Reviews tagging 'Murder'

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

17 reviews

kitaliae's review

emotional hopeful 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

3.75

I like this book, and the previous The Hate U Give;  it's clear that Angie is going to be an important voice of the next generation as she continues to write emotional, touching stores for an audience that is largely ignored.  I love Bri, she's so fiery and spunky, and I do relate to get struggles to chase her dreams and not be a burden. In a lot of ways I wish this book was more about her and her struggles with identity. It feels like parts of the book were rushed or sections were just left out. Nothing feels awkward or bad, just feels like there is depth missing from sections that really should have had more. So much of rap and hip hop in general is about identity and authenticity, and this book had so many opportunities to go after that and passed on it. The social themes in this book are amazing, but at points it feels like those plot lines were favored over Bri's story. (also this really didn't need a second love interest - it happened so fast it feels kind of icky)

On a personal note, it was really frustrating to have so much of Bri's fire dismissed as ODD by her brother. ODD exists, but it's not what Bri is struggling with and I wish it hadn't been included. So many black teenage girls get that label from the school system unfairly and having her brother reinforce that was really aggravating. It might have been a joke or whatever, but it comes off poorly when Bri had been nothing more than a typical teenager in her "outbursts".

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Police brutality, and Racism

Moderate: Addiction, Grief, and Police brutality

Minor: Abandonment, Bullying, Homophobia, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

leeresbuchregal's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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? Yes

4.25

enjoyable rap and poetry entries for and through the plot

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Gun violence, Racism, and Murder

Minor: Death

lucilaroife's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Bullying, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Grief, Homophobia, and Xenophobia

holly_daze_'s review against another edition

hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Homophobia

lilacsophie's review against another edition

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Murder, Police brutality, Sexism, and Violence

Minor: Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Miscarriage

lmartzbooks's review

emotional inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Gun violence, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

chelseasbookshelf2's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was a great book!! This had some strong themes in this, but all that need to be talked about more.  This was a YA book, but certainly didn't feel YA most of the time. If you don't normally read YA I would still encourage you to check this book out!! 

I loved getting to know each and every one of the characters in this book. I especially loved Sonny, Malik and Curtis! I am a horrible rapper, so I struggled with how some of the raps should sound! I wish there were a soundtrack to go with these to hear the beat! This is my first book by Angie Thomas, and I cannot wait to read her other books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Violence