You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.58 AVERAGE
4.58 AVERAGE
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Another interesting book down my list and another one out of my usual range of books, was “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas good or not? Let’s find out!
Important disclaimer: I rate this book specifically as a YA book, cause this is one of those books I feel like needs to be read mostly by a target audience, thus it’s rating of 4/5 stars for YA would be a 2 or 3 for other audiences, more about this in the review, enjoy!
I don’t know why I started this review as a YouTube video, maybe foreshadowing, who knows. So, the book overall left a pleasant feeling. If you are interested in a coming-of-age story, code-switching, African-American stories, police brutality, injustice, activism and social movement this book will look good on your shelf.
The main plot revolves around a young black girl Starr, who grew up in a ghetto “Garden Heights” and studies is a fancy private school thus leaving in two worlds completely opposite to each other. There are two (yes number two again) main plotlines here first being a more niche one of police brutality, ghetto, injustice, racism and a broader one of a coming-of-age story of Starr. My version of the book had an interview section conducted by Mrs. Thomas herself with a director and lead actress of the movie based on the book, where Amandla Stenberg answering the question of what drew her to the story said:
“It felt really special to find a character who experienced code-switching and navigating different worlds as I did. We don’t see many nuanced experiences of blackness represented in books and movies”.
This quote illustrates perfectly why many readers might find this story so appealing, and even tho we are talking about police brutality in America geared towards African-Americans, we might as well see various analogies in different countries in which a minority is being severely and unjustly punished due to bigotry. The book briefly touches on racism towards people of Asian descent in Maya’s arc, but it’s not developed properly and is really “just there”. Actually, what this book does well and bad simultaneously is develop the environment and handicap characters. Hear me out. You can see the love, knowledge and experience the author put in the language, scenery, various descriptions and fluidity of the text, it is an easy and fun read and probably a part of book I enjoyed very much. But, on the other side, the book is quite big around 450 pages, and while we get the environment we sacrifice some of the characters who I would much rather see more of. Seven’s girlfriend, Uncle Carlos, Maya, the girl who sat on the table at school and put a shoulder on Starr whatever her name is.
The main point of the book is to provide a good and deeply personal experience of coming to terms with yourself, playing a vital role in the community, believing in change and others. Those are all noble goals, especially considering the circumstances in which Starr, Seven like so many other people grow up in can easily lead you to a life of crime and cruelty. We get constant references to Black Panthers, Tupac, MLK and Malcolm X here, showing the movement and activism ought to be present and be developed and carried out by the next generations.
I would enjoy more details about the movements and historical references here, but they were cut to develop a more personal story, which is ok for me, but I feel some nuances in regards to movement formation, history and examples were missing or touched on briefly (a.i. descriptions of Black Panther or rules of Malcom X).
Finishing up, this book is still a valuable read for an African-American teenager, less so for a teenager of color, less for a teenager from a foreign country and least so for people who outgrew YA books, which doesn’t make a book “bad” per say, it’s just one of those books who need to be read in a certain time by a certain age group.
I give it 4/5 Starrs for target audience and a 2,5/5 for any other reader, I do encourage to read more of A. Thomas’s books tho, she is a genuinely an awesome person and one who is deeply involved in enlightenment of young kids, my sincerest regards!
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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:
No
Absolutely most captivating book I’ve read in a while!
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
“That's the problem. We let people say stuff, and they say it so much that it becomes okay to them and normal for us. What's the point of having a voice if you're gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn't be?”
Required reading!
"What's the point of having a voice if you're gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn't be?"
"What's the point of having a voice if you're gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn't be?"
I know it took me way too long to finally read this. But I'm so glad I did.
It's been a while since a book made me cry. And this one got me several times. I just loved the characters so much that I worried for them and felt anger for them.
This is hard book to read (or listen to - PS Bahni Turpin is AMAZING). But it is an important book. And I cannot recommend it enough.
So excited to read Angie Thomas' other books.
It's been a while since a book made me cry. And this one got me several times. I just loved the characters so much that I worried for them and felt anger for them.
This is hard book to read (or listen to - PS Bahni Turpin is AMAZING). But it is an important book. And I cannot recommend it enough.
So excited to read Angie Thomas' other books.
by far the most important and most relevant book i’ll ever read in my entire life.
This was an eye-opening, thought provoking story. Sometimes we think we see things as they are, but we miss the bigger picture. That's what I found with this book. I was missing a lot. The daily struggles. Situations I take for granted because of the color of my skin. This book dug into those things and made me pause and think about how it must feel to live it every single day. I saw a parallel between a recent event in the news and something that occurred in the book. No spoiler, but I will say it was quite striking to make the connection. Highly recommend this important and necessary novel.