Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Monster by Walter Dean Myers

2 reviews

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was quick, but it was quite good. The dramatized reading especially highlights how unequal and theatrical our justice system is and that justice itself usually isn't even one of the top five goals during these proceedings. It's all so broken.
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sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

"Monster" is about 16 year old Steve Harmon who is on trial for murder. This story is told through a first person perspective via Steve Harmon's diary and through a third person screen play format. "Monster" was an interesting read, all the court room scenes (which is about 65% of this book) made me feel like I was watching an episode of Law & Order (I listened to the dramatized audio book.) 

I see why this book won the awards that it did when it came out in the year 1999 and then in 2000, some of the imagery was really powerful and the book format was unique, especially for the times. 
I wish the reader actually got to find out if the main character was really involved in the robbery or not. Either way, I don't think he should be on trial for murder if he were the "look out", he didn't pull the trigger and he wasn't in the store when the store owner died (according to his and everyone else's testimony.)
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