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brianwork's review
2.0
The book has good pacing and some worthwhile themes, but the writing itself was a real turnoff for me. The dialogue is incredibly unnatural and doesn't even come close to reflecting the way human beings actually speak. The characters pick up and drop their dialects at random, and much of what they say sounds like it's lifted straight from a Lifetime original movie written by someone who's only heard human speech through other Lifetime original movies.
Jericho's motivations didn't make any sense, which added to him being one of the least proactive protagonists I've ever read. He just stands by and lets everything happen, even when there's plenty of proof in front of him that shady things are going on and he should make a stand and do something about it. But he doesn't; he remains passive and that makes him very hard to empathize with.
Also, the female empowerment subplot could have used a lot of work. Dana's whole character was like a hammer beating the reader over the head every time she was present, without any subtlety to it. I like the idea of a female character going against the male-dominated fraternity system to get into the club, but the way it was written just didn't work, and in many ways caused it to come off off counter to how it was intended.
Jericho's motivations didn't make any sense, which added to him being one of the least proactive protagonists I've ever read. He just stands by and lets everything happen, even when there's plenty of proof in front of him that shady things are going on and he should make a stand and do something about it. But he doesn't; he remains passive and that makes him very hard to empathize with.
Also, the female empowerment subplot could have used a lot of work. Dana's whole character was like a hammer beating the reader over the head every time she was present, without any subtlety to it. I like the idea of a female character going against the male-dominated fraternity system to get into the club, but the way it was written just didn't work, and in many ways caused it to come off off counter to how it was intended.
falconerreader's review
2.0
The writing felt clunky to me, the dialogue unnatural. I just read Mexican Whiteboy, which captured perfectly the speech patterns of teenagers. Battle of Jericho tries to do the same, but fails. This detracted a good deal from what could have been a dramatic book. The subtle twist with the foreshadowing of death was good, and frankly, it's nice to find a YA novel about African American kids that's not about their race. (Through that made the branding and other humiliation scenes extra creepy.) Of all the books in my department's bullying unit, this is one of the only ones I think we should pull. Kids may think differently--I'll see.
kayelin_talley's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
csprfamily's review
3.0
Typical hazing in high school book. Not that award winning in my opinion, though I liked the main character a lot.
shelovestoread2's review
5.0
Sharon M. Draper is becoming another favorite author of mines. I love how she can take a realistic topic and make it serious and dark and not just for young adults, these topics shed light on things that needs to be talked about. In the novel The battle of Jericho, Jericho and his cousin Josh are excited to be pledging to any all boys fraternity at their high school. This group has been around for a long time and holds a lot of respect in the community and high school. The group is supposed to do good deeds for the community help out younger boys and give back to their city. Little Jericho know that it will be price to pay just to be in ferternity.
Sharon M Draper took a spotlight on what groups do as far as hazing is concerned. A lot of students end up getting hurt and abused from hazing. And that what's happened in this story. It really shows the great lengths people will go just to be apart of something. To say they are important to have a famous title in front of their name.
I really enjoyed this story it was really good although sad and dark. That doesnt take away from the story I think it needed to be dark for this topic. I will be continuing on with the series because now I'm invested in the Hazelwood high students and want to know more about their story. Currently I'm reading two different series by Sharon M Draper both taken place at Hazelwood high school so it's a must a finish these series. Overall great story well written. 5 stars!!🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
Sharon M Draper took a spotlight on what groups do as far as hazing is concerned. A lot of students end up getting hurt and abused from hazing. And that what's happened in this story. It really shows the great lengths people will go just to be apart of something. To say they are important to have a famous title in front of their name.
I really enjoyed this story it was really good although sad and dark. That doesnt take away from the story I think it needed to be dark for this topic. I will be continuing on with the series because now I'm invested in the Hazelwood high students and want to know more about their story. Currently I'm reading two different series by Sharon M Draper both taken place at Hazelwood high school so it's a must a finish these series. Overall great story well written. 5 stars!!🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