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4.42 AVERAGE
4.42 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
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:
Complicated
I liked it, very entertaining and gives us insight into the character of Maverick from THUG.
emotional
funny
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
Early this month, I read Angie Thomas's stunning debut, The Hate U Give. When I discovered the infamous novel had a prequel--Concrete Rose--I just had to check it out.
Concrete Rose is the contemporary prequel novel of Maverick Carter, set seventeen years before the events of The Hate U Give. Here, Mav is seventeen, and in the thick of it. He's tied up in gangs and dealing for the King Lords--just like his father. But it's the best protection he knows. With his father in prison, and his mother hard at work to provide for them, he just wants to help his mom however he can. And life's not so bad, anyways. He's got his girl, Lisa, and a cousin who's always got his back. Mav's doing fine.
Until Mav finds out one wayward night led to him becoming a father.
Mav's world is flipped upside down. Now he's got a kid, a whole baby boy to take care of, on top of school, his mom, and his girl--who, by the way, isn't so happy about this kid of his. How can he be here for them, and keep his kid safe while he's mixed up selling stuff on the streets? It just won't work. So when he's offered a chance to go straight, he takes it.
But when King Lord blood runs through your veins, you can't just walk away. Unless you wanna end up dead. Loyalty, revenge, and responsibility threaten to tear Mav apart, especially after the death of a loved on. He'll have to figure out for himself what it really means, to be a man.
Highlights
Oh my goodness, again, we get a full taste of Angie Thomas's masterful character dynamics. It was a real joy to come back to her writing. She brings each character to life, with her passionate voice, humor, and deep emotions. You can always tell she has history with the things she writes about--she knows this is fiction, but it's not. Everything in her stories is so real, for so many people in America and past America. And it makes the stories so impactful.
Concrete Rose centers around Maverick caring for his son, Seven (fans of The Hate U Give will recognize this, it was so fun to read these beginnings.) and Thomas sums up first time parent life perfectly. As an older sister, I remember what it's like to have a new born baby around the house. It's full of firsts--feeding, learning how to change a diaper, that dreadful moment of burping a baby without a burp cloth--a mistake you make once, and never again. And it's also really hard. The sleepless nights, the constant money going straight from your hands to diapers, food, clothes, everything. Just imagine doing it at seventeen.
Thomas portrays this wonderfully, through humor and stunning, realistic voice. And the way she captures the beauty of it all--yes, it's a lot to deal with a child, but it's also your child. A kid with your eyes, your genes, your blood and being.
"I hadn't realized Li'l Man stopped crying. He suck the bottle and grip my shirt, staring up at me.
I look at him. I mean look at him. Yeah, I see me--ain't' no denying he mine. More than that, I see my son.
My heart balloon in my chest.
"Hey, man." For some reason this feel like I'm meeting him for the first time. "Hey." - Maverick Carter, Concrete Rose, pp. 29
Of course, I have to return to the stunning cast of characters. There's so much range. We have Maverick, the struggling but determined young father. Iesha, Seven's mom, who's not so interested in the dealing with a kid stuff. Lisa, his not-so-happy, "bougie" girlfriend. His mother--hard-working and no nonsense, who just wants better for her son. And so many more. Thomas crafts an entire neighborhood of colorful characters. Everyone has a story, everyone has a voice, everyone has a struggle. You could pick each one up and point them out in someone in real life, and I really feel like that's one of Thomas's biggest writing strengths.
And Thomas is never afraid to have emotion and tackle the tough stuff in her novels. While I don't think this novel impacted me as deeply as The Hate U Give did, it was still stunning. She shows Black men with emotion, Black men struggling and loving and crying and talking and growing. It's something so often skewed in media, that it's wrong--for Black men to portray anything other than anger--but she defies that stereotype, full force. It's amazing.
"Son, one of the biggest lies ever told is that Black men don't feel emotions. Guess it's easier to not see us as human when you think we're heartless. Fact of the matter is, we feel things. Hurt, pain, sadness, all of it. We got a right to show them feelings as much as anybody else." - Mr Wyatt, Concrete Rose, pp. 163-164
Critiques
While I adore the writing voice and cast here, there were a few things I didn't love. Concrete Rose was definitely more of a prequel, and wasn't nearly as satisfying as The Hate U Give. The ending, while sweet, left me unsatisfied. There was a lot of story to be continued, and threads that hadn't been wrapped up. On one hand, it makes sense. Much of the "loose ends" in Concrete Rose are covered in The Hate U Give. But I will wanted the story. I'm a sucker for stories that give us everything, and that just didn't happen in this novel. It felt more like a slice-of-life. Not bad, but I think I need to start looking out for those before I get into a novel, because I'm never satisfied with slice-of-life endings.
Content Warnings
Concrete Rose is definitely a young adult novel. Similarly to The Hate U Give, there's a lot of cursing. Use of the s-word, the f-word, the a-word, the n-word, the b-word, h-ll, d-mn, the Lord's name in vain.
There's also a lot of talk of condoms and the consequences of unprotected sex. Thomas never goes into graphic detail--it's just a theme of the novel, with young pregnancy and all.
