Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

41 reviews

jailynm13's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Violence

mstejpal's review against another edition

inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality and Violence

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Death, Grief, Alcohol, Murder, Child death, Classism, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Antisemitism, Fire/Fire injury, and Misogyny

_ren's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, Hate crime, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Medical content, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness

mittens_10's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I liked the book, and I read it in two days, just didn't find anything super duper original about it, and the writing letters to MLK Jr wasn't as big an aspect as I thought it would be. Would definitely recommend reading it though, was still an amazing read. Really made me think.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Alcohol, Child death, Violence, Cursing, Death, Grief, and Police brutality

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

solnit_and_sebastian's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

Stone's debut is a poignant and powerful YA novel told from the perspective of a Black teenager navigating his senior year of high school. The reader will witness the microaggressions and overt aggressions faced by Justyce and some of his friends as he questions his own identity, biases, and purpose. This novel has important points to make about privilege, profiling, and race in modern America, and deftly weaves these themes into the gripping narrative. The dialogue was enchanting, and the characters were fun to spend time with. I can't wait to read more of Nic Stone's work!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Grief, Hate crime, Child death, Police brutality, Murder, and Death

Minor: Alcohol, Classism, Gun violence, Cursing, Death of parent, Violence, Domestic abuse, Slavery, and Vomit

bethanysbooknook's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, Police brutality, and Racial slurs

taliatalksbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Dear Martin by Nic Stone is an important YA story that easily explains the implications of racism in the US. Even though this is a short book, I think this story is easily digestible, which is important for communicating complex issues like racial injustice, profiling, and police brutality towards people of color. I really loved the character dynamics, and the way that character grew over the course of this book. Again, though it’s not long, it packs a lot of information and emotion into the pages. You can feel the frustration coming off the characters and I certainly believe that this book should be studied when talking about the state of racial relations in this country. This book is approachable no matter what your view point is, and I think it could do a lot to change the perspectives of people who hold views/act like Jared and his friends. No one has to remain ignorant, and everyone, even people who have been wrong in the past (which I think is a key takeaway from this book) has the potential to change for the better with more education and information.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, Classism, Death, and Drug use

blombern's review against another edition

challenging sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Racial slurs, Police brutality, and Racism

Moderate: Classism, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Murder, Violence, Hate crime, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcoholism, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Antisemitism, Grief, and Gun violence

saara_ilona_muu's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The book probably needed another 50 pages, just to try to make the story and the ending make more sense, and not just cut off how it did. 

I don't want to give any spoilers, but I will say that though it was a very tough read, I loved the first 3/4 of the book. Then things just got to the point where I had too many questions about how things were turning out. Like ... when he's surrounded by so many rich people, why weren't they able to hire a better lawyer and get him some coaching... and why was a kid who was so good at debate able to be painted into a corner so thoroughly, and then with all of the character assassination, why was he just able to head north for school anyway with no repercussions in that corner? Just messy.

Despite all of that, the book was still worth reading and gave me a lot to think about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Murder, Gun violence, Racism, Grief, Police brutality, Violence, Death, Alcohol, Bullying, and Racial slurs