TL; DR: Go Set a Watchman is an average book that had so much potential to be a masterpiece like To Kill A Mockingbird. To give it a number rating would be a 4.5/10, and the .5 is because this is Harper Lee. This is a perfect lesson on why classics should never have follow-ups. Never publish or do something that is halfway decent because you will sell yourself short.

So… Go Set A Watchman… Honestly, it isn’t stellar, not just because it comes after a classic, but simply because it wasn’t. Kind of like how everyone loved the first Revenge of the Nerds, but the second one made us wish that they just never even thought of doing a second one because the luster of the first can never be replicated. It feels like this is an entirely different book (so maybe using Revenge of the Nerds is a bad analogy), not meant to be directly connected to TKAM other than the Finches (I’m refraining so hard from putting spoiler here…). However, with that being said, this book is relevant because of the tides of race, sexuality, and culture we are experiencing in the US; the whole HELP ME GOD MY WAY OF LIFE IS BEING THREATENED BECAUSE ANOTHER GROUP OF PEOPLE ARE GETTING THE SAME RIGHTS THAT I’VE ALWAYS HAD AND DESPITE THE FACT THAT I’LL NEVER MARRY A NEGRO NOR HIRE A NEGRO PROFESSIONAL I STILL DON’T WANT THEM TO HAVE THEIR WAY BECAUSE THAT MEANS I’LL BE OUTNUMBERED EVERYONE UNITE UNDER THIS FLAG FOR STATES’ RIGHTS mentality seems to never have left our country despite this being the 21st century and all rolls eyes. It’s a stark reminder that we still have yet to socially mature as a country, so the timing of this release is perfect, just like how TKAM was during the 50s. How the people we admire or respect show their true colors when it comes time to choose sides, how we regard people as “us, versus them,” because of new laws and issues that make the news, how it’s especially frustrating to not have you opinion get through to the people you love, and how a good majority of us are hypocrites are factors that constantly reoccur in our lives.

Back to the actual writing of this book… I felt like the character development of ALL the characters—Jean Louise included—weren’t as clear as the reader would have hoped. Most of the dialogue, though, between Jean Louise and Atticus and Uncle Jack was awesome and really carried the main themes of the book, but there were so many things that were never clearly resolved or capitalized on and that never demonstrated how they connected to the overall story that if it wasn’t for the controversy surrounding the book and the notability of the author, I would have stopped reading and focused on my summer reading list. The amount of unedited and unrefined chapters threw me off on multiple occasions that I had to remind myself that that was intended by the author and publisher, which made me even more confused about how the heck are books published. I mean, do editors not exist anymore? Can you really just put something down on your computer/notebook and send it in and then VOILA, you have a piece of “art”? Have all my teachers been lying to me that your first draft is never your final? Asking for a friend.

All in all, I’m glad I didn’t purchase this book because it’s not something I will have the urge to drop everything and reread again, as I am with Catch-22, The Catcher and the Rye, and Lolita; nor would I not want to reread it because it’s THAT GOOD but will own because it’s a masterpiece thus something not meant to handle too much, like with The Color Purple and A Farewell to Arms. The writing is average, the story stops short of its potential, and it’s forgettable... I understand why her first publishers and agents wanted TKAM because the hilarities of Jean Louise’s childhood encouraged me to read more. But if you are a fan of TKAM, I think you SHOULD read this book, and if you are not but consider yourself a reader or a critic, read this book because it will make you appreciate TKAM. If you hate reading but like to write, then read this book to see what NOT to do. If you hate reading and writing but care about current events, try to read this. If you do not follow current events and hate reading and hate writing, then why have you gone to school?