Jason Reynolds’ The Boy In The Black Suit is a novel that captivates and intrigues the reader, through the utilization of great storytelling to navigate the reader through the life of the main character, Matthew. It provides insight as to what he is going through, and shows the process and steps he takes to try to recover from recent events. In the story, the reader is able to interpret the struggles and hardships Matthew faces as he attempts to comfort himself in pain and sorrow. In The Boy In The Black Suit, Jason Reynolds’ depicts the life of a teenager who is in a state of confusion as he tries to find out what he can do to help with  problems and issues presented in the story.

A significant source of stress which has a heavy influence on the story, is the passing of Matthew’s mother.(Reynolds 3) Throughout the story it has been shown time and time again that Matt has had a rough time dealing with this. The story implies a change of view in Matthew after his mother's death, as well as an implication of  him seeing things in a much more black and white manner. Although the occurrence plagued Matthew for majority of the story, he learned to come to terms with it and accept that even though his mother is not with him, he can still enjoy the experiences he had with her when she was alive. This serves as a vital part of the novels great storytelling, as it establishes growth and development for our main character.

A little further on in the story Matt seems to be picking himself back up after the ordeal revolving around his mother's death. Along this span of time Matthews father starts coping with the death of his wife, but not in the best of ways. He gets into the act of drinking, which serves as a great contribution to the story once again, as the readers were so focused on Matthew, but did not take into consideration the possibility of other loved ones suffering as well. This problem continues on, and eventually Matt's dad suffers the consequences of his actions. While attempting to get home he is hit by a car due to being intoxicated. This puts a massive toll on Matt, as now he is in fear of losing yet another loved one. The reader is able to see this emotion through Matthews internal dialogue “I remember asking God to not let it be what I thought-knew-it was. And here I was again, asking for the same thing. Not again, God. Not again.”(Reynolds 87-88) As a result of this Matthew becomes more distraught and shows signs of his mental fortitude slowly breaking. However, despite all of the psychological stress he has undertook Matthews state of mind is not completely deteriorated, and because of this, it shows a sign of mental maturity and mental strength.

After all of his troubling matters, Matt seems to have found a beacon of light in his life, through the form of a love interest. Lovey, the girl Matt is infatuated with serves as a helpful aid to Matthew throughout the story. The relationship is very unique, but it works for them as they of experienced things not many their age have. Along the road they run into conflict as Matt stumbles upon unknown territory and this sparks something within Lovey. (Reynolds 200) As a result Matt questions his affection for Love, even going as far as to say that he should cut ties with her.(Reynolds 201) This leads the reader to thinking that Matt is reverting to his previous state, but once more through further expansion of the characters Jason Reynolds’ is able to enforce the point that Matt is a very strong minded character, and although many things are thrown at his way he can find a solution to it.

The Boy In The Black Suit does a phenomenal job of showing the life of a young adult trying to find a way to deal with stress. The story provides many situations where you can see the inner conflict Matt deals with, and he recovers from it, and throughout the story the reader can sympathize and relate deeply to the struggles Matt faces.