Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Review: Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Cole

Publication Day: March 20th 2018
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Genre: YA, Contemporary 
Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ TBD

Synopsis: When 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 Rating
5/5 stars

My Review
Grab a box of tissues and get ready for a waterfall of tears.

Tyler Johnson Was Here is such an important read. I can’t stress it enough. No matter what colour your skin is, or what country you are in, I really think you should give this novel a read, it may change the way you look at the situation.

This book focuses on Marvin as he deals with the disappearance and death of his twin brother Tyler. There are so many important aspects of this book. It talks a lot of police brutality, and the two sides to how people react to it. It also shows just how hard it is to get over the death of a family member, especially when they were murdered.

Marvin is a fantastic main character, and reading from his point of view was great. He is so compassionate and caring, it really breaks your heart just going through the story with him. Seeing his development throughout the story was fantastic, we see just how the events change his perspective on life and what he wants to do with his. He is honest and truthful, and overall makes a wonderful main character.

The plot of the story goes very fast. It’s not a long novel, so if you have the time like I did, you can definitely finish it in one night, and the book is so captivating that I guarantee you won’t want to put it down for long. 

If anything, the only thing I didn’t particularly like in this story was the addition of the romance. While I was glad that Marvin found someone, and that she helped him deal with the pain of losing his brother, it seemed a little forced and while it didn’t make the story any worse, it also didn’t make the story any better. It was just there.

Overall, this book definitely changed my perspective on the situation. As someone who is white, and doesn’t like in the United States, we hear a lot of stories but they never feel as personal as reading from Marvin’s point of view did. I highly recommend this book to all young adults and adults, no matter what genre you usually read.

Happy Reading,
Aneta 

1 comment:

  1. Great review! This book was one of my most anticipated releases of 2018, and I can`t wait to get to it!

    Carmen`s Reading Corner

    ReplyDelete

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