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11corvus11's review against another edition
4.0
I grabbed this as an audiobook from the library, not realizing it was YA. YA is not usually my thing so I can't speak to how it stands in reference to the genre. It was a difficult book for me to rate for other reasons though, which I will explain below. The writing style seems like it would be good for youth. There is representation of LGBTQ youth of color with many identities. There are realistic exchanges regarding oppressive experiences but characters are in a loving environment with friends and family. It involves radical resistance. These are the things that make it good for who YA is aimed at in my opinion.
That said, I believe the plot could have been advanced in multiple ways without the level of trauma, sometimes devolving into trauma porn, contained in the book.
***Spoilers***
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Do we really need yet another story of queer people and/or people of color being beaten and murdered over and over again? The story starting out with Moss' traumatic history with his father and police as well as having PTSD from that is enough to build a compelling story. When Javier was murdered in front of Moss, I became angry. The entire school protest scene was horrific enough to build the following events without killing Moss' first love. Queer people and people of color always have to be killed as plot points. How about a story about Javier and Moss fighting the police together?
Also, the protests are unrealistic and the author again used these scenes to create constant graphic trauma and violence to advance the story. I've been to a LOT of protests. Small ones to mass actions, permitted ones to illegal ones, "peaceful" ones to "violent" ones, etc. Cops don't just bring war weaponry to every single protest- those are usually used at mass actions like the G20 or RNC. They don't kill people at every single protest. They are sometimes even more lenient in protests of police murdering people because they want to look good for the cameras. Sometimes, your protest sucks because literally no one gives a shit. Sometimes your protest sucks because no one shows up. Sometimes your protest sucks because the media never shows up. And yes, sometimes your protest sucks because people get arrested. Sometimes your protest sucks because cops attack people violently. This idea that police in full on riot gear are beating, murdering, and using very expensive war weaponry on teens and everyone else at every protest is not helpful.
I worry that young people who do read this will be discouraged from ever speaking up, thinking that every time they do anything they will be murdered. I worry that queer kids will see themselves represented in characters who are then violently beaten and murdered. Queer teens of color definitely deal with all sorts of struggles, including police brutality. But, it felt like more time was being dedicated to people being hurt than people being empowered.
I am not saying it should have all been rainbows. There were things I found realistic in a good way- such as Moss struggling with trauma in diverse ways and not being suddenly "cured" and the ways that the cops just continuously resisted any accountability were important. I liked how people stuck together through the struggles. I just don't think there needed to be so much violence and trauma porn. I'm an adult in my 30s who has experienced a lot of things and it was too much for ME. I almost put it down.
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.
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***End Spoilers***
In the end I gave it 4 stars because I like the author, I liked the subject and plot, I liked the representation. I think if I were to pass it on to queer youth, I would want to read it with them and talk about it.
That said, I believe the plot could have been advanced in multiple ways without the level of trauma, sometimes devolving into trauma porn, contained in the book.
***Spoilers***
.
.
.
.
Do we really need yet another story of queer people and/or people of color being beaten and murdered over and over again? The story starting out with Moss' traumatic history with his father and police as well as having PTSD from that is enough to build a compelling story. When Javier was murdered in front of Moss, I became angry. The entire school protest scene was horrific enough to build the following events without killing Moss' first love. Queer people and people of color always have to be killed as plot points. How about a story about Javier and Moss fighting the police together?
Also, the protests are unrealistic and the author again used these scenes to create constant graphic trauma and violence to advance the story. I've been to a LOT of protests. Small ones to mass actions, permitted ones to illegal ones, "peaceful" ones to "violent" ones, etc. Cops don't just bring war weaponry to every single protest- those are usually used at mass actions like the G20 or RNC. They don't kill people at every single protest. They are sometimes even more lenient in protests of police murdering people because they want to look good for the cameras. Sometimes, your protest sucks because literally no one gives a shit. Sometimes your protest sucks because no one shows up. Sometimes your protest sucks because the media never shows up. And yes, sometimes your protest sucks because people get arrested. Sometimes your protest sucks because cops attack people violently. This idea that police in full on riot gear are beating, murdering, and using very expensive war weaponry on teens and everyone else at every protest is not helpful.
I worry that young people who do read this will be discouraged from ever speaking up, thinking that every time they do anything they will be murdered. I worry that queer kids will see themselves represented in characters who are then violently beaten and murdered. Queer teens of color definitely deal with all sorts of struggles, including police brutality. But, it felt like more time was being dedicated to people being hurt than people being empowered.
I am not saying it should have all been rainbows. There were things I found realistic in a good way- such as Moss struggling with trauma in diverse ways and not being suddenly "cured" and the ways that the cops just continuously resisted any accountability were important. I liked how people stuck together through the struggles. I just don't think there needed to be so much violence and trauma porn. I'm an adult in my 30s who has experienced a lot of things and it was too much for ME. I almost put it down.
