Review- Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
- Callie King-Stevens
- Jul 23, 2021
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 6, 2021
Overall Rating: 5/5
Synopsis
Just Mercy is a nonfiction memoir written by Bryan Stevenson a lawyer who is the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative.
The story follows his journey starting the nonprofit office and tells about some of the cases he took during that time. It focuses mostly on the case of Walter McMillian who was a Black man from Alabama that sentenced to death for a murder he didn't commit. We follow Stevenson through the case as he reveals shocking evidence of corruption, and eventually is able to free Walter.
Stevenson also discusses issues with the American Death Penalty and juvenile justice system by taking us through some of his most influential cases and describing what he learned from them.
Reading Journey
I found this book when I joined a school-sanctioned book club. I started the book in February and read the first half of it in a month.
I ended up getting really busy with school and set it down, and so I just finished it this month. I also couldn't binge-read it well because the material was heavy and I needed a lot of breathing time to sort through and think about things.
Best Moments
Learning about the origins of the death penalty
Hearing the tragic stories of those on death row
Seeing the struggles Stevenson goes through to help those who are vulnerable
The writing style and how well each story flowed into each other
Feeling like I was going through the mystery crime-solving with Stevenson
Didn't feel too much like nonfiction
Critiques
Nonfiction isn't normally my favorite
Very heavy material and so I had to pick it up and put it down a lot
He doesn't acknowledge viewpoints different than his own often
Goodreads Link:
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