I read Monster because I was intrigued by the idea of a half book/half screen play. 16 year old Steve Harmon writes a screenplay while a court case where he is a central suspect unfolds.
Problem is that Steve has almost no discernable character traits or motivations. It's almost three quarters of the way into the book before we learn that he took a film class.

Steve's diary entries express some level of the anxiety, grief and frustration that one must feel when being put into the prison system, but the screenplay elements are written differently enough that I'm forced to wonder whether or not the author's intention was for me to think that a large chunk of this novel was written by a young boy.

The screenplay parts of this book read like a spec script for a boring episode of Law & Order. And boy does this book wish it had the emotional weight of something like The Wire or Moonlight. I don't know how upset I should really be about it. This was written as a YA book so maybe for a younger demographic it would be more effective, but I think a younger audience is ready for something with a bit more punch.