The audiobook was an amazing experience!!I began to listen to audiobooks this year and hearing a full cast perspective was new to me. Im new to listening to audiobooks and I enjoyed listening to the different narrators — this definitely made the audiobook experience enjoyable! In “Promise Boys” there are three main characters who were well developed with unique voices and background noises (like the school setting) that creates an engaging listen. There were moments where I wasn’t able to keep up because of the different perspectives but was still engaged. Story was amazing! Although I wish there were more moments between the main characters I felt that their interaction together started halfway through the story. I am Salvadoran and I enjoyed every moment when they mentioned Pupusas!!

Promise Boys by Nick Brooks is an engaging YA murder mystery set at an all-boys charter school. When the principal is shot and killed in his office, the police quickly identify three main suspects. All of them students. The boys find themselves up against not just the evidence but their own reputations.

I enjoyed this story on audio, due in part to its full-cast recording. I am a very picky audiobook reader. If I’m distracted by the narration in any way, I have to switch to print. The narration for Promise Boys was clear, immersive, and fit the characters.

More than a murder mystery, Nick Brooks provides commentary on the treatment of Black teens, especially boys, in the U.S. In the book, as in life, these boys are considered guilty until proven innocent. Society expects the worst of them and schools are often more focused on controlling instead of educating.

Brooks does a great job with character development, making the reader connect with and root for these kids. Hopefully readers who cheer on these characters will do the same for teens in their communities.

This YA mystery absolutely blew me away. I loved how each character was revealed as the mystery unfolded to reveal that everything on the surface is not as it seems. The school environment of perfection and what it actually takes to be the perceived "best school" was so interesting to me and presented a tremendous catalyst for the action of the book. I also really loved the diversity of the cast of characters and how carefully Nick treated character identities throughout the story. A must if you love A Good Girl's Guide To Murder and One of Us Is Lying.

I loved this book! Let me tell you about the audiobook. They have a full audio cast playing all the voices. I adore when they do this, it brings the book to life in a way that one reader just can’t. Now about the this story!
Welcome to Promise! Promise is a school for boys. As most schools it started with the best of heartfelt intentions but soon it became more of a military feel. No laughing, heck, no talking and definitely no smiling. When J.B., Trey and Ramon end up together in detention when Principal Moore is shot and killed, they are all arrested. The three boys lives are then turned inside out. Three boys who were good kids, now arrested for murdered. Who really killed Principal Moore and why?

Thank you to the author Nick Brooks, publishers Macmillan Audio and MacmillanYoung Listeners, and as always NetGalley, for an advance audio copy of PROMISE BOYS.

I loved this. I'm throwing back a little bit here, but for me, this full cast audiobook experience was like DANGEROUS MINDS meets MYCROFT HOLMES. In this tense dark academia murder mystery thriller, the principal at Urban Promise Prep turns up murdered, shot to death with a missing weapon. Students J.B., Ramon, and Trey don't know each other very well, but they soon shake out as the primary suspects for the crime. They can help each other figure out what actually happened to Principal Moore...if they can stop suspecting each other and start working together.

I remember being skeptical when I saw that this audiobook was performed by a full cast of narrators. I've always liked books read by one narrator. But I loved this listening experience; it was like getting the best of a book and a movie combined into one. I don't know if this format would work with anything but a book written in first person, multiple POVs. I can't imagine how it might work with a third person POV! But it's brilliant here and that's what matters. Each of the narrators gives a great performance. I highly recommend the audiobook format of this book!

In PROMISE BOYS, Brooks builds a solid, but not perplexing mystery. I had a guess about who killed the Principal, but I was delightfully wrong. So close though! The story progression and character development is just right, good pacing and believability. I was engrossed in this one and couldn't put it down!

