Book Talk: The Boy In The Black Suit by Jason Reynolds

Want an “at a glance” look at what I thought? Check out my Review On A Post-It or my “Final Thought”

Matt has just lost his mom and he and his dad are trying to grieve but his dad is really having a rough time and is hitting the bottle too hard. Matt knows he needs a job and winds up working for Mr. Ray at the funeral home where the pay is good and it helps him in his grieving. When he meets Lovey he finds someone who knows what he is going through and has been through even worse…but seems to have it all together and might just help him through his grief.

MUST READ WHEN I WAS THE GREATEST SOOON!

I’m just saying this right now — Jason Reynolds is an extraordinary talent who needs WAY more recognition. I was so, so impressed with The Boy In The Black Suit. It’s smart, moving and

1. The Boy in the Black Suit was a book that I related to immensely: It’s no secret that I gravitate to books dealing with grief –especially that of a parent– and Jason Reynolds explored this with such finesse and beauty. Now, if you hear “grief” in the summary and normally go running, I’m begging you not to. It wasn’t the ugly sobbing sort of book about grief and it most definitely is NOT all about grief. Rather it was just so quietly profound and piercing in its emotion as Matt grieves his mom and tries to find normalcy in the after and tries to deal with that crushing loneliness that seems to separate you from everyone else because nobody seems to be able to truly understand — whether or not that’s true. I cannot even tell you how many pages I dog-eared because I just kept nodding my head like, “YES. Exactly this. I felt this.” I understood his need to watch someone else’s raw grief to know he wasn’t alone. I just connected with him so much and Jason Reynolds tapped into something REAL and raw that made my heart ache.

2. I loved the relationship between Matt & Lovey: I loved that Lovey doesn’t actually come into the picture right away because we really get to know Matt in a way I think we need to in order to show his loneliness but the downside to that is I WANTED MORE MATT AND LOVEY because they were just so smile inducing. Their connection is just so beautiful and honestly it reminds me a lot of how Will and I really connected for the first time in a real way. There’s something so isolating about grief and when you find someone who GETS it, it feels so intense. That’s how Will and I connected at first (I had just lost my mom and he had lost his mom when he was younger) and then it’s what brought us even closer together as a couple when he lost his dad a couple years into our relationship. What Matt and Lovey share is hard to describe but Jason Reynolds lets you FEEL it in such an honest way.

3. Matt’s POV is one of the best male POVs I’ve read in a while: Truly, his POV was just so refreshing and really captivated me. This book is definitely a character driven novel and Matt felt like a leap off the pages type character to me. God, Jason Reynolds is just a fantastic writer.

4. Mr Ray. That’s all I’m going to say: Look, you just need to meet Mr. Ray because he is one of my favorite secondary characters that I’ve met in a while.

+ writing, characters,
– ending was a little too neat & tidy for me/coincidental

Re-readability: I could see myself getting the urge to reread certain passages.
Would I buy a copy for my collection? I would like to. If not for myself, for a friend!

people looking for great male POVs, readers who like character-driven novels, fans of more quiet contemporary novels,

I really appreciated this quiet yet moving novel and really found a personal connection within it. It was well written and just tapped into something so emotionally honest. Matt is just a wonderful character and there’s so much strength in him and he’s just so easy to like. It’s not just a story about grief but about also community and connecting. I really do recommend it and think it deserves way more attention!

* Have you read this one? What did you think? Similar or different from me? I would LOVE to hear regardless!
*If you haven’t read it, does it feel like something you’d be into?