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taliatalksbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, and Grief
chaoticnostalgia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Grief, and Classism
Moderate: Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, and Abandonment
Minor: Drug use and Pregnancy
brandie_abbie19's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
booksthatburn's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
DEAR JUSTYCE follows Quan from DEAR MARTIN as he tells his friend Justyce about his life before he was incarcerated during the previous book. Told in a combination of flashbacks and letters to Justyce, this is a contemplation of the past with a chance at having a future.
There’s so much care in this story, it’s evident in every page. In terms of narrative structure, it begins with the MC in prison, waiting for the outcome of his case but not hoping for much. It traces how he got there, how the turning points never felt like choices because of the system stacked against him as a Black boy then a Black teenager, then a young Black man. It's not trying to be a litany of traumas or disasters, the framing is that most of the sudden traumas were a long time ago, and that distance helps a bit. He's slowly gaining the tools to place his life in context and see how the pieces fit together, while also keeping tabs on the present.
Now for the sequel check. The whole point of this story us to wrap up some thing left hanging from the previous book, namely: what happened to Quan after the events of DEAR MARTIN. There are several storylines which start in this book and were not present previously. Technically a bunch of the stuff that is resolved in this book was started in the first one, but this is definitely its own story within the series. I don’t know if there will be any more in this series, it looks like the first one was intended to be a stand-alone book, and this features someone who was a secondary character there. If this is the end of the series, it feels pretty complete, but there are definitely a lot of good candidates for another story if the author continues the series. Quan’s voice here is distinct from Justyce’s narration in the first book. This would definitely make sense if someone started with this book and hadn’t read the first one.
Some of the secondary characters don’t get very much narrative attention here, but given that Quan literally isn’t able to spend any time with most of them, it would be more surprising if they had a lot of space on the page. As it stands, the snippets were enough to remind me of who they were from DEAR MARTIN if they were returning characters, and it was nice to see most of them again. The author is really good at making characters distinct and vibrant with minimal description, and that shone here.
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, and Police brutality
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug use, and Sexism
CW for sexism (minor), alcoholism, drug use, confinement, panic attacks, cancer, domestic abuse, physical abuse, child abuse, gun violence, violence, police brutality, major character death.portcityreads's review against another edition
5.0
I loved Dear Martin, but I think I may have loved Dear Justyce even more. Either way, both of these were important stories to tell, and Nic Stone writes both stories in such a beautiful but easily consumable way (I think teens would really benefit from having authors like this, compared to what I was reading 15 years ago). And the authors note at the beginning really solidified the importance of this book in particular.
Everyone should give these two books a read.
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, and Police brutality
charlottereadsthings's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Quan almost feels destined to be on the wrong path from surrounding factors and I found him such an easy character to love. I adored his letters to Justyce at the end of every chapter and how Justyce almost became a sort of father figure to him.
The hard part was knowing that, while this story is fiction, Quan's experiences of being roped into gangs and ended up in jail for periods of time, failed by the system are happening in the real world every day. Nic Stone did a fantastic job of showcasing that and I think a big part is the time she took into talking to actual youths in Quan's situation.
I think this may be one of my favourite reads of 2020.
Graphic: Drug use and Gun violence
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Racism