Just Mercy by Brian Stevenson is a novel that perfectly encapsulates the jarring stories resulting from the failures of the criminal justice system. The memoir centers around the story of Walter McMillian–a wrongly convicted black man who was placed on death row–and the negative effect the racism that permeated the justice system at that time had in Walter’s case. Additionally, the story shows small vignettes throughout in order to touch on a wide variety of issues such as abuse in female prisons and children being unfairly prosecuted as adults. This book, while being probably the best memoir that I have read, was an extremely hard read. The graphic scenes depicted in the book, while being necessary to communicate the truth of the novel, show some of the worst aspects of humanity: racism, rape, brutality, and murder. Thus, before cracking this book open, make sure to prepare yourself for the emotional roller-coaster ride it will take you on. Lastly, because of the emotional depth and the message that is communicated throughout it, Just Mercy gets 4.5 out of 5 stars in my book.