Film student Steve Harmon is on trial for murder. He claims he didn’t do it, but does the jury believe that? Monster narrates his experiences as an African American seventeen-year-old from Harlem in the judicial system, and the apparent biases/stereotyping from his jurors. How does it all end? Find out!
This is an interesting book with an interesting premise. However, the thing that stands out with this novel most is how it is written. The novel is written as a screenplay from an omnipotent narrator. This style provides key insight into how our main character Steve feels during the entirety of the trial—from the beginning to the verdict—through his diary entries, while also presenting the case in an ‘objective’ view from an all-knowing perspective. The character interactions are a little lacking, however. There is emotion portrayed, but the writing style diminishes the amount of expression depicted. As is the old author’s tale: show, not tell. This novel does not do that at all. It’s all tell, no show. For me, personally, that made it a little difficult to read. I did enjoy the amount of judicial lingo I picked up during the lawyers’ speeches, though. I’d give it a solid 3.5 out of 5.