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travelseatsreads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I finished Dear Martin and immediately picked up Dear Justyce as I did not want to leave any of the characters behind. Sometimes a sequel doesn't live up to the first in a series but Dear Justyce sure does that and so much more.
Continuing on the theme of racial prejudice and oppression, Dear Justyce looks further at the characters of Justyce and Quan. While Stone shows the struggles that the boys face she doesn't try to portray them as either all good or all bad and honestly shows both the good and bad sides to their characters.
The last section where Stone discusses the two books adds so much, I'd recommend if you usually skip afterwards to give the time to this one, it's worth it.
A powerful, tense yet hopeful follow up to Dear Martin.
Continuing on the theme of racial prejudice and oppression, Dear Justyce looks further at the characters of Justyce and Quan. While Stone shows the struggles that the boys face she doesn't try to portray them as either all good or all bad and honestly shows both the good and bad sides to their characters.
The last section where Stone discusses the two books adds so much, I'd recommend if you usually skip afterwards to give the time to this one, it's worth it.
A powerful, tense yet hopeful follow up to Dear Martin.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Child abuse and Domestic abuse
onemorepagecrew's review
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Nic Stone is a gift to young readers. I have followed her on social media for years and I admire her writing, so I decided to re-read (listen) to Dear Martin and Dear Justyce. They were just as good as I remembered, and I flew through them. In the first book, Dear Martin, we meet Justyce who is an honor student at a private school and working on his college applications. The story shows him experiencing high school life and how he handles friendships, teachers, and a crush. He is facing microaggressions and outright racism at school and then has two encounters with the police that change his life forever. Justyce is writing to Martin Luther King, Jr. through out the book asking for guidance to navigate his life experiences.
In the second book, Dear Justyce, the timeline picks up with Justyce at Yale University and we get a chance to know Quan, who was a peripheral character in the first book, much better. Quan is incarcerated in a youth detention center and writing letters to Justyce as he grapples with the circumstances that led him to this situation. In their correspondence and in Quan’s reflections we see a deeper story and it’s a creative way to let the story and characters live on while showing a different angle.
If you haven’t read these books, I highly recommend that you do. They are Young Adult however the depth makes them a great read for adults too. They shine a light on unsafe and unfair experiences for Black boys and Black men in the U.S. and while this is fiction, the situations are not. I’ll end this as I started it - Nic Stone is a gift to young readers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Police brutality, Murder, and Racism
psistillreadyou's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality and Racism
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Murder, Cancer, and Gun violence
tsked_off's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Police brutality and Racism
Minor: Cancer
mandi4886's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, Gaslighting, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, and Child abuse
Minor: Abandonment, Racial slurs, and Pregnancy
brandie_abbie19's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Racism, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Violence
rayraymakay's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Everything Nic Stone produces is absolutely remarkable and Dear Justyce is no exception. You feel for the character the entirety of the book and want him to succeed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality
Moderate: Racism, Addiction, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Racial slurs
nytephoenyx's review
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Dear Justyce is just as hard-hitting as Dear Martin, but exploring a different aspect of the Black American story. As she expressed in her foreword to the book, Nic Stone had no intention of writing a sequel to Dear Martin and this book came about by a conversation she had with two individuals who wanted to see their story in her world. It’s a touching introduction to a book that tells a sad story.
As with her other writing, Stone does an excellent job of building a world and developing characters in a limited amount of space. She uses her words effectively to drive home emotion rather than relying on flowery language to impress the reader. Quan’s story unrolls in two separate directions – the past and the present. She transitions carefully between the two, never losing the reader between the two interlocking stories. She also uses her POVs carefully, making sure that each chapter is deeply meaningful to either the plot or overall narrative. From an objective point of view, I really appreciate that in her as an author. She tells the story and makes sure she is mindful of the reader’s time. Which I know may seem a strange thing to say, but both Dear Martin and Dear Justyce come in at under 300 pages, and they tell as rich a story as any of those 500 page behemoths.
From a more personal, emotional perspective, Dear Justyce hits hard in the conversation about the racism involved in our justice system. This is a good fictional accompaniment to The New Jim Crow. We see miscarriage of justice at multiple turns. We see racist attitudes in individuals who have a position of power in both policing and the prison system. Both these things reflect real life. The entire system certainly isn’t corrupt – we see one police office trying to bring another down, we see good lawyers. But it’s encouragement to look at the current justice system we have here in the United States and consider the reasons why we need to tear it down and build something new. A justice system that has no intention of treating all people fairly is not a justice system at all.
There is one thing in this book that does not reflect real life – Quan’s support system. A lot of things go right for Quan that would not in a normal situation. I really appreciated that Stone drew attention to this in her afterword. Sometimes we portray happy endings in fiction that cannot come to pass without a shift in behavior and a new understanding in our people… and it’s important to know the difference between fact and fiction in this arena.
I loved Dear Justyce. It’s a strong story about a Black teen who could have the world going for him if he had support, and the consequences of dragging people down and assuming the worst about people. It’s a wonderful read for those wanting to continue their antiracism work, ad an essential book to have in schools. It’s a little dark, but if a Black teen can have these things happen to him (and they do quite regularly in real life) then all teens are capable of reading about them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Police brutality, and Racism
Moderate: Gaslighting and Murder
Minor: Death and Death of parent
aakas's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Police brutality
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Cancer
bookishvanessa's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Gun violence, and Racism
Minor: Cancer