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A review by parksidereads
Promise Boys by Nick Brooks
challenging
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.5
๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
You guys, typically YA thrillers are not my jam. But the premise of Promise Boys and the fact it took place in my new home town, I jumped at the opportunity to give it a go, and it did not disappoint.
As a fast-paced thriller told from multiple POVs, Promise Boys has a unique format that breathes so much life into the characters, setting, and plot that future thrillers will aspire to be as impressive.
๐ฆ๐๐ป๐ผ๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐: ๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐'๐ด ๐๐ณ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ'๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด, ๐.๐., ๐๐ข๐ฎรณ๐ฏ, & ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐บ, ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ณ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ?
But it doesn't stop there. This book is SO MUCH MORE than a whodunit. It casts a much needed spotlight on race, privilege, our failing educational system, and the hopes and dreams of our youth. Guys, this book will force you to think and is perfect for some really deep book club discussions.
Many thanks to the publisher for my gifted audiobook copy.
You guys, typically YA thrillers are not my jam. But the premise of Promise Boys and the fact it took place in my new home town, I jumped at the opportunity to give it a go, and it did not disappoint.
As a fast-paced thriller told from multiple POVs, Promise Boys has a unique format that breathes so much life into the characters, setting, and plot that future thrillers will aspire to be as impressive.
๐ฆ๐๐ป๐ผ๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐: ๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐'๐ด ๐๐ณ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ'๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด, ๐.๐., ๐๐ข๐ฎรณ๐ฏ, & ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐บ, ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ณ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ?
But it doesn't stop there. This book is SO MUCH MORE than a whodunit. It casts a much needed spotlight on race, privilege, our failing educational system, and the hopes and dreams of our youth. Guys, this book will force you to think and is perfect for some really deep book club discussions.
Many thanks to the publisher for my gifted audiobook copy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Bullying, Gun violence, and Classism