There's also a mild sexual scene, but Thomas never grosses us out with the details. No graphics or anything. It's all done very tastefully, and fades to black--it's just implied what they've done.
There's a bisexual couple. There's also a couple violent scenes, containing death, blood, fighting, and/or gunshots.
"Living your life based off what other people think--"
"Ain't living at all." - Pops, Maverick Carter, Concrete Rose, pp. 44
Conclusion
Overall, Concrete Rose is a beautiful story of parental and family love, young relationships, and learning to deal with the harshness of life. There's some violence, quite a bit of cursing, and sexual matters are a theme of the story. But Thomas didn't use all the cursing and matters for nothing. She's shown us a real story, of something that happens to young kids every day. It's something more people need to talk about--and Thomas certainly has.
I rate Concrete Rose 3/5 stars, just because I wasn't satisfied with the ending. I recommend for young parents/older teens, and anyone who enjoyed Angie Thomas's dynamic character voice and deep concepts.
Concrete Rose is the contemporary prequel novel of Maverick Carter, set seventeen years before the events of The Hate U Give. Here, Mav is seventeen, and in the thick of it. He's tied up in gangs and dealing for the King Lords--just like his father. But it's the best protection he knows. With his father in prison, and his mother hard at work to provide for them, he just wants to help his mom however he can. And life's not so bad, anyways. He's got his girl, Lisa, and a cousin who's always got his back. Mav's doing fine.
Until Mav finds out one wayward night led to him becoming a father.
Mav's world is flipped upside down. Now he's got a kid, a whole baby boy to take care of, on top of school, his mom, and his girl--who, by the way, isn't so happy about this kid of his. How can he be here for them, and keep his kid safe while he's mixed up selling stuff on the streets? It just won't work. So when he's offered a chance to go straight, he takes it.
But when King Lord blood runs through your veins, you can't just walk away. Unless you wanna end up dead. Loyalty, revenge, and responsibility threaten to tear Mav apart, especially after the death of a loved on. He'll have to figure out for himself what it really means, to be a man.
Highlights
Oh my goodness, again, we get a full taste of Angie Thomas's masterful character dynamics. It was a real joy to come back to her writing. She brings each character to life, with her passionate voice, humor, and deep emotions. You can always tell she has history with the things she writes about--she knows this is fiction, but it's not. Everything in her stories is so real, for so many people in America and past America. And it makes the stories so impactful.
Concrete Rose centers around Maverick caring for his son, Seven (fans of The Hate U Give will recognize this, it was so fun to read these beginnings.) and Thomas sums up first time parent life perfectly. As an older sister, I remember what it's like to have a new born baby around the house. It's full of firsts--feeding, learning how to change a diaper, that dreadful moment of burping a baby without a burp cloth--a mistake you make once, and never again. And it's also really hard. The sleepless nights, the constant money going straight from your hands to diapers, food, clothes, everything. Just imagine doing it at seventeen.
Thomas portrays this wonderfully, through humor and stunning, realistic voice. And the way she captures the beauty of it all--yes, it's a lot to deal with a child, but it's also your child. A kid with your eyes, your genes, your blood and being.
"I hadn't realized Li'l Man stopped crying. He suck the bottle and grip my shirt, staring up at me.
I look at him. I mean look at him. Yeah, I see me--ain't' no denying he mine. More than that, I see my son.
My heart balloon in my chest.
"Hey, man." For some reason this feel like I'm meeting him for the first time. "Hey." - Maverick Carter, Concrete Rose, pp. 29
Of course, I have to return to the stunning cast of characters. There's so much range. We have Maverick, the struggling but determined young father. Iesha, Seven's mom, who's not so interested in the dealing with a kid stuff. Lisa, his not-so-happy, "bougie" girlfriend. His mother--hard-working and no nonsense, who just wants better for her son. And so many more. Thomas crafts an entire neighborhood of colorful characters. Everyone has a story, everyone has a voice, everyone has a struggle. You could pick each one up and point them out in someone in real life, and I really feel like that's one of Thomas's biggest writing strengths.
And Thomas is never afraid to have emotion and tackle the tough stuff in her novels. While I don't think this novel impacted me as deeply as The Hate U Give did, it was still stunning. She shows Black men with emotion, Black men struggling and loving and crying and talking and growing. It's something so often skewed in media, that it's wrong--for Black men to portray anything other than anger--but she defies that stereotype, full force. It's amazing.
"Son, one of the biggest lies ever told is that Black men don't feel emotions. Guess it's easier to not see us as human when you think we're heartless. Fact of the matter is, we feel things. Hurt, pain, sadness, all of it. We got a right to show them feelings as much as anybody else." - Mr Wyatt, Concrete Rose, pp. 163-164
Critiques
While I adore the writing voice and cast here, there were a few things I didn't love. Concrete Rose was definitely more of a prequel, and wasn't nearly as satisfying as The Hate U Give. The ending, while sweet, left me unsatisfied. There was a lot of story to be continued, and threads that hadn't been wrapped up. On one hand, it makes sense. Much of the "loose ends" in Concrete Rose are covered in The Hate U Give. But I will wanted the story. I'm a sucker for stories that give us everything, and that just didn't happen in this novel. It felt more like a slice-of-life. Not bad, but I think I need to start looking out for those before I get into a novel, because I'm never satisfied with slice-of-life endings.
