“The Justice Project” by Michael Betcherman was unique and interesting, and I was invested. It was a quick read that moved a little fast in places, but overall it was good and had an important message. Recommend!

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High-school football star Matt Barnes was on the top of the world until a freak snowboarding accident ended his promising sports career and left him with a permanent limp. As he struggles to accept his changed body, Matt becomes depressed and isolated. Instead of college football camp, he faces a summer job at the local golf club.

This book is very relevant to today and likely to just keep becoming more relevant. The main character was easy to relate to and the plot flowed nicely. I finished this in a night because I had to know how it would end. I would recommend it to readers who loved Just Mercy, Dear Martin.

I've always been a fan of the movie Just Mercy and wrongfully convicted. T4hat being said I really enjoyed this book. I liked how it brought to light some of the problems with the justice system that a lot of people ignore. The plot and the characters are definitely unique and in the end you find out these were based off actual cases. This book is a little but a head of its time since now there are alot more books like this being written so for that I want to thank Michael Betcherman for getting the ball rolling.

This book was so interesting, I was hooked from the first pages. I loved how this story unfolded, and how Matt and Sonya worked together to figure everything out. I loved the character development with Matt, it was amazing. This story was based on real life events, and it was executed so well. I think it brought attention to this topic in a real way. The author did an amazing job with this story.

A story done time and time again about a young athlete who ruins a potentially great career with an accident. This particular point of view was just okay. It wasn't memorable or something I would genuinely recommend.

This is a solid book on an important topic. The topic itself (wrongful conviction) carries a bit more than some of the other elements of the story, but it will certainly interest some readers based on the topic.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

I enjoyed this book. I easily got into the book quickly and thought it was a pretty interesting read. Matt was a very likable main character, but I didn’t quite connect with him. I don’t think it was because he was a boy but I am not sure exactly why. I thought the story was a good one and I know there are so many people in real life that are imprisoned for a crime that did not commit.

It was fun to follow him and Sonya as they try to solve this mystery and free this man. I feel like the pacing of the story was good, but it just didn’t wow me. I hate to give it only 3 stores because it really was a great story, but it just wasn’t for me. I do recommend it because I’m sure some of yall will love this book.

I lost interest in this one so fast. I was slightly curious, especially since it was blurbed to say your opinion on pro death penalty could be changed by reading this book. However, I can’t begin to force myself to keep reading. Matt is such a complainer and crybaby, for lack of a better word. He’s so shallow, and quick to care what people think of him even his friends. There were a lot of ableist comments in the beginning that I couldn’t let go either.

A fresh new theme in young adult fiction. I'm going to book talk both this title along with Young adult version of Just Mercy by Stevenson.

On the positive, we have a protagonist finding his way forward after a life changing injury. We have a partnership with a girl who does not become a love interest. We have an lgbt character who is not defined solely as such. She's not a stereotype and her orientation is not a major focus of the plot. WE have characters addressing flaws in the criminal justice system and having their eyes opened to unfortunate realities, that some things aren't fair but there's not always anything you can do to fix it.
On the negative, I struggled with Matt constantly calling himself a cripple, a significantly outdated term. It also felt like Sonya was gay only to explain the lack of attraction to Matt. Like they can only be friends, not romantic interests, because Sonya is gay. And beyond that, it's a standard teen mystery. They break rules, laws even, to solve a crime that is beyond the understanding of well seasoned investigators. The secondary plots aren't fully realized. Okay for a one-off read but won't hold up on a repeat.

DNF - Could not get into this one. The characters seemed so cliche and things moved too slow for my taste. I tried so hard, but just couldn't get there with this one.

4.5/5 *

Wow, did this book capture my interest immediately! I was so excited to receive a copy of The Justice Project, a fictional story about something that is actually happening in our society. Inspired by real people and events, I flew through this story and anxiously waited to find out what would happen to the people Matt and the Justice Project team are trying to help.

