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averyrembish's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit
halosreputation's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Police brutality, Grief, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Violence, and Hate crime
Minor: Sexual violence, Classism, Addiction, Vomit, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Alcohol
emilyelizabrook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Cursing, Racism, Police brutality, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Racial slurs
Minor: Addiction, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, and Infidelity
readsathomewiththedogs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Murder, Violence, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Police brutality, Alcohol, and Child abuse
nickel_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death, Murder, Violence, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Classism
Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Racism, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Minor: Cancer
lectrixnoctis's review against another edition
- 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
Soon afterwards, his passing is a national title. Some are calling him a criminal, even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the places in Khalil's name. Some policemen and the local drug lord try to threaten Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what went down that evening? And the only person alive who can explain that is our protagonist.
But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
"The Hate U Give" explores the link between race and identity as Starr tries to navigate the primarily black life of Garden Heights and the predominantly white world of Williamson Prep. Starr feels torn between her Garden Heights self and Williamson Prep self, and she switches her speech, mannerisms, and behaviours to fit whichever place she finds herself in. After Khalil's shooting, Starr is hesitant to speak about his death for panic that her white friends, Hailey and Maya, and her white boyfriend, Chris, will not understand everything that happens in her Garden Heights life. Starr feels concurrently "too black" to speak about Khalil's life and death with her fellow students but "too white" at home to stand up for her friend, mainly after Kenya challenges Starr of behaving like a white person who thinks herself better than her neighbours.
Starr's personality conflict is apparent in her father figures, Maverick and Uncle Carlos, who have varied perspectives on authentic blackness. Maverick pulls inspiration from the Black Power Movement and believes in a self-reliant blackness that uses existing constructions within black neighbourhoods to better circumstances. Maverick's philosophy explains why, throughout most of the novel, Maverick refuses to move his family from Garden Heights to a more protected area—he believes they should change their community from the inside. Besides his job as a police officer and house in a gated neighbourhood, Uncle Carlos represents absorption into white culture. Uncle Carlos thinks he can support black communities by using white organisations like the police force to battle gang violence. The endless argument between Maverick and Uncle Carlos highlights how tricky it is for Starr to settle her two worlds and find a way to honour her whole self.
"The Hate U Give" analyses how society uses stereotypes of black people to verify brutality and racism against them. These stereotypes shield white communities, such as the pupils at Starr's school, Williamson Prep, from reflecting upon systemic racism, perpetuating discrimination. We see this bias most clearly in how One-Fifteen justifies his murder of Khalil. The officer has no reason to think Khalil's hairbrush is a gun other than One-Fifteen's presumption that Khalil is a criminal because he is black. However, the broadcast media and many white characters endorse One-Fifteen's version of events because they protect law enforcement from accusations of racism by watching him. Uncle Carlos, Starr's black uncle on her mother's side, is on the same police force as One-Fifteen, also initially defends One-Fifteen's actions before realising he wrongly tried to defend the shooting of Khalil. The media disguises racism in One-Fifteen's efforts by portraying them as logical, and news coverage emphasises Khalil's alleged gang associates, preserving black boys' stereotyped as violent and dangerous. Hailey, Starr's Williamson Prep friend, settles that Khalil was nothing more than a thug upon hearing these rumours. The media circus surrounding Khalil's death shows how white media prioritises protecting law enforcement and perpetuating stereotypes over black lives.
This novel was written in the first person in the present tense. Moreover, it is written like it is happening in this day and age in our natural world.
Holding the traumatic events of "The Hate U Give" is the cyclical reality of racialised poverty, which Maverick describes to Starr during their conversation about Tupac's phrase "Thug Life." According to Tupac, public racism keeps black communities from the possibilities and sources needed for financial success, and poverty feeds on itself, affecting periods of black families. This cycle captures many of "The Hate U Give's" black characters into a situation where they cannot flee poverty without relying on the drug business, which is then used to decrease them as somebody in both life and death. Maverick was born to a drug dealer and joined a gang to create some feeling of protection. Due to the difficulties created by poverty, Khalil marketed drugs to pay off his mother's bill. DeVante explains to Starr—who is initially confused about how Khalil could sell the same "medicines" ruining his mother's life—that Khalil felt compelled to provide for his family and could not find a more suitable alternative. Through Starr's hollowing understanding of racialised poverty, we see how this intergenerational cycle is hard to break because black neighbourhoods, like Garden Heights, do not have adequate access to sources such as education, employment, and protection from police brutality.
Overall I enjoyed this book. I did not think that I would appreciate it as much, but let me tell you, this is everything you need to read about a fiction book that is a place in the real world. I have laughed because of this book, but I also have cried; it is exceptionally well. You feel connected with the characters. For me, a white girl in Germany, I especially adored the insides given to me by seeing the other side and feeling with the black characters.
Moreover, I enjoyed that the book felt realistic. It is so hard to imagine that a teenager dies because of a hairbrush. Although the ending was sad, I thought it was the best ending the book could have since this is a path from reality which is unfortunate that black people die in the white cop stays alive and free.
Graphic: Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, and Xenophobia
emilyellen07's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Police brutality, Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Grief, Murder, Racism, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Alcohol, Toxic relationship, and Physical abuse
fabshroom's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Racism, Death, Murder, Police brutality, Blood, and Gun violence
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Alcohol
chandle5's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Gun violence, Police brutality, Child death, and Grief
Minor: Drug use and Alcohol
jenniferpalmblad's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
When I started it I wasn’t in the right mindset for it and the guy wrenching events and retelling from a sixteen year old girl’s perspective tore at me so hard I had to put it down for a few days.
This is one of the first fictional novels I’ve read that deals with racism from an inside perspective. Over the past year I’ve picked up a few non fictional texts, but this one hit a lot harder. The writing is very accessible, even though it deals with some extremely heavy topics.
Everyone could benefit from reading this book, from being a great reading experience to educating oneself on what it’s like not to walk through life with white privilege. Angie Thomas’ voice is so important and I’m glad I got the chance to listen to it.
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Violence, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Murder, Hate crime, Gun violence, Grief, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Death, Child death, and Addiction
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, and Fire/Fire injury