4.5 stars.

I’m an Indigo Employee, and I received an advanced galley of this book from the publisher, in exchange for my honest feedback.

Breathtaking, beautiful, and painful - Jay Coles weaves a devastating account of loss, love, family, and race. Marvin feels so real - he’s lost in grief and pain - but he’s also a young teenager - exploring his feelings, applying to colleges growing up, falling in love. You ~feel~ for and with Marvin. You feel his loss, his anger, his betrayal, and it is a testament to Coles’ writing how breathtakingly beautiful this book was. This was a quick read, but no less impactful for its length.

Utterly unputdownable, with a stunning cover - Tyler Johnson was Here paints a gorgeous, vulnerable, and complicated picture of what it means to be a young Black man growing up in America.

This is a must read.