THE PLOT: ‘Promise Boys’ by Nick Brooks is a young adult mystery about three boys who are suspected of killing their principal. The Promise Academy is a school dedicated to turning young men from the projects into college-bound gentlemen. But when its principal is murdered, three ‘trouble-makers’ are immediately arrested as suspects. Each of the three boys was supposed to be in detention at the time of the murder but no-one can account for their whereabouts. To prove their innocence, they must team up and find the real murderer before it’s too late.

RATING:  This is a stunning YA debut which I’m giving four stars. With a compulsive plot and endearing characters, I couldn’t put it down and read it within 24 hours. The use of mixed media, with interview transcripts, and multiple points of view, as if being questioned about the murder by an unseen narrator, was very clever and allowed me to immerse myself in the story. The heavy use of dialogue worked well, and it felt edited into a lean, fast paced narrative which is very impressive considering the number of POVs. I haven’t rated it higher because it didn’t impact me emotionally as much as my usual five-star reads, but I would strongly recommend this book as an excellent example of its genre.

GOOD BITS: This is a very well written book, with rounded characters, an engaging plot and a fast pace. The structure and use of POVs outside our three main characters is very clever, and it really helped keep the tension up. I particularly loved the secondary characters, such as Keyana, Ramon’s grandmother and Trey’s uncle. Through these characters, the author explore so many themes, such as the difficulties in breaking the cycle and getting past your own traumas whilst parenting. I also felt like Keyana was a realistic portrayal of a young black girl and I adored her ambition and sensitivity.

NOT SO GOOD BITS:  I have very little to criticise but I guessed the murderer very early on (page 18 to be precise), which was a slight let down as I love to speculate and come up with a variety of theories. However, I was thrown off the scent at points and questioned my initial judgement so it wasn’t too much of an issue. The way it was revealed was satisfying and there wasn’t too much resolution after the reveal, which balanced it out.

OVERALL: I’d recommend this book to fans of ‘The Hate You Give’ by Angie Thomas and ‘One of Us is Lying’ by Karen McManus. If you love a young adult book with a strong message and lots of mystery, get this one now.

This book is available to buy in my Black Debut Authors list on Bookshop.Org (click here).