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Angie Thomas

4.3 AVERAGE


She did it again. For those of you wondering if Thomas could make magic happen twice after THUG was such a smash, wonder no longer. On The Come Up was everything I wanted it to be and more. Thomas brings us back into the world of Garden Heights and all the prejudice, racial discrimination, and gang violence that comes with it, as well as the families and friends who love one another through anything that comes their way. Lil’ Bit, Lil’ Lawless, Bri, Brianna: she goes by many names, but rap battler is what she wants to be and she kills it every time. My new literary Shero: Brianna Jackson! πŸ‘πŸ»πŸ‘πŸ»πŸ‘πŸ» #weneeddiversebooks

I think I enjoyed The Hate U Give a bit more but I still enjoyed this story about Bri. The book gives you a peek into what it's like to be Black in America and makes you check yourself and your privilege. In that way I think Angie Thomas does a phenomenal job. Her writing is really easy to read and her dialogue flows very well.

Powerful narrative of identity, family and the power of song in the age of social media and how hip hop artists so often get pigeon-holed as ghetto and gang. Bri finds her voice and her courage, even though her future is unsettled at the end of the book.
medium-paced
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
challenging funny 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

I overall enjoyed this book and will definitely continue to read anything Angie Thomas writes. However, I think this narrative suffered a bit because the adult characters all felt a bit flat from the perspective of the teenage girl main character. The various adults are very important to the story development but I was left wondering a lot of the time what exactly was going on outside of Bri's head. Maybe that's just because I'm not a teenager anymore!
challenging 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

Reading 2019
Book 20: On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

The second book by Angie Thomas did not disappoint. Set in the same neighborhood as The Hate U Give with a different main character. The books only overlap in that the neighborhood and the riot are the same. The characters do not know each other.

Bri wants to be a rapper, but there is so much more to the story than that. As with teenagers, this is a growing up story, a find your place in your space story.

I enjoyed this book, but not nearly as much as The Hate U Give. This book was purchased at an author event in February. It was great to meet Angie Thomas in person and hear the story behind the book, and get my book signed. Looking forward to her next novel. Could also see On the Come Up being a movie like The Hate U Give.

This one didn't have the same emotional pull as The Hate U Give, but it was still a solid book. I liked how intricate the story is, while still flowing well and appearing very funny and light on the surface. It's just on the surface, as this books deals with a lot of heavy topics. And again much like THUG, this had a very good family dynamic going on. Angie Thomas really knows how to write families that feel realistic, it's the perfect blend of dramatic and ordinary (in a good way).

Bri was a tough character to like, but I really enjoyed that about her. She was flawed in a way that made her seem like any teenage girl you could meet, and it worked really well with the story. There were a lot of pop culture references, as expected, but I kinda wish the book had kept to music references, as that was actually interesting and relevant to the plot.

Overall, it was a good book that kept my interest even in these weird times lol
adventurous challenging emotional funny inspiring tense