Rating: 🫓🫓🫓🫓🫓 / 5 papusas
Recommend? Absolutely!
Finished: February 28 2023
Read this if you like:
🔫 Murder mysteries
🏤 Dark academia
👩🏾‍🦱 Diverse voices and stories
🌄 Second chance / redemption trope

This audiobook is not just an audiobook, it is a full on listening experience! We have a full cast of narrators, so each character really has his or her own voice. Additionally, we have background noise, music and, ‘news reports’. Together these elements don't distract but enhance the story and makes it a full-on production that I wish more audiobooks consisted of! I was fully pulled in as a listener to this experience.

We have a mystery of the high school principal murdered at the high school and three teen boys are suspects. As the book description says, Promise Boys really is a mesh of The Hate U Give and One of Us is Lying! We have the social commentary of THUG with the mystery of a death. Two of the teen suspects are Black and the third is Hispanic and they all have a potential motive to kill the principal and they were all on school grounds when the murder happened. We have multiple povs and they all come together.

This is a fast-paced story that moves along at a very quick pace. We do get a conclusion as to who the killer actually is and the motive at the end. I really enjoyed how the killer was exposed! Was the killer one of the boys or someone else? You will have to read this one to find out, but I suggest if you listen to audiobooks at all, then listen to this one! It is superb and sets the bar extremely high for any future audiobook I listen to.

Bravo to the publisher Macmillian Audio for this experience they granted me by letting me listen to an audio copy to review! I will definitely look at future novels that Brooks writes!

I devoured this book in one sitting. The audiobook was a delightful experience, as you listen to the various perspectives of the students at Promise Academy. This debut from Brooks is worthy of all the praise. It's a fast-paced story with no fluff. I can see the odes to Monster by Walter Dean Myers throughout Brooks's writing with a contemporary twist. The ending wrapped up rather quickly, and the ending left some to be desired but I wonder if that lack of a "nice red bow" ending was the intention. As a mother of a young Black boy and a sister to Black men, I saw each and every one of them in J.P. and Trey. I longed for more character development because my heart grew for each boy and I wanted to know more about each of them.

Overall, I can see this being one of the top reads for 2023.

"We are the young men of Promise Prep.
We are destined for greatness.
We deserve joy.
We are extraordinary.
We ask from the world what we give to the world; respect, wisdom, and grace.
We are each other’s hope.
We are responsible for our futures.
We promise.”

Urban Promise Prep School is a place where boys are expected to be on their best behavior at all times, no matter their personal situations. Three boys from very different backgrounds find themselves in detention together on the very day that their strict Principal Moore is murdered at school. They quickly become the main suspects and realize they have to work together to figure out what actually happened, even if they don’t trust each other.

The strongest aspect of this work was the characters. There were three main characters, though we get POVs from several other characters throughout the work. The protagonists were well developed with unique voices and backgrounds, creating an engaging read. There were more POVs in this work than I usually prefer, and I do think that the quantity of POVs detracted from the depth and quality overall. I also enjoyed the setting of a strict prep school, as it created interesting complications for the characters and was a great way to explore the authoritarian power dynamics that can exist between students and teachers/authority figures in school. I would have liked the lines between the “good” and “evil” characters of this story to be less stark though; a little bit of grey in characters can go a long way.

This is another story that is told with multimedia inserts throughout it – there are short blurbs from news reports, speeches, text messages, and more inserted between the longer chapters, which add interesting context to the protagonists’ stories that we wouldn’t have otherwise. I enjoyed how straightforward this read was, though I did feel that the ending was a bit too simplistic and neat to be truly impactful and was anticlimactic overall.

Fans of YA mysteries will enjoy this quick, easy read. My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Urban Promise Prep vows to turn boys into men. Principal Moore dubbed his strict program rules the Moore Method, saving urban boys from the fates of their neighborhoods. But when Principal Moore is murdered, three Promise students become prime suspects. Maintaining their innocence, they band together to uncover the real killer.

