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jampsonn16's review against another edition
3.0
7/15/20 update
Yeah, this hit me a little differently than before. When I first read this in 2019, I had this mindset of, "That wouldn't happen in real life," or "That's so over the top and unrealistic." Safe to say I had a very skewed and selective idea of what I thought Black people faced on a daily basis and how the justice system actually works, and, sadly, I allowed that to cloud my perspective when reading this story. Why did it take until 2020 for this to really settle in though? One word: ignorance. If re-reading this has taught me anything new, it's that I don't know as much as I thought I did. I'm determined to do better.
So now that I've reread this, I realized how refreshing it was to read a YA book from a teen boy's perspective. His inner thoughts and conversations with other men are not dialogues I would know anything about, and it gave even more perspective into a world I'm not familiar with. I loved the friendship between Justyce and Manny as well - a really wholesome relationship that made me smile. And the dynamic between him and Doc felt very authentic and made me wish I had a teacher like that growing up. Overall, the relationships in this book felt very real and believable, which is not an easy feat to achieve in less than 300 pages.
As for the actual plot of the book, there's no need to compare this to THUG - they each stand on their own despite telling very similar stories. I initially said that I thought this book didn't offer anything new to the conversation, but I now realize how misguided that was. These stories, while similar, leave different impressions on you and make you ask different questions. And Dear Martin adds another layer with Justyce writing personal letters to talk through his feelings. I loved that little tidbit and can't wait to see it in the sequel from Quan's perspective.
Just read this book! It's short, but will pack a punch. I don't want to dwell on the few things I didn't like because the overall theme is more important.
Yeah, this hit me a little differently than before. When I first read this in 2019, I had this mindset of, "That wouldn't happen in real life," or "That's so over the top and unrealistic." Safe to say I had a very skewed and selective idea of what I thought Black people faced on a daily basis and how the justice system actually works, and, sadly, I allowed that to cloud my perspective when reading this story. Why did it take until 2020 for this to really settle in though? One word: ignorance. If re-reading this has taught me anything new, it's that I don't know as much as I thought I did. I'm determined to do better.
So now that I've reread this, I realized how refreshing it was to read a YA book from a teen boy's perspective. His inner thoughts and conversations with other men are not dialogues I would know anything about, and it gave even more perspective into a world I'm not familiar with. I loved the friendship between Justyce and Manny as well - a really wholesome relationship that made me smile. And the dynamic between him and Doc felt very authentic and made me wish I had a teacher like that growing up. Overall, the relationships in this book felt very real and believable, which is not an easy feat to achieve in less than 300 pages.
As for the actual plot of the book, there's no need to compare this to THUG - they each stand on their own despite telling very similar stories. I initially said that I thought this book didn't offer anything new to the conversation, but I now realize how misguided that was. These stories, while similar, leave different impressions on you and make you ask different questions. And Dear Martin adds another layer with Justyce writing personal letters to talk through his feelings. I loved that little tidbit and can't wait to see it in the sequel from Quan's perspective.
Just read this book! It's short, but will pack a punch. I don't want to dwell on the few things I didn't like because the overall theme is more important.
melinda_and_her_books's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book! Justyce is wrongly accused of being up to no good when he is just trying to help his drunk girlfriend get into the car so he can drive her home. This sets off a series of events having him question everything he is doing in life. He beings to start a journal and addresses it Dear Martin and goes on to try to live like Martin would or do what Martin would do. This book made me want to Read all of this authors books. This was the first book I read by her.
katharina90's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
The author tries to tackle a lot of important issues related to race and identity, but it's a fairly short book which doesn't leave much room for depth and complexity.
A lot of telling rather showing, and characters that stay one-dimensional and pretty stereotypical (the white racist brat, the gun-toting gang member, etc.).
It could still be a good starting point for discussion in a classroom, or between youths and their parents.
A lot of telling rather showing, and characters that stay one-dimensional and pretty stereotypical (the white racist brat, the gun-toting gang member, etc.).
It could still be a good starting point for discussion in a classroom, or between youths and their parents.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Police brutality, Murder, Gun violence, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Classism, Toxic relationship, Cultural appropriation, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Sexism, Genocide, and Colonisation
sa2068's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
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
4.0
easyvisionary's review against another edition
5.0
I don’t really have the right words to say. This is an incredible book series. It is written in a way that is so accessible, it’s something I really appreciate.
