Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

18 reviews

solnit_and_sebastian's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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? No

5.0

Stone's debut is a poignant and powerful YA novel told from the perspective of a Black teenager navigating his senior year of high school. The reader will witness the microaggressions and overt aggressions faced by Justyce and some of his friends as he questions his own identity, biases, and purpose. This novel has important points to make about privilege, profiling, and race in modern America, and deftly weaves these themes into the gripping narrative. The dialogue was enchanting, and the characters were fun to spend time with. I can't wait to read more of Nic Stone's work!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Child death, Death, Hate crime, Police brutality, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism

ghostlyprince's review against another edition

dark emotional informative fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Police brutality, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

taliatalksbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Dear Martin by Nic Stone is an important YA story that easily explains the implications of racism in the US. Even though this is a short book, I think this story is easily digestible, which is important for communicating complex issues like racial injustice, profiling, and police brutality towards people of color. I really loved the character dynamics, and the way that character grew over the course of this book. Again, though it’s not long, it packs a lot of information and emotion into the pages. You can feel the frustration coming off the characters and I certainly believe that this book should be studied when talking about the state of racial relations in this country. This book is approachable no matter what your view point is, and I think it could do a lot to change the perspectives of people who hold views/act like Jared and his friends. No one has to remain ignorant, and everyone, even people who have been wrong in the past (which I think is a key takeaway from this book) has the potential to change for the better with more education and information.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

saara_ilona_muu's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The book probably needed another 50 pages, just to try to make the story and the ending make more sense, and not just cut off how it did. 

I don't want to give any spoilers, but I will say that though it was a very tough read, I loved the first 3/4 of the book. Then things just got to the point where I had too many questions about how things were turning out. Like ... when he's surrounded by so many rich people, why weren't they able to hire a better lawyer and get him some coaching... and why was a kid who was so good at debate able to be painted into a corner so thoroughly, and then with all of the character assassination, why was he just able to head north for school anyway with no repercussions in that corner? Just messy.

Despite all of that, the book was still worth reading and gave me a lot to think about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, and Alcohol

paulabekkerus's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? No

4.5

Touching story about growing up Black, trying to better your situation, and the issues that can arise. This story is tragic yet hopeful and shines a light on the ways that racism is both a domino effect in communities of color and a cyclical phenomenon that affects people of all races. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mbrogs2024's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse

atlas_likes_to_read's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Police brutality

Moderate: Bullying, Gun violence, and Violence

meetmeinthebookstore's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, and Police brutality

Moderate: Bullying, Blood, and Alcohol

maiahhtratchh's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.5

A good but heartbreaking book. I am kind of at a loss for words. Would definitely recommend. The mixed-method storytelling (mashing traditional prose with scripts and letters and news reports) really helped capture the story from multiple angles.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Police brutality, and Car accident

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse