Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

222 reviews

skatie8's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racism, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Drug use, Domestic abuse, and Gun violence

emma_b_rhodes's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Been so long since I've read YA and wow i love teen girls!! Wish there were books like this when I was a teen (maybe there were and I just wasnt reading them).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Classism, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, and Racism

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Violence, Drug use, and Physical abuse

jayden_chancery's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Police brutality, Blood, Child death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, and Bullying

snipinfool's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Starr Carter witnessed the fatal shooting of a childhood friend, Khalil, when they were stopped by the police. Khalil was unarmed and neither he nor Starr had any idea why the car he was driving was pulled over. It was not right that Khalil was dead. The police, after conducting their investigation, found that the officer was doing his job and would not be arrested or sanctioned. It contradicted what Starr saw that night and she wanted to tell in detail what she witnessed. She hoped to stay anonymous, but the story soon made local and national news. People started to protest. Starr and her family received some pressure from the police and some members of a local gang to stay silent. Starr was caught between helping her friend receive justice for his murder and keeping herself and her family safe. It was going to be very difficult for her to do either and almost impossible for her to accomplish both.

Sometimes, when books affect me deeply, I have the most trouble putting my thoughts into words. The Hate U Give was one such book. This was a powerful story. This could have been a story seen in the news many times in real life. Angie Thomas did an excellent job of writing this book. Her words brought the story to life. The scene where Starr and her group were trying to get through the blocked neighborhood roads to her house effectively described the chaos, panic, desperation, and fear they were feeling. My heart was racing as I read of their struggles. Starr was a great main character. She was well written, and her actions reflected what one would expect of a sixteen-year-old. Starr had a great strength of character deciding to push for a detailed statement on the events of the night Khalil was murdered. Her parents, Lisa and Maverick, were very supportive and were two of my favorite characters after Starr. This story reflects the real life for a lot of people. That needs to change.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Gun violence, Police brutality, and Grief

Moderate: Drug abuse and Domestic abuse

dragon_s_hoard's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Blood, Murder, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Grief, Violence, Cursing, Child death, Toxic friendship, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Addiction, Classism, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

kriskelly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Drug use and Drug abuse

Minor: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse

bookdragonkatie's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Police brutality, and Grief

Moderate: Physical abuse, Bullying, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Racial slurs, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Domestic abuse

jhabelita's review against another edition

emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

pacifickat's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

The audio version of this book narrated by Bahni Turpin is masterful. I only wish I had read it sooner.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Racism, Toxic relationship, Classism, Child abuse, Blood, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Hate crime, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

Minor: Confinement and Alcoholism

PTSD, guilt, shame, fear, gang violence, threats of violence

bzliz's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

As long as people are getting killed by police, this book will remain relevant. Eventually some references will become dated but I hope future audiences will still see value in reading this. Bahni Turpin’s narration was phenomenal. She set the standard for what audiobooks should be. 

Starr and her family are beautifully rich characters. There’s so much complexity to each of them (Sekani less so but he gets a pass for being the youngest) and I think it’s a great credit to Angie Thomas that she was able to make all of them so flawed and real and show their individual growth during an immensely stressful time in their lives. 

The only reason this isn’t a five star read for me is that some of the Williamson scenes felt heavy handed and clunky. Hailey’s awful behavior was somehow too much and not enough at the same time. There was so much going on with everything that there was bound to be a low point. Some points are earned back for when Starr punches her in the face though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Murder, and Police brutality

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Racial slurs

Note about the use of racial slurs: I’ve tagged this because they are present however they are only said by POC, most notably during segments of song lyrics.