What I loved:
✨Mystery: dark academia - one of my favorite thriller tropes! With a long suspect list, I continually changed my mind about who committed the crime - a real edge-of-your-seat, fast-paced thriller!
✨Social Commentary: expertly woven into the mystery - privilege, racism, implicit and explicit biases, educational systems, and inner-city neighborhoods, just to name a few - realistic situations that Black and Brown kids face daily. But Brooks also flips the coin and offers hope, love, determination, community, and unwavering faith! One word - Brilliant!
✨Narration: WOW! One of my favorite audiobooks so far this year! Total immersive listening, with background noise of the school and neighborhood. The cast is terrific, making the prose come alive! Don’t be surprised if you see this as a top ten contender for best audiobook. ❤️

With one book, Nick Brooks became one of my auto-buy authors. I recommend this book to fans of Angie Thomas or Jason Reynolds. Or if you enjoyed AGGGTM or One of Us is Lying, pick this book up NOW!

This is not your average audiobook, this is a PRODUCTION. Feeling like you are right there in the book, the background noises, full cast of narrators, and plotting storyline keep readers fully engaged throughout the entirety of this book. I cannot recommend the audio of this one enough.

As for the story, this is marketed as being a mix of "One of us is Lying" and "The Hate U Give" and that's pretty spot on. This is extremely close to Only One of us is Lying but with a more diverse cast and way more on the line for the suspects. The author does a great job of providing us three very different characters, personality, interest, and motive-wise. I am a sucker for books in school settings and this one really hooked me from the very first page.

This is my second time reading this masterpiece; it was just as good as the first time! I love everything about this book, and I CANNOT wait for more from the author!!

It was brutal, intriguing, sob worthy, and even witty at times. Absolutely stunning. I don’t think I’m capable of coming up with a cohesive and well thought out review. There is so much to love in this book.

Diving into the found family I find myself incapable of putting feelings into words. I wanted nothing to happen to all the characters because they are all so near, dear, and precious to my heart.

I have so many more thoughts but it’s hard to put everything into words. This book was perfect in so many ways and I will greedily snatch up multiple copies!!!

When the principal of an all-boy, D.C.-area, charter school is found dead, the police hone in on three of the students as their primary suspects.

Early on in the story, however, the reader begins to wonder which (if any) of these teenage boys is truly the culprit behind this crime and whether the principal lauded by the community was actually someone to be revered or someone to be feared.

Was the charter school really lifting these teenage boys up?

The multiple points-of-view, shifting perspectives, and different media—think interviews, police transcripts, texts, and emails—interjected into the story made everything feel current and immediate as the events leading up to the crime and the days untangling what happened afterward unfolded.

I listened to the audiobook version of this one, and the full cast recording kept me engrossed and engaged. It could easily be consumed in a single day. I listened at 2x speed.

This book is well-suited to book clubs or high school classroom discussions—both for its structure and how the story is revealed and for its relevance to multiple current issues in today’s society.

I received an advance copy of the audiobook from Macmillan Audio and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

Three wrongfully accused students must discover who really killed their principal before their lives and futures are taken from them.

Promise Boys offers as much intrigue and page-turning suspense as the best whodunnits do, but it raises the stakes because its three prime (though wrongfully accused) suspects are boys who--because of their races, their family ties, and their socioeconomic statuses--society tends to deem guilty until proven innocent.

The characters are consistent and well-developed; since the novel is told in multiple perspectives, you get insight into everyone's thoughts and feelings, from the three protagonist to the smallest side characters. The audiobook in particular is so well done. Its incredible cast brings each and every one of the multiple perspectives to life. My audio ARC was missing the last few chapters, and since I was dying to know the ending, I rushed out to B&N to read the rest. Turns out, it's just as engrossing in print!

Let me just say the only reason this didn’t get rated higher for me was because it was pitched to me as a thriller. I went in expecting that when it was merely just a mystery. And while that was fine, it’s not the same thing? Did I explain that right? I hope so.

Now the writing style is amazing. I was so invested in this book. I loved how it’s told in epistolary form. This made it good for reading with both my eyes and my ears. I found out that they were also like images in the book. Granted I didn’t know it was that way until I got in my pre-order since I listened to an early e-audio copy. But even with me reading via my ears, this was a full cast audio and I loved everything about it. Everyone had their own sound and personality. I loved it.