Content Warnings
Concrete Rose is definitely a young adult novel. Similarly to The Hate U Give, there's a lot of cursing. Use of the s-word, the f-word, the a-word, the n-word, the b-word, h-ll, d-mn, the Lord's name in vain.
There's also a lot of talk of condoms and the consequences of unprotected sex. Thomas never goes into graphic detail--it's just a theme of the novel, with young pregnancy and all.
There's also a mild sexual scene, but Thomas never grosses us out with the details. No graphics or anything. It's all done very tastefully, and fades to black--it's just implied what they've done.
There's a bisexual couple. There's also a couple violent scenes, containing death, blood, fighting, and/or gunshots.
"Living your life based off what other people think--"
"Ain't living at all." - Pops, Maverick Carter, Concrete Rose, pp. 44
Conclusion
Overall, Concrete Rose is a beautiful story of parental and family love, young relationships, and learning to deal with the harshness of life. There's some violence, quite a bit of cursing, and sexual matters are a theme of the story. But Thomas didn't use all the cursing and matters for nothing. She's shown us a real story, of something that happens to young kids every day. It's something more people need to talk about--and Thomas certainly has.
I rate Concrete Rose 3/5 stars, just because I wasn't satisfied with the ending. I recommend for young parents/older teens, and anyone who enjoyed Angie Thomas's dynamic character voice and deep concepts.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Personnage préféré : Mr. Wyatt
Avis : J’étais déjà fan the The Hate U Give, alors j’étais impatiente pour ce prequel. Je ne voulais vraiment pas les comparer, et je n’avais même pas besoin de m’inquiéter parce que ces deux livres touchent des choses tellement différentes. J’ai l’impression que ce livre a pu toucher à un autre monde, celui des gangs et de la violence liés.
Avant de parler du moindre avis, une chose que je dois dire pour Lisa et Maverick, c’est comment on peut être aussi stupide ? Surtout, toi, Maverick ?
Enfin bref, pour retourner au fond du sujet, j’ai bien aimé le fait d’aborder le thème de la paternité, et de la difficulté qu’est de s’occuper d’un bébé en tant qu’adolescent. Je pense réellement que ce livre a fait un bon travail avec ça en abordant les hauts et les bas.
À côté de ça, on a eu droit à la violence des gangs et à ce que le manque de travail pour les Noirs peut entraîner. J’ai bien aimé les nuances, d’à la fois démontrer pourquoi les gangs sont nés, mais aussi du fait qu’on peut s’en sortir autrement, même si c’est difficile. J’ai vraiment beaucoup aimé les personnages dans ce livre et j’ai passé un incroyable moment. C’était génial !
“I like to be reminded that beauty can come from much of nothing. To me that’s the whole point of flowers.”
Avis : J’étais déjà fan the The Hate U Give, alors j’étais impatiente pour ce prequel. Je ne voulais vraiment pas les comparer, et je n’avais même pas besoin de m’inquiéter parce que ces deux livres touchent des choses tellement différentes. J’ai l’impression que ce livre a pu toucher à un autre monde, celui des gangs et de la violence liés.
Avant de parler du moindre avis, une chose que je dois dire pour Lisa et Maverick, c’est comment on peut être aussi stupide ? Surtout, toi, Maverick ?
Enfin bref, pour retourner au fond du sujet, j’ai bien aimé le fait d’aborder le thème de la paternité, et de la difficulté qu’est de s’occuper d’un bébé en tant qu’adolescent. Je pense réellement que ce livre a fait un bon travail avec ça en abordant les hauts et les bas.
À côté de ça, on a eu droit à la violence des gangs et à ce que le manque de travail pour les Noirs peut entraîner. J’ai bien aimé les nuances, d’à la fois démontrer pourquoi les gangs sont nés, mais aussi du fait qu’on peut s’en sortir autrement, même si c’est difficile. J’ai vraiment beaucoup aimé les personnages dans ce livre et j’ai passé un incroyable moment. C’était génial !
“I like to be reminded that beauty can come from much of nothing. To me that’s the whole point of flowers.”
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
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 love everything Angie Thomas writes. And this book definitely didn’t disappoint! I loved following Big Mav as he navigates his life as a teen parent and his relationships with those around him. Angie Thomas is really good at writing teenagers, which some other YA authors struggle with. I love all the characters so much and I can’t wait to read her future works. The only reason I knocked it down half a star is that there’s something about it that didn’t quite hit the mark with me. Again, like most book related complaints I have, it’s just a personal thing and no way did it affect the quality of the book. If you haven’t read this book, go read it now!
☞ 4.5 stars
☞ 4.5 stars
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
took me a hot second to get into this due to the writing style but very quickly the style grew on me and then i couldn't devour this fast enough, i absolutely love the characters too and this book has so much heart, not to be missed
challenging
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Angie Thomas always writes such a fantastic read, and this is no exception. It perfectly connects all of her other novels, and is a true expression of the human condition.