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A review by eesh25
Conviction by Kelly Loy Gilbert
4.0
After I finished reading, this book was on my mind for hours. But it wasn't till I started the review a couple of days later that I realized that I hadn't yet thought about much to write in it. That's very unusual for me, but I understand why. This is a pretty heavy book, and it gives you a lot to think about.
The protagonist is Braden. He's seventeen, his older brother Trey left ten years ago, and his father, the only parent he's known, has been arrested for the murder of a police officer. Because of that, Trey's returned. And throughout the book, we learn of the kind of upbringing Braden had at the hands of his father, we experience his conflict on what to say in court since he's a key witness in the case, and we see what relationship he has with his brother.
And again, I want to say that this is not a happy book. The events range from frustrating to deeply upsetting. And I want to provide a Trigger Warning for physical and emotional abuse, gaslighting, homophobia, and depression.
Now, there's a lot of things I could discuss here. But they're all plot elements, and I feel like you should just read those for yourself. The book moves from past flashbacks leading up to the incident with the cop, (I actually preferred those, for once) to the present with Braden's conflict about his testimony. I had no issues with how the past chapters were done. And the book as a whole is very well-written and definitely delivers on the perspective and emotion we need to understand where Braden is coming from.
The present... I had a few issues. The first isn't really an issue with the story, but just the frustration and anger I often felt toward Braden for some of the things he thought or said. But they made more and more sense as we learned about everything he's been through.
My other issue has to do with all the baseball. Some of the baseball parts were relevant to the story and to understanding Braden, but not all. And the amount of detail the author put wasn't needed at all. At one point, I just started skimming the baseball paragraphs. And maybe it's partially because I know nothing about baseball and don't care to, but caring about baseball shouldn't be a requirement.
I liked the ending. Though I didn't like how much of the jury's decision seemed to hinge on Braden's testimony. He was not the only witness. Also, the prosecution was seeking the death penalty. Did it occur to no one that having Braden testify was maybe not a great idea for various reasons.?
Overall, I thought this book was very well done. I can't say I "enjoyed" it because it was sad as fuck and it slowed down toward the middle, but it was a great read, and I would recommend giving it a try. It'd been on my TBR for over 5 years, and I'm glad I finally picked it up.
The protagonist is Braden. He's seventeen, his older brother Trey left ten years ago, and his father, the only parent he's known, has been arrested for the murder of a police officer. Because of that, Trey's returned. And throughout the book, we learn of the kind of upbringing Braden had at the hands of his father, we experience his conflict on what to say in court since he's a key witness in the case, and we see what relationship he has with his brother.
And again, I want to say that this is not a happy book. The events range from frustrating to deeply upsetting. And I want to provide a Trigger Warning for physical and emotional abuse, gaslighting, homophobia, and depression.
Now, there's a lot of things I could discuss here. But they're all plot elements, and I feel like you should just read those for yourself. The book moves from past flashbacks leading up to the incident with the cop, (I actually preferred those, for once) to the present with Braden's conflict about his testimony. I had no issues with how the past chapters were done. And the book as a whole is very well-written and definitely delivers on the perspective and emotion we need to understand where Braden is coming from.
The present... I had a few issues. The first isn't really an issue with the story, but just the frustration and anger I often felt toward Braden for some of the things he thought or said. But they made more and more sense as we learned about everything he's been through.
My other issue has to do with all the baseball. Some of the baseball parts were relevant to the story and to understanding Braden, but not all. And the amount of detail the author put wasn't needed at all. At one point, I just started skimming the baseball paragraphs. And maybe it's partially because I know nothing about baseball and don't care to, but caring about baseball shouldn't be a requirement.
I liked the ending. Though I didn't like how much of the jury's decision seemed to hinge on Braden's testimony. He was not the only witness. Also, the prosecution was seeking the death penalty. Did it occur to no one that having Braden testify was maybe not a great idea for various reasons.?
Overall, I thought this book was very well done. I can't say I "enjoyed" it because it was sad as fuck and it slowed down toward the middle, but it was a great read, and I would recommend giving it a try. It'd been on my TBR for over 5 years, and I'm glad I finally picked it up.