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_ren's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Blood, Grief, Misogyny, and Vomit
Minor: Abortion, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol
janagaton's review against another edition
4.0
Angie Thomas can do no wrong! The humor in this book is unmatched! She really knows how to write a great coming-of-age story, and the transition to The Hate U Give in the epilogue is flawless. My only qualm was all the endless baby/pregnancy talk, which I'm not a fan of in ANY book so that's just a me thing. I just wish it focused more on all the other things Mav was going through aside from finding out he became a father at 17. But I understand why that was the main premise. That's the way it is realistically. Again, just a me thing. I still really enjoyed reading this prequel!
ashleibby613's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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
readwithkiekie's review against another edition
4.0
I have to be honest, Concrete Rose isn’t a bad book, however, there’s no actual plot. It’s literally just Maverick’s teenage life, discovering the pregnancies and dealing with gang life. It’s fun and an easy read and quite sweet but it didn’t leave me feeling empowered like THUG or On the Come Up. I’m gonna be controversial and say the publisher requested this book as they knew it’d sell well and Angie wrote it.
jenniferwallini's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
4.0
A worthy addition to the THUG universe.
ccunliffe's review against another edition
5.0
A great prequel to the Hate U Give. I loved learning more about Mav. Can't wait to read more from Thomas!
meggazula's review against another edition
5.0
This was my first Angie Thomas and now I want to read them all
booklovertamisha's review against another edition
emotional
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
4.5
rvbina's review against another edition
4.0
I write this review on the 1 year anniversary of Ahmed Arbery's death. It's been a whole year since his passing and there has been no justice for his murder by 3 armed, white, male, American civilians.
If you enjoyed THUG, you will love this book. Angie Thomas is amazing at what she does and I'm so glad she decided to write from a young black man's perspective. It's so heart warming to see Mav as a young black man who steps up to the challenge of being a young father, an amazing one at that. Maverick's level of education, his relationship status, his financial background and his criminal activity would make a lot of people strike him off and expect him to fail as a father but despite everything, he really does grow through what he goes through.
The biggest difference between this book and THUG was in me. When I read THUG I was so so ignorant to a lot of the struggle that black Americans have, but whilst reading Concrete Rose, I didn't learn much, if anything at all, about the social status of black people in America- which is a GOOD THING. It shouldn't take a YA book to teach you and me about black lives in America- we should be getting this information from the news, from educational institutions etc., which I'm glad to see is happening more and more frequently (though not frequently enough, and not in the right context).
And although I think that we shouldn't DEPEND on YA books to bring about change in ourselves, I'm going to contradict myself and say that a lot of the change I did see in myself was thanks to the likes of creators like Angie Thomas.
This book is brilliant and now I'm off to re-read THUG, and remind everyone on SM that Ahmed Arbery's family are yet to see justice served.
If you enjoyed THUG, you will love this book. Angie Thomas is amazing at what she does and I'm so glad she decided to write from a young black man's perspective. It's so heart warming to see Mav as a young black man who steps up to the challenge of being a young father, an amazing one at that. Maverick's level of education, his relationship status, his financial background and his criminal activity would make a lot of people strike him off and expect him to fail as a father but despite everything, he really does grow through what he goes through.
The biggest difference between this book and THUG was in me. When I read THUG I was so so ignorant to a lot of the struggle that black Americans have, but whilst reading Concrete Rose, I didn't learn much, if anything at all, about the social status of black people in America- which is a GOOD THING. It shouldn't take a YA book to teach you and me about black lives in America- we should be getting this information from the news, from educational institutions etc., which I'm glad to see is happening more and more frequently (though not frequently enough, and not in the right context).
And although I think that we shouldn't DEPEND on YA books to bring about change in ourselves, I'm going to contradict myself and say that a lot of the change I did see in myself was thanks to the likes of creators like Angie Thomas.
This book is brilliant and now I'm off to re-read THUG, and remind everyone on SM that Ahmed Arbery's family are yet to see justice served.
tessa_stephens's review against another edition
4.0
I was so excited to read this book because I loved Maverick from THUG and thought he was one of the most interesting characters from a cast of extremely well written characters.
I loved Mavs story and watching him grow to support and be there for his kids. I loved the world building and all the side characters because Angie Thomas is extremely talented at bringing you into her books and making sure you want to stay
Watching Mav with Seven was some of my favourite parts of the book because I just loved how much he cared about him even though he was struggling
This book is a lot quieter and feels smaller than THUG which I think works better for the story, but I typically enjoy stories with more drama and bigger endings. The end wraps up nicely and exactly how you'd expect the story to, I just think the rose symbolism could have been integrated more into the book to match the title.
Overall, I'm very pleased with this book and would reccomened it to any fans of The Hate U Give (which I can't wait to reread now
I loved Mavs story and watching him grow to support and be there for his kids. I loved the world building and all the side characters because Angie Thomas is extremely talented at bringing you into her books and making sure you want to stay
Watching Mav with Seven was some of my favourite parts of the book because I just loved how much he cared about him even though he was struggling
This book is a lot quieter and feels smaller than THUG which I think works better for the story, but I typically enjoy stories with more drama and bigger endings. The end wraps up nicely and exactly how you'd expect the story to, I just think the rose symbolism could have been integrated more into the book to match the title.
Overall, I'm very pleased with this book and would reccomened it to any fans of The Hate U Give (which I can't wait to reread now