It was interesting to read this after Dear Justyce there is so much background and development for these characters. It’s so well done. I applaud Nic Stone, what a magnificent writer.
It was interesting to read this after Dear Justyce there is so much background and development for these characters. It’s so well done. I applaud Nic Stone, what a magnificent writer.
jenna_bookworm_5822's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
thepetitepunk's review against another edition
4.0
"You can't change how other people think and act, but you're in full control of you. When it comes down to it, the only question that matters is this: If nothing in the world ever changes, what type of man are you gonna be?"
I wish I could say Dear Martin is painfully unrealistic. I wish I could say the horrific events described don't happen in real life, and if they did, the criminal justice system would not treat Justyce—or any other black person for that matter—the way it did. I wish I could say that no human could ever be this violent, malicious, hateful, or ignorant. But I can't say that, because this is the world we live in. Through Justyce's experiences, Nic Stone captures the painful, frustrating reality of the racism we often overlook in our ever day lives.
I appreciated the fact that Stone depicts racism in a variety of ways. Arrests, shootings, funerals for those who should have had years and years ahead of them: these are the things that leave a hole in our hearts. But the hatred that causes these events starts somewhere, and Stone does a great job of showing how racism can be present in seemingly harmless conversations and actions. In fact, he does this so well, I wish Dear Martin was longer so that some of these issues could be explored even further. Sometimes, especially in a short books, an author might tackle too many serious issues at once and it becomes a mess since there are only so many heavy concepts you can adequately cover in one novel. I did not think that this was the case with Dear Martin; Stone's portrayal of life as a black teen was realistic, and it definitely did not feel like he was just trying to throw in as many buzz words concerning social justice as possible. But still, I loved Justyce's character and really wanted to see a larger portion of his life.
Although Dear Martin was an emotional ride, I did find it a bit hard to get into. It's not that the beginning was slow; it just wasn't very interesting to me. This may have been because I was reading the e-book version, but I also had a very hard time getting used to the format of the book. The "Dear Martin" letters Justyce writes were fine, but I didn't like how half of the dialogue was written almost like a play. Other than that though, the second half of the book was fantastic. Heart-wrenching and relevant, Dear Martin is an important book that will hit close to home.
I wish I could say Dear Martin is painfully unrealistic. I wish I could say the horrific events described don't happen in real life, and if they did, the criminal justice system would not treat Justyce—or any other black person for that matter—the way it did. I wish I could say that no human could ever be this violent, malicious, hateful, or ignorant. But I can't say that, because this is the world we live in. Through Justyce's experiences, Nic Stone captures the painful, frustrating reality of the racism we often overlook in our ever day lives.
I appreciated the fact that Stone depicts racism in a variety of ways. Arrests, shootings, funerals for those who should have had years and years ahead of them: these are the things that leave a hole in our hearts. But the hatred that causes these events starts somewhere, and Stone does a great job of showing how racism can be present in seemingly harmless conversations and actions. In fact, he does this so well, I wish Dear Martin was longer so that some of these issues could be explored even further. Sometimes, especially in a short books, an author might tackle too many serious issues at once and it becomes a mess since there are only so many heavy concepts you can adequately cover in one novel. I did not think that this was the case with Dear Martin; Stone's portrayal of life as a black teen was realistic, and it definitely did not feel like he was just trying to throw in as many buzz words concerning social justice as possible. But still, I loved Justyce's character and really wanted to see a larger portion of his life.
Although Dear Martin was an emotional ride, I did find it a bit hard to get into. It's not that the beginning was slow; it just wasn't very interesting to me. This may have been because I was reading the e-book version, but I also had a very hard time getting used to the format of the book. The "Dear Martin" letters Justyce writes were fine, but I didn't like how half of the dialogue was written almost like a play. Other than that though, the second half of the book was fantastic. Heart-wrenching and relevant, Dear Martin is an important book that will hit close to home.
lucyclay's review against another edition
4.0
A solid 4.75 i loved it and it had a lot of good messages combined in it.