Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - Mes coups seront mes mots

Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Mes coups seront mes mots by Ibi Zoboi, Yusef Salaam

90 reviews

araeofbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I’m not sure I have words that can adequately express the beauty of this book. As a book in verse, I read it the same way I read The Poet X, I listened to the audiobook as I read a physical copy. I find I really like this simultaneous reading experience for works in verse -- the cadence of the reading is important, but the structure of the words is so interesting too. (Although I have to admit that after hearing Elizabeth Acevedo read The Poet X, I may be ruined for all future audiobook listening.)

This story is about injustice and incarceration, but it’s also about the power of art and human connection to keep your mind alive and free despite the surroundings.

Teenager artist Amal Shahid -- Black and Muslim -- is convicted of assault resulting in an unconscious teenage white boy. Amal maintains he did not throw the final blows the resulted in the coma, but he is convicted anyway. We follow Amal through the sentencing and the beginning of his incarcerated life as he maneuvers new rules and people of power, the loss of art in his life, and his understandable anger. We see how the system (justice, prison, and school) failed to really serve him, but how he remains himself through art and human connection. We see how schools can put a label on someone after one incident and that label follows them onward. We see how teachers can not really see or listen to a student. We can see how otherness can permeate in ways that maybe don’t seem harmful on the surface but burrow into us. We can see how gentrification is harmful to a community and puts the onus of the resulting tension on the established community. We can see how mentors in the prison system can be positive, but when they’re temporary can become another person who leaves that kid behind.

I’m rambling and not doing this story justice, so I’ll just finish by saying I cannot adequately put words together to describe this story. I am not a reader who cries often, but I teared up during this book multiple times and it made me feel a little of everything. My heart broke; I was mad, but I was also hopeful. Just read this, please!!

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anacereading's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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chloeschapters's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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rootingbranches's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Amal is a 16-year-old Black teen who is wrongly incarcerated for throwing a punch towards a white boy. While in prison, he explores his love for art, poetry, and meets other black men who have faced similar injustices in the world. This is a brutal book to read (or listen to), the verse style of writing may make it seem beautiful but it's honestly gut-wrenching. The truth behind the injustice that Amal experiences broke my heart, so many other people of the black community face similar things each day and it's mind boggling that we still live in a world with people who would choose to treat other humans like this just because of their skin. Amal was a beautifully layered character, I felt his pain and ached to see the art he was creating. This is a phenomenally done coming-of-age novel that is a necessary read for the book community, especially now. I hope to reread this book one day and be gratified that our world has changed so drastically.

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bretagnereads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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fromjuliereads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is such an important book. I am so glad I read it.
I don't read books written in verse generally, but I really enjoyed this one. And it worked so well as the way to tell their truth. It had so many important moments to it, and I cannot wait to discuss this book as part of the book club I am in that is reading it.
Definitely recommend this book. Especially if you like books written in verse or any kind of artistic expression for a story.

I did read this as an ebook because that is what was available to me at the time. However I have a feeling that print is the way to go with the artwork incorporated. Also it could be a very cool audiobook.

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rhubarbreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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translove's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

this was amazing. I read it in basically one sitting and even when I had to stop to collect myself and my thoughts, I couldn't stay away from these pages for long.

a part I particularly liked was "African American":

And maybe jail maybe jail
is is America

I really appreciated how this book was emotional in the way it told the story of Amal, a black teen wrongfully accused of a crime and sent to juvie, without shying away from touching on topics related to racial injustice and fundamental to changing the unjust system. like abolishing prisons. I do sort of wish it was expanded on more, but in the end I think it wasn't the focus of this story and that's okay. I loved the focus on how art is a massively important tool to get through everything, including the worst possible times in your life, and how crucial it is that we let black kids explore art (whatever form, drawing, painting, writing, etc.) to both find positive outlets for the rightful anger they feel living in a world that's so antiblack and also simply... find out what they like without having white people police the way they go about it and put needless obstacles in their way to succeeding in what they choose to focus on. encourage black kids to pursue careers and passions that they feel are right for them. don't put them into boxes that they won't fit in.

I colored outside the lines
I colored outside the boxes
like freedom

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eslsilver's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative sad fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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bluebirdreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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