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booksargram 's review for:
Monster
by Walter Dean Myers
this book has been on my radar for YEARS. i bought it from bookoutlet a couple months ago and kept it close because i knew i wanted to read it soon.
a few weeks ago, i found out that netflix made a movie version and it was released two weeks ago friday. then my mom said she doesn’t want netflix anymore and she pays for it, so it was the perfect reason to get the book read.
i really liked the way this book was formatted. it was basically a movie script and some journal entries. i flew through it and it was easy to connect with steve, a 16 year old Black teenager on trial for murdering a drugstore owner during a robbery.
the story keeps us in the moment of steve’s trial, but also fades out to flashbacks and scenes in jail. some of the scene switches were jarring, but i think they were meant to be.
like i said, i really flew through this book and enjoyed the style, so i’m excited to see the movie!!
*spongebob “one eternity later” meme*
the movie still uses screenplay speak when steve is narrating, which is interesting and i think it’s a good choice.
moderate differences (spoilers, probably, but i won’t spoil the ending.):
steve is 17 instead of 16.
the ada wanted steve’s lawyer take a plea deal of 20 years.
the ada is a man instead of a woman.
steve got involved with the other teen on trial in a different way.
it seems a lot of the flashback scenes are different from the book.
there’s a romantic interest not in the book.
a Black witness who didn’t want to point out one boy because he was Black but did is white in the movie and she pointed out steve instead.
the store is a bodega instead of drugstore.
and the crime happened at a different time.
the actual robbery happened differently.
i think the bodega owner was Latinx (in the movie) and not Black, but i could be wrong. please feel free to correct me!
they left out the closing arguments.
the ending is different in a small way.
i really enjoyed the movie version and i recommend you watch, especially after reading the book. it’s on netflix now!
movie is rated tv-ma for strong language (including the n word several times) and smoking.
a few weeks ago, i found out that netflix made a movie version and it was released two weeks ago friday. then my mom said she doesn’t want netflix anymore and she pays for it, so it was the perfect reason to get the book read.
i really liked the way this book was formatted. it was basically a movie script and some journal entries. i flew through it and it was easy to connect with steve, a 16 year old Black teenager on trial for murdering a drugstore owner during a robbery.
the story keeps us in the moment of steve’s trial, but also fades out to flashbacks and scenes in jail. some of the scene switches were jarring, but i think they were meant to be.
like i said, i really flew through this book and enjoyed the style, so i’m excited to see the movie!!
*spongebob “one eternity later” meme*
the movie still uses screenplay speak when steve is narrating, which is interesting and i think it’s a good choice.
moderate differences (spoilers, probably, but i won’t spoil the ending.):
steve is 17 instead of 16.
the ada wanted steve’s lawyer take a plea deal of 20 years.
the ada is a man instead of a woman.
steve got involved with the other teen on trial in a different way.
it seems a lot of the flashback scenes are different from the book.
there’s a romantic interest not in the book.
a Black witness who didn’t want to point out one boy because he was Black but did is white in the movie and she pointed out steve instead.
the store is a bodega instead of drugstore.
and the crime happened at a different time.
the actual robbery happened differently.
i think the bodega owner was Latinx (in the movie) and not Black, but i could be wrong. please feel free to correct me!
they left out the closing arguments.
the ending is different in a small way.
i really enjoyed the movie version and i recommend you watch, especially after reading the book. it’s on netflix now!
movie is rated tv-ma for strong language (including the n word several times) and smoking.