Forgive Me Not follows fifteen-year-old Violetta Chen-Samuel who has been incarcerated after her drunk driving led to the death of her younger sister. The book is set in an alternate reality in which young offenders are subject to one of three outcomes: forgiveness and a return home, traditional incarceration serving time in prison, or undergoing Trials to earn forgiveness. The victim or the victim's family decides on the fate of the young offender. In Violetta's case, the victim is her family.
The story is also told through the point of view of Violetta's older brother Vince, who is grieving the loss of his sister, worried about Violetta, and facing his own challenges. His perspective sheds light on the flaws and hardships within Violetta's family.
Forgive Me Not is a thought-provoking examination of the juvenile justice system. The "trials" were designed to improve upon a broken system, it's evident that the same biases remain: racism, sexism, class and privilege. Additional themes are explored including grief, trauma, teen drug and alcohol abuse, family dynamics, relationships and peer pressure.
Forgive Me Not is absolutely heartrending as the reader has sympathy for Violetta, Vince, their parents and the other young offenders. The world building is skillfully executed, and characters are complex and well developed. ( )

I am surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It was a little hard for me to get into it, and I didn't care about the characters until about the half way point. I didn't care about the dual POV at first, but the ending of the book made it come together and showed how necessary it was. So, I'm not upset about it. I didn't care for some of the characters, they were a little difficult to get to know, but I feel like that worked for the story. It allowed us to take a step back and be objective about the situations and topics highlighted in this book.

I do think the topics could have been more prominent, but only slightly. Too much and the book wouldn't have been an enjoyable story. So, there is a pretty decent balance to it at the moment.

The book has a unique concept, I don't think I have read anything like it before. It came across as more of a curious exploration of the justice system. Yet, it didn't quite feel like it took sides, which I actually really liked. It just gave some questions, and different perspectives, to make you think about things and come to your own conclusion.

There were a lot of emotional things that had to be dealt with throughout the book. I think the look of grief was accurate, but I never thought it got too heavy while reading the book. It was sad, and some moments were a little bit hard to get through,

Now, there were some bits in the middle that caused me to lose interest in the story for a time. I also thought the description sounded a bit more dystopian than the book was. I actually think this could have been really good if it had strongly leaned into that. But, for what it is, it's okay. I enjoyed reading it, but I don't have any strong feelings about it. ( )

"Forgive Me Not", by Jennifer Baker, was one of those rare novels that really made the reader think about the state of our juvenile justice system. In my opinion, this would be a great read for middle school and high school students alike. As a teacher, I feel that this novel would make a great in-class assignment, or a book club read. Even though this story is fictional, it makes the reader think, "What would happen, if the fate of the juvenile offender was in the hands of the victim?" Ms. Baker did an outstanding job of delving into this question. She also did a tremendous job of describing the lives and feelings of the main characters. Their lives were developed in a realistic way that made me believe that this could possibly happen in the real world. Even though the main character, Violetta, her brother Vin, their family and friends all have their challenges, there is something to like and dislike about all of them. Very complex and at times an intense read, but well worth it. I highly recommend this novel to YA and adult readers alike! ( )