The plot itself was cool tho. I just wished it was pitched as just a mystery. I didn’t see really anything thrillery when I saw it and it was just weird that people would think that way. Just because it’s a mystery doesn’t mean it’s a thriller. Now with that being said, I don’t think it took anything away really, but one of the things that made he hella excited about this was one of the other books they compared it to. And that ALWAYS blows up in my face. But for the most part, the rest of the plot was cool because of all the years I’ve been reading, I don’t think I’ve ever read one where they killed their principal before lol

I DID like the way the social justice aspect of this was handled tho. There was focus on being Black and Brown and the ease at which some of these things happen to them. Like being blamed. I hated that they had to go through that, but the way they figured everything out was a boss move. And the way everything came out was also cool.

The best way to read Promise Boys is via audiobook- there is a full cast of narrators with music and background noise. The narrators did an amazing job and you feel like you're right there with them. Nick Brooks wrote just the right amount of mystery and the book had a great character study of each of our three main characters. Everything that happened in Promise Boys feels like it could've happened in the school down the road- it all felt real. My one mild issue was I felt like we never really understood what was going on with
the teacher that was "pregnant" unless I somehow missed it. I hope this is just the first of many books that Nick Brooks writes.

Promise Boys had me hooked from the very beginning. This novel is written in short, compelling chapters from various POVs that kept me engaged and clue hunting through the entire story. The author deftly handles the changing POVs and artfully weaves so much powerful social commentary into the story. The audiobook is a phenomenal performance that I’d highly recommend!

𝙰𝚗 𝚊𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚞𝚣𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐.

You guys, typically YA thrillers are not my jam. But the premise of Promise Boys and the fact it took place in my new home town, I jumped at the opportunity to give it a go, and it did not disappoint.

As a fast-paced thriller told from multiple POVs, Promise Boys has a unique format that breathes so much life into the characters, setting, and plot that future thrillers will aspire to be as impressive.

𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘊'𝘴 𝘜𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘯 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘱'𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘑.𝘉., 𝘙𝘢𝘮ó𝘯, & 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘺, 𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦'𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘖𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮?

But it doesn't stop there. This book is SO MUCH MORE than a whodunit. It casts a much needed spotlight on race, privilege, our failing educational system, and the hopes and dreams of our youth. Guys, this book will force you to think and is perfect for some really deep book club discussions.

Many thanks to the publisher for my gifted audiobook copy.

WOW!!!! This book was one that I couldn't put down I was hooked from the start to the finish. Promise Boys is pitched as Karen McManus, meets Angie Thomas, meets Jason Reynolds and it lives up to its pitch.

How do you prove you are innocent when everyone thinks you're not? That is the question and problem students JB, Trey, and Ramon have to solve when they are all suspected of killing their school principal.

The audiobook is a special treat to your earbuds since it features a full cast. Each character truly has their own voice. This book has set a new standard for all audiobooks to come.

Astounding story from beginning to end. Promise Boys follows three high school students as they try to prove their innocence when they become the main suspects of the murder of their high school’s principal. Even though everyone is innocent until proven guilty; J.B., Ramon, and Trey are automatically judge by their past, skin color, personal struggles, and actions of their family members, before they can speak their side of the story.

Nick Brooks delivers amazing representation of black and brown young men, we get insight on the main characters background and a very realistic portrayal of each individuals personality with strengths and flaws. Seeing each of their perspectives of the events before and after the murder made each of them memorable and special.

My only doubt after finishing the book was the constant mention of Miss Hall’s personal life, but the her mystery is never revealed.

Huge applause to all the narrators of the audiobook. Excellent job!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Net Galley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Promise Boys was very easy to get into. I was hooked from the beginning. I ended up listening 83 % of the way through, but had to read to finish because my audio book said I was finished and ended. I thought the cast of characters was excellent narrating the book. It covered hard topics like systemic racism and profiling. I liked the different points of view and the social media and news reports added in. The book was fast paced and I was rooting for the boys from the beginning. This is a great book for fans of Jason Reynolds, Angie Thomas, Holly Jackson, and Karen McManus. I will purchase this for our library.