.
.
.
***End Spoilers***
In the end I gave it 4 stars because I like the author, I liked the subject and plot, I liked the representation. I think if I were to pass it on to queer youth, I would want to read it with them and talk about it.
alexisrt's review
3.0
I don't read a lot of YA, and rarely review it when I do, but a friend specifically recommended this book to me.
The good: the book portrays important social issues with power and immediacy. The portrayal of life in an underfunded school is spot on. (The metal detectors, though. At least he explained it with the magnetic body scanner, but it still doesn't 100% make sense: they'd put such an expensive piece of equipment in a high school? Even suspending my disbelief that they would not train officers in how to use it. I get that he was trying to work in the militarization of the police, but the way it was squashed in made it feel like he hadn't done enough research on actual implementation. And ICE didn't exist when Esperanza was born.)
The bad: characterization is, for the most part, weak. The novel reads too much like Oshiro decided he wanted to write a Very Important Novel with a Very Diverse Cast. The characters lack individuality. I remember who is black, who is Muslim, who is nonbinary--but I remember very little about them as individuals, just as identities. Only Bits stuck out at all. They fit into slots in his diverse cast. Esperanza exists as a bridge between her parents (white, well off, well meaning individuals) and the diverse teens of color of Moss' world. She serves a function, but isn't enough of a person. Meanwhile, her parents exist as a plot function--the well meaning white people who betray the kids. Mr. Jacobs plays a similar role. The characters aren't afforded moral complexity--instead, the story functions as a morality play with predetermined slots.
The good: the book portrays important social issues with power and immediacy. The portrayal of life in an underfunded school is spot on. (The metal detectors, though. At least he explained it with the magnetic body scanner, but it still doesn't 100% make sense: they'd put such an expensive piece of equipment in a high school? Even suspending my disbelief that they would not train officers in how to use it. I get that he was trying to work in the militarization of the police, but the way it was squashed in made it feel like he hadn't done enough research on actual implementation. And ICE didn't exist when Esperanza was born.)
The bad: characterization is, for the most part, weak. The novel reads too much like Oshiro decided he wanted to write a Very Important Novel with a Very Diverse Cast. The characters lack individuality. I remember who is black, who is Muslim, who is nonbinary--but I remember very little about them as individuals, just as identities. Only Bits stuck out at all. They fit into slots in his diverse cast. Esperanza exists as a bridge between her parents (white, well off, well meaning individuals) and the diverse teens of color of Moss' world. She serves a function, but isn't enough of a person. Meanwhile, her parents exist as a plot function--the well meaning white people who betray the kids. Mr. Jacobs plays a similar role. The characters aren't afforded moral complexity--instead, the story functions as a morality play with predetermined slots.
andi_mush's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
rhi_g's review
1.0
there is some spoilers below but this is copy pasted from my notes app and it’s 230am so i don’t want to read through my rant to find where they are
i’m angry. i’m angry because this book should’ve been a five star, because is should have been an impactful story about police brutality and resistance and instead i got a mess. my first issue is the sheer number of characters, all of which have literally zero personality. every character exists to further moss’ growth and do not exist on their own. also this book gets praise for its great queer rep. like i think i should feel seen by this book as a nonbinary ace lesbian but no, the side characters just list of their sexualitities and genders like checking off boxes. it lacks any real emotion mostly because the side characters have again, literally no personality. my next problem is how the book treated Esperanza. moss treats her terribly all the time and i have a genuinely hard time believing they are friends. moss implies she deserves abuse she’s endured and the panic she feels in the final protest because “maybe now she understands it”. page 427 of the hardcover is the worst of it. she says “i’m sorry i never understood until now” and his thoughts “now you know…This was what it took. this was the line she had to cross. he didn’t know if it was enough” wtf. he acts like she’s super privileged, but she was taken from her mother as an infant, adopted by a well meaning but not understanding white couple and then is also a latina lesbian. the worst part though is that this book seems to want to bring light to the atrocities that the police force commits and fails so miserably because it felt the need to exaggerate. as far as i know this book is set in modern day/roughly the year it came out and is not a near future dystopian. the silent guardian, the heat ray weapon that terrorized the crowd in the final chapters, has never been used in the history of the world. the silent guardian is a smaller version of a non-lethal weapon known as the Active Denial System. by smaller i mean it’s still massive. it weights like 10000 pounds. the active denial system developed by raytheon was created in the early 2000s. specifically from 2002-2007. it has been deployed once. in afghanistan where it was sent back without ever being used. that was in 2010. the silent guardian was supposed to be installed in an LA jail but that never ended up happening either. and that’s it. there has never been an instance of this weapon being used at all, never mind to disperse a US protest. my question is why did the author feel the need to exaggerate, to paint a reality that is not our own when the world already has seen so much injustice. i didn’t need pain rays in the book, i wanted a real reflection of the horrible ways power is abused by police and about the real weapons used against peaceful protesters. i wanted to feel angry about the world and not about this book
