Hardcover, 297 pages
Release Date: March 20, 2018Published by: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Read from: March 22-24, 2018Stand-aloneSource: LibraryFor fans of: Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Diverese Reads, Romance,Diverse Authors, #OwnVoices, Debut Authors, Sparkly Covers, YAWhen Marvin Johnson’s twin, Tyler, goes to a party, Marvin decides to tag along to keep an eye on his brother. But what starts as harmless fun turns into a shooting, followed by a police raid.
The next day, Tyler has gone missing, and it’s up to Marvin to find him. But when Tyler is found dead, a video leaked online tells an even more chilling story: Tyler has been shot and killed by a police officer. Terrified as his mother unravels and mourning a brother who is now a hashtag, Marvin must learn what justice and freedom really mean.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I added this book to my TBR without a second thought as soon as I read the synopsis. In this day and age, this is definitely a story that needs to be read by everyone. Everyone should have a copy of this in their library, school, home, etc.
“But even the ugliness, I guess, is it’s own kind of beautiful.“pg. 2
Marvin and Tyler and twins and although they were starting to go seperate ways, they always drift back together. Tyler decides to go to a party where Marvin knows is nothing but trouble. And because of this, he decides to follow him there just to keep an eye on him. But suddenly, the party gets hectic when there’s a gang fight and a police raid. Marvin makes it home, but Tyler doesn’t. Marvin has no idea what’s happened to his brohter… until a video of him being shot by a cop is posted online.
“Who do you even call when the cops are the ones being the bad guys? Who do you even beg to protect you?“pg. 112
Coles’ storytelling was amazing. The plot moved quickly and it was very intense. I found it hard to stop reading at times. Coles pulled me into this story and I found it really difficult to go back to working or whatever else I had to do while reading this.
“I don’t know why the news keeps calling it an event, an altercation. I’ve never heard murder pronounced that way.”pg. 172
However, I did not like the ending. To me it felt too open ended and I really wanted a concrete ending. Especially with the trial and all that was going on. Like what happened? Was there more protesting? I just think there should have at least been an epilogue or something. Even if the verdict that was given was an unbelievable one. I would’ve preferred that to nothing.
“…sometimes, anger is the only way to really get people to pay attention- to listen.“34%
In this day and age this is definitely a story that needs to be told. Over and over again in all these different ways until people GET IT. Thank you Jay Coles for not being afraid to speak out on this issue and creating this amazing story to educate the world on police brutality.
Overall, I give this
The cover of this book is so awesome. I’m glad you (mostly) liked it. I’m on a waitlist for it, but the list is so long that I’ll probably end up buying the book. Great review!
Aj @ Read All The Things!
Yaay so excited for this one! I think I can go other way with an "open ending", I'm really curious about it though!