of what should happen.
sarahwilkes's review
4.0
It was a solid 4.5 good book! There was a little something missing but it was a really good book! I really enjoyed it. I felt like I would have been happier seeing Marvin at Howard though.