Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

5 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

len_magoi's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? Yes

i hate white people!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Police brutality, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Drug use

Minor: Death of parent

adrienne_c's review against another edition

emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Murder

strange's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.25

This book had a lot of good things to say, and I think it did a very good job of exploring these topics, especially towards readers who may have been a bit naïve towards the subjects at play (this book is YA, and therefore targeted towards teens still learning about how race plays into our society). But everything that wasn't social commentary was... unremarkable. The romance and love triangle felt unnecessary, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were something added in later on in order to make the book more marketable as a more conventional YA Contemporary. The rest of the book  makes up for it, but every time romance came into play it felt more like a dramatic teen show than the insightful novel it had proven itself to be. That, and the fact that I think it could have been a bit longer and more drawn out, is what brings down the star rating for me a bit. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Police brutality, Murder, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Cultural appropriation and Alcohol

Minor: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Antisemitism, and Death of parent