Just Mercy is a Masterpiece Everyone Should Read

5 Stars

Who I would recommend it to:

  • Everyone

  • People who want to know more about Capital Punishment in America

  • People who want to learn more about racism in America

I do not naturally gravitate towards non-fiction, so I would not have read this book if it wasn't part of my summer reading requirements for school, and I couldn't be more thankful that I did. Just Mercy is the real life account of Bryan Stevenson, the author, who is a lawyer primarily for people serving on death row. In the book he discusses the system of capital punishment and racism in the United States and recounts some of the cases he has worked on. The book mostly follows the case of Walter McMillian, who was on death row for a crime he did not commit.Whe I finished reading it, there was no doubt in my mind that this was an obvious five stars; but, when I went on Goodreads to mark it as read, I was intrigued by the people who put in one star. I read the one star reviews and they consisted of people complaining that Stevenson gets too technical about the law in his cases and was confusing. I do agree that at times I was confused with some of the law jargon he used or when he got too technical, but that is no reason to not finish this book. It is an automatic five stars because it tells such an important, eye-opening story that everyone in modern America should be aware of.

Quick Facts:

Genre: Non-fiction, memoir, racism

POV: First Person

Note: The stories of real people told in this book may be shocking for young or less mature readers. However, there is a young-readers edition.

Cover review:

I'm pretty indifferent to this cover, actually. I like it though: it's simple but effective. I give it 4 stars.