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lindsayaunderwood's review against another edition
5.0
Great follow up to the hate you give. Everything this author is writing is just honestly super important and the storytelling is great!
slflorence99's review against another edition
5.0
I’ve loved every one of Angie Thomas’ books and this one is no exception. Great stand alone novels tied together in the heart of Garden Heights universe.
blairfrank's review against another edition
5.0
The hype for Angie Thomas's second novel is real. If you loved her first novel, get your hands on her second. She is an author every junior and senior high school should stock in their library with multiple copies.
laurarosenbalm's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
tense
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
4.5
kelsayp's review against another edition
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
rereader33's review against another edition
5.0
I was hesitant going into this because I loved The Hate U Give so much, but this easily stands toe to toe with The Hate U Give. Angie Thomas is a master at pacing, storytelling, characters, and weaving current/relevant themes into her stories without it seeming forced. I am so thrilled we got a story with a female black aspiring rapper that deals with poverty, misogyny in the hip-hop industry, gangs, controversy over music, and identity. While this may seem overwhelming, Thomas manages to weave all of these issues into her story without it being too much and, most importantly, biased. What I appreciated most about The Hate U Give and what I appreciate in On the Come Up is that Thomas does not play favorites. Using racism as an example, there aren't only racist white people; she also includes black people singling out other black people. Conversely, there are good white people and good black people, which makes this story seem more realistic. This balance also helps get her messages/themes across because it doesn't sound like she's using her characters as soundboards but writes them in a way that makes their situations and reactions believably and less preachy.
Speaking of characters, there is a fantastic cast of characters that all brought something to the table. I'd love to talk about all of them, but in the interest of time I'll talk about Bri, Jay, and Aunt Pooh. Bri was hard for me to tolerate at times because she rarely took responsibility for her actions and never thought her actions through. There were so many times when I was hoping that she wouldn't do/say something stupid, then went ahead and did/said it. Granted, she does develop very well towards the end and it was definitely worth it getting to the end, but there were many times that she drove me nuts. I was glad that people were willing to call her out on her behavior, so that was a massive plus. Jay was also hard for me to stomach mostly because she suffered from severe tunnel vision, which made it seem like she was emotionally neglecting her children. What I mean is every time the power went out or there wasn't any food, rather than discuss the situation with her children, she'd say, "I'll handle it," or "We'll get through this," and while this is fine in terms of reassuring her children, she didn't listen to them. She was so set on taking care of everything herself that she wouldn't listen to the concerns or questions her children had, she'd simply brush them off. She too gets great development towards the end and I will admit she is a caring and loving mom, but it was very frustrating watching her brush off her children's concerns. Lastly, there's Aunt Pooh, and she was probably the most irresponsible character in this entire story. While I will give her credit for understanding the consequences of Bri's song and trying to explain it to her, she was way too immature and never took responsibility for her actions. I could tell that she cared about Bri and was one of the few people who understood how talented she was, but the way she handled Bri's career was a mess. She was too vague in her plans and always disappeared without a word. She was a very interesting character, but I had a lot of trouble with her.
To wrap this up, this book was amazing. Everyone should read, I'm buying my own copy soon, I loved it and hope Angie Thomas will write more great novels. We need more authors like her in the world.
Speaking of characters, there is a fantastic cast of characters that all brought something to the table. I'd love to talk about all of them, but in the interest of time I'll talk about Bri, Jay, and Aunt Pooh. Bri was hard for me to tolerate at times because she rarely took responsibility for her actions and never thought her actions through. There were so many times when I was hoping that she wouldn't do/say something stupid, then went ahead and did/said it. Granted, she does develop very well towards the end and it was definitely worth it getting to the end, but there were many times that she drove me nuts. I was glad that people were willing to call her out on her behavior, so that was a massive plus. Jay was also hard for me to stomach mostly because she suffered from severe tunnel vision, which made it seem like she was emotionally neglecting her children. What I mean is every time the power went out or there wasn't any food, rather than discuss the situation with her children, she'd say, "I'll handle it," or "We'll get through this," and while this is fine in terms of reassuring her children, she didn't listen to them. She was so set on taking care of everything herself that she wouldn't listen to the concerns or questions her children had, she'd simply brush them off. She too gets great development towards the end and I will admit she is a caring and loving mom, but it was very frustrating watching her brush off her children's concerns. Lastly, there's Aunt Pooh, and she was probably the most irresponsible character in this entire story. While I will give her credit for understanding the consequences of Bri's song and trying to explain it to her, she was way too immature and never took responsibility for her actions. I could tell that she cared about Bri and was one of the few people who understood how talented she was, but the way she handled Bri's career was a mess. She was too vague in her plans and always disappeared without a word. She was a very interesting character, but I had a lot of trouble with her.
To wrap this up, this book was amazing. Everyone should read, I'm buying my own copy soon, I loved it and hope Angie Thomas will write more great novels. We need more authors like her in the world.
nickiitay's review against another edition
5.0
As someone who grew up listening to and loving rap music, I fell in love with this book immediately. Angie Thomas’s writing is so addictive, and the bars she wrote for the main character Bri are hard as hell
tanya_tate's review against another edition
5.0
Five Stars!
You can't stop me from reviewing
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You can't stop me from reviewing
You can't stop me from reviewing
You can't stop me from reviewing
You can't stop me from reviewing
You can't stop me! Nope Nope!
RTC!
pasteldenatas's review against another edition
5.0
This book was amazing from start to finish! I was immersed in the story through every line and I'm glad I got to read a book like this! I definitely learned a lot more about rap music and definitely loved Bri as a character. Also, loved Angie Thomas' writing. I haven't read her previous book but after this one, I definitely might! I totally recommend this book