i’m angry. i’m angry because this book should’ve been a five star, because is should have been an impactful story about police brutality and resistance and instead i got a mess. my first issue is the sheer number of characters, all of which have literally zero personality. every character exists to further moss’ growth and do not exist on their own. also this book gets praise for its great queer rep. like i think i should feel seen by this book as a nonbinary ace lesbian but no, the side characters just list of their sexualitities and genders like checking off boxes. it lacks any real emotion mostly because the side characters have again, literally no personality. my next problem is how the book treated Esperanza. moss treats her terribly all the time and i have a genuinely hard time believing they are friends. moss implies she deserves abuse she’s endured and the panic she feels in the final protest because “maybe now she understands it”. page 427 of the hardcover is the worst of it. she says “i’m sorry i never understood until now” and his thoughts “now you know…This was what it took. this was the line she had to cross. he didn’t know if it was enough” wtf. he acts like she’s super privileged, but she was taken from her mother as an infant, adopted by a well meaning but not understanding white couple and then is also a latina lesbian. the worst part though is that this book seems to want to bring light to the atrocities that the police force commits and fails so miserably because it felt the need to exaggerate. as far as i know this book is set in modern day/roughly the year it came out and is not a near future dystopian. the silent guardian, the heat ray weapon that terrorized the crowd in the final chapters, has never been used in the history of the world. the silent guardian is a smaller version of a non-lethal weapon known as the Active Denial System. by smaller i mean it’s still massive. it weights like 10000 pounds. the active denial system developed by raytheon was created in the early 2000s. specifically from 2002-2007. it has been deployed once. in afghanistan where it was sent back without ever being used. that was in 2010. the silent guardian was supposed to be installed in an LA jail but that never ended up happening either. and that’s it. there has never been an instance of this weapon being used at all, never mind to disperse a US protest. my question is why did the author feel the need to exaggerate, to paint a reality that is not our own when the world already has seen so much injustice. i didn’t need pain rays in the book, i wanted a real reflection of the horrible ways power is abused by police and about the real weapons used against peaceful protesters. i wanted to feel angry about the world and not about this book
my rating 0/5
final thoughts: read the hate u give
polkadotgirl's review
3.0
3.5/5 star:
I didn't know much about this book going in, just that it centered around police brutality, racism and discrimination and so it would be a hard read. I didn't know just how tough this book would get until halfway through, however. I don't think it was bad that it caught me so off-guard because I think it was very realistic in the way it built up tension and the way the story unfolded.
I was so pleasantly surprised by the intersectional representation this book offers. It ranges from a gay, black main character to a latino love interest and asexual, trans and physically disabled side characters. I also think the representation was always done in a very respectful way. I do have to say there were a couple of instances throughout the book were some representation introductions could be seen as a little "info dumpy" because of how characters talked or how they addressed their identities but I think that can be overlooked or "accepted" because of the rep it leaves us with.
I didn't see coming
By the last quarter of this book I felt a weird sort of disconnect from it. It was going to be a 4 or maybe 4.5 star rating but the last hundred pages or so made the rating settle on a 3.5 star for me. I think the events of the story got a little convoluted and in the chaos the plot loses a bit of its emotional impact. I understand that those dramatic events can and do happen in real life when protests, riots and instances like this happen but, and maybe it was just me, I felt things getting a bit confusing and rushed.
In the end this is a book I enjoyed and that raises some very important questions and issues. It follows a very fleshed out main character (whom I related to a lot because of his anxiety) and portrays some very good dynamics and relationships. I recommend it highly even if it wasn't the perfect book for me.
I didn't know much about this book going in, just that it centered around police brutality, racism and discrimination and so it would be a hard read. I didn't know just how tough this book would get until halfway through, however. I don't think it was bad that it caught me so off-guard because I think it was very realistic in the way it built up tension and the way the story unfolded.
I was so pleasantly surprised by the intersectional representation this book offers. It ranges from a gay, black main character to a latino love interest and asexual, trans and physically disabled side characters. I also think the representation was always done in a very respectful way. I do have to say there were a couple of instances throughout the book were some representation introductions could be seen as a little "info dumpy" because of how characters talked or how they addressed their identities but I think that can be overlooked or "accepted" because of the rep it leaves us with.
