Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

(Read time: 1.5 - 2 Minutes)

By Ollie Coull

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson is honestly one of the heaviest but most important books I’ve ever had to read. Going into it, I knew the justice system had flaws, but this book completely blew my mind in the worst way possible.

The main story follows a Black man named Walter McMillian who was put on death row for a murder he definitely didn’t commit. It reads like a psychological thriller, except it’s real life, which makes it terrifying. The amount of corruption, racism, and straight-up lies the police and judges used to keep an innocent man in prison is infuriating.

Bryan Stevenson is the lawyer who steps in to help him, and honestly, the guy is a saint. He also talks about other cases he worked on, like actual kids our age getting sentenced to life in prison without parole, or people with severe mental illnesses being executed. Those chapters were super hard to get through because you just feel so helpless reading them.

If I had to complain about one thing, it’s that the book bounces around a lot. He’ll be in the middle of Walter's crazy case, and then suddenly jump to a completely different case for a chapter, which kind of messed up the pacing for me. Also, it’s not really a fun, casual read—it’s pretty depressing and will probably make you really mad.

But overall, it completely changed how I look at the world. Stevenson says at one point that the system treats you better if you’re rich and guilty than if you’re poor and innocent, and that pretty much sums it up. It’s a 10/10 recommendation, even if you aren't big on reading nonfiction.