Loved the Idea Behind This
One of the strongest reasons I'm excited to recommend this book is because of it's premise. There are many organizations that are working to free people who were wrongly convicted of crimes (including Kim Kardashian, who I think is incredibly cool for putting her money and time to helping those who don't have other options) and I loved that The Justice Project reminds readers of how many people are put unfairly behind bars. The novel takes real people and creates a fictionalized story of their lives as examples of the people who are trying to help others, and the innocent people who are being helped. I thought it was brilliantly done.

Wonderful Characters
Matt was frustrating to connect to at the beginning of the novel, but his character development was wonderful! It was so great seeing him connect to Ray, Sonia and the others and actually find something else to ignite his passion beyond football. He, like so many teens, found something that he was good at and didn't understand how to adjust to a world where that "thing" wasn't doable anymore. Sonia is passionate and I loved seeing it; this is a politically active and socially aware girl who isn't afraid to go after what she wants. It was really great to have a female character that has no shame in going after what she wants!

Strong Storytelling
Matt has a pretty intense journey over the course of the novel, beginning with the loss of his football career and moving into solving Ray's case. There are elements of mystery wrapped up in the very real truth that so much of the justice system is broken and innocent people can pay the price of it. Reading about the number of innocent people who have served decades of their life in jail, or are on death row, was heartbreaking. Likewise, Matt and Sonia's efforts to find clues to exonerate Ray bring them to dangerous places, but their willingness to do so to save someone was lovely. While there are some unbelievable moments, overall I really enjoyed this story.

There are a lot of moments in this book that will force you to stop and realize just how broken the system is, but there are moments that will also give you hope. So much of this novel is based on true people and events, which is scary (because of how much time innocent people spent in jail) and also wonderful (because of the innocent people who get to leave jail). I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys YA Contemporary novels or books inspired by true events.

Sometimes the best I can summon up for a book is “competent.” That’s where I’m at with The Justice Project by Michael Betcherman. This young adult/new adult book is an interesting mix of thriller/mystery, but the tone and pacing and characterization leaves me a little confused about who the audience is and which themes Betcherman wants to emphasize.

Matt is finishing up high school, but his dreams of playing college football are over. Instead of leading his team to another championship he’s relegated to the sidelines because of a career-ending leg injury that has left him with a permanent limp. Nervous about how people in his hometown will look at him now, Matt considers relocating to Florida, where his mother lives. When that is no longer an option, Matt takes a summer internship with the Justice Project, which is this book’s version of the real life Innocence Project. He and his fellow intern, a peer named Sonja, take it upon themselves to investigate someone they believe is innocent even though the Justice Project can’t officially take his case. What they discover will shock Matt’s sleepy, football-obsessed town to the core….

Trigger warnings in this book for use of ableist slurs.

What confuses me about The Justice Project is largely the tone. Matt and Sonja are supposed to be 18, so this book seems poised on the upper end of the YA spectrum—almost NA. Yet the tone of the novel, at least until near the end, feels more Hardy Boys than anything else—in other words, on the younger side of YA. Matt and Sonja read more like two teenaged sleuths than young adult investigators. For most of the book, there isn’t much of an element of danger or risk for any of the characters. This changes abruptly in the final act, which introduces a fair amount of existential risk.

Don’t get me wrong: I enjoyed The Justice Project, and there’s a lot of good I can say for it.

First, it’s obviously an issue book, and Betcherman’s handling of the issue of innocent people on death row, while perhaps not subtle, is thorough. He adequately represents different perspectives on the death penalty without creating straw men. Even Matt starts off as pro–death penalty.

That brings me to my second point of praise: Matt’s character development is decent. He starts off resentful of his injury, missing his girlfriend, etc. As the story goes on we see him starting to heal, start to look for another relationship, and basically grow as a person. He’s still not perfect by any means, but he at least changes. In particular, I enjoyed his friendship with Sonja and the way that Betcherman avoids any romance there. It was nice to have a strictly platonic male/female team-up in this kind of situation.