I didn't see coming
Spoiler
Javier's death at all and it upset me a lot because I was really enjoying his and Moss' relationship. I found them very cute and I think they had a good and realistic build up to their romance and it broke my heart to have another queer couple who couldn't have their happy ending.By the last quarter of this book I felt a weird sort of disconnect from it. It was going to be a 4 or maybe 4.5 star rating but the last hundred pages or so made the rating settle on a 3.5 star for me. I think the events of the story got a little convoluted and in the chaos the plot loses a bit of its emotional impact. I understand that those dramatic events can and do happen in real life when protests, riots and instances like this happen but, and maybe it was just me, I felt things getting a bit confusing and rushed.
In the end this is a book I enjoyed and that raises some very important questions and issues. It follows a very fleshed out main character (whom I related to a lot because of his anxiety) and portrays some very good dynamics and relationships. I recommend it highly even if it wasn't the perfect book for me.
kennisn's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. I liked its realistic depiction of anxiety and mental illness and how it impacts young adults. Mark Oshiro also did a great job of putting the reader in the mindset of Reg - an African-American/Black teen who struggles with anxiety, spurred on by the death of his father, a victim of police brutality. Every time he sees a cop, he suffers an almost crippling anxiety attack. And as a young black man profiled and more frequently targeted by police, he understands that he will have to deal with this his entire life.
At one point in the novel, his best friend Esperanza finally comes to a realization about what Reg and all black people struggle with on a daily basis - a real fear for their life because of their skin/culture/etc - until she experiences it first hand when a peaceful protest turns into mayhem and people are violently brutalized (or killed) by police officers. She even says, âIâm sorry I never understood ⦠until now.â This was the biggest connection I personally made while reading - Even though I've taken courses in college and professional development sessions through my school district on race and equity - I myself can still only understand what Reg (and black people in general) has to deal with at a surface level. However, as a teacher at a middle school with a high poverty rate, I challenge myself to empathize and consider my own biases/privileges on a daily basis, with the hope to prevent the mistake the Esperanza makes.
Also, while I applaud its efforts, it also seemed like Oshiro was trying to hard to make his novel as intersectional as possible. Reg's friends are from every walk of life: his best friend, Esperanza, is Latina and lesbian (who was a child separated from her family by ICE after illegally crossing the US); Javier is Latino and gay (and an undocumented immigrant); Bits (while not explicitly referred to as Trans, goes by they/them pronouns)... While I love that Oshiro is being inclusive, so often these elements seem tacked on and are only given a cursory reference (but perhaps that's the point?).
At one point in the novel, his best friend Esperanza finally comes to a realization about what Reg and all black people struggle with on a daily basis - a real fear for their life because of their skin/culture/etc - until she experiences it first hand when a peaceful protest turns into mayhem and people are violently brutalized (or killed) by police officers. She even says, âIâm sorry I never understood ⦠until now.â This was the biggest connection I personally made while reading - Even though I've taken courses in college and professional development sessions through my school district on race and equity - I myself can still only understand what Reg (and black people in general) has to deal with at a surface level. However, as a teacher at a middle school with a high poverty rate, I challenge myself to empathize and consider my own biases/privileges on a daily basis, with the hope to prevent the mistake the Esperanza makes.
Also, while I applaud its efforts, it also seemed like Oshiro was trying to hard to make his novel as intersectional as possible. Reg's friends are from every walk of life: his best friend, Esperanza, is Latina and lesbian (who was a child separated from her family by ICE after illegally crossing the US); Javier is Latino and gay (and an undocumented immigrant); Bits (while not explicitly referred to as Trans, goes by they/them pronouns)... While I love that Oshiro is being inclusive, so often these elements seem tacked on and are only given a cursory reference (but perhaps that's the point?).
alesehunter's review
challenging
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality and Murder
sunshine169's review
3.0
This is one of those books that are really hard to read subject wise. Police brutality is a huge problem. I did find it improbable that not a single police officer was good though but I understand the point the book was trying to get across. It pains me that this is many peoples reality. The equipment the police used were extremely high tech (not very realistic sounding but I could be wrong) weapons that they used on a high school and it just felt all kinds of messed up. The assistant principle described it as left over things from the military surplus. That was used on TEENAGERS. It was insane.
I had issue with a few things mainly:
Lifting a disabled person in their wheelchair... just no...
The treatment of women
Moss wasn't the best of characters. He had no development. He didn't exactly treat his friends very well. Although I did feel very horrible for himlosing his father to a police shooting and then his potential boyfriend to a police shooting.
I had issue with a few things mainly:
Lifting a disabled person in their wheelchair... just no...
The treatment of women
Spoiler
(the mother constant apologizing to her son and rubbing his back to calm him down felt like she was an abused woman... and the best friend who Moss thought was justified in her beaten from the police because she needed to learn... then she apologized to Moss saying she learned her lesson to just sit and listen... just no again.)Moss wasn't the best of characters. He had no development. He didn't exactly treat his friends very well. Although I did feel very horrible for him