Going back to critiques, however, I’ll add that while Matt’s character development is great, most of the other characters are very flat. Betcherman focuses almost exclusively on the main plot, and it feels like the subplots are squeezed out by the end. Matt starts dating someone new, but she has … what, 5 lines? We see her two r three times and he texts her a couple of times, but otherwise all their scenes happen off the page. We don’t see much substance to them. Similarly, Matt takes a new job as the assistant coach of his old high school team … but most of that happens off page too.

Finally, I’m ambivalent about the portrayal of Matt’s disability. On the one hand, Betcherman captures the resentment and depression that can accompany these kinds of injuries. I think Matt’s behaviour, the way he sees himself, etc., are all very realistic. On the other hand, the treatment of his disability is fairly one-note. Everyone either doesn’t really mention it/is cool with it, or they give him weird looks. For a book that makes this kind of injury a major part of the protagonist, I would have loved to see a much more nuanced handling of the matter. Where are all the other disabled characters, for one?

If this book is supposed to be aimed at a younger audience, then I guess I see why it’s on the shorter side. It feels like it should be aimed at someone older, though, in which case it could stand to be longer and have a much deeper story structure. The Justice Project is intriguing and full of potential. It is, as I began this review with, a competent book—but it really could have been much more.

Creative Commons BY-NC License

Thank you Netgalley for sending me this arc. I will be reviewing this book in the near future with an honest rating and review.

This book reminded me of several of my favorite podcasts, and how just because someone is in prison or jail, in no way means they are guilty of a crime. I loved the way the author took two very real cases and presented them in a hard-to-swallow-but-it's-real way. Over 150 people since 1973 have been released from prison based on DNA evidence and I think this book (albeit fiction) plays a role in getting more people exonerated.

The Justice Project is sad, troubling, all way too close to home. But just the type of book we need.

The Justice Project releases 10.1.19.

I can't wait to get copies of this into my classroom! I feel like it's a perfect complement to a novel like Monster by Walter Dean Myers, as it shows exactly how issues in our justice system can obscure the truth. It also keeps readers engaged by placing a mystery at its center. I can see this as being especially engaging for my reluctant readers.

This was a very interesting read. I liked how some of the stories where based off true events. It definitely kept me interested until the very end.

The Justice Project is a great book that mixes dealing with an injury with the injustice of innocent people being put in jail for life with a mystery. While it starts slowly, the pace picks up quickly and is a completely satisfying read.

Matt Barnes is the football hero in a football town. Everyone knows him and reveres him. When an accident leaves him injured and the college scholarships disappear, Matt loses his sense of self and is angry at the world. In one of his final senior classes, Matt meets Jesse Donovan, the founder of The Justice Project. When The Justice Project's summer interns cancels at the last minute, Matt finds himself working for the organization rather than spend the summer being a lackey at the golf club. While visiting a prisoner who will be getting released soon, they hear of another prisoner who refuses to accept parole because it would require him to say he was guilty and he is not. Matt and Sonya, the other intern and an incredibly smart girl from his school, want to take it on, even without the JP actually signing it on. The rest of the story is that process.

As for the characters, they worked without seeming too ridiculous. The football star, or any athlete who bases their life and education on sports, is an all to true character. Matt’s reaction to his injury, his using his crutches as an actual crutch, reminded me of the main character in The Running Dream. Sonya Livingstone, the bright girl who can’t stand that sports are so huge in her small town...yeah, I live that role and am watching my daughters deal with it. Matt and Sonya never would have been friends in school, but being thrown together the way they were and developing an actual friendship over time, I can get behind that.

The concept of this book caught my attention immediately. A photographer that I worked with many years ago won an award for her photographs for The Innocence Project, a real organization that works with prisoners who are wrongly convicted. This book opens people’s eyes to the fact that our justice system isn’t perfect, especially for those who are poor (and of color). As it turns out, the character of Jesse Donovan is based on the true story of Larry Hicks who was wrongly accused of murder. Bill Matheson, one of the freed men in the story, is also based on the true story of Michael Morton. Just as the Innocence Project showed the actual people who had been wrongly convicted, this book is a statement about the truth behind the story.

In summary, a great story about an important topic. Perfect for high school shelves.