A review by santreads
Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas

emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

When I read The Hate U Give in 2018, I started reading it and put it down to read about Stephon Clarke’s murder by the police. That just reminded me of how real this issue was and how real the book was. To say that the book ‘hit different’ would be an understatement. However, apart from the themes covered, what I absolutely loved about The Hate U Give was the family dynamic. Which is why when I found out that Angie Thomas was writing a prequel that would centre around Maverick, Starr’s father, I was ecstatic. I loved him and just through the glimpses of his life in The Hate U Give, I knew that he had a story to tell. 

Which is why when the book came out, I had to read it asap. And I’m glad I did. The book picks up when Mav is 17 and he’s just found out that he’s going to be a father. He’s part of a gang, just like his father but this gang is like his family - they protect each other. And that’s one thing that I really liked about this book, it kind of showed you the nuance of why someone would even want to join a gang. But I digress. 

Through this book, you see Mav with his role and the various facets to his life - as a friend, cousin, boyfriend, father, son, high schooler and gang member. It’s a struggle that’s pulling at him in different directions and he doesn’t quite know how to navigate it. I won’t get into the plot in terms of what happens next, as its spoilers but let’s just say that this book was definitely fast paced. It had a lot of ‘plot twists’ or ‘things that I didn’t necessarily see coming’ that kept the tempo always up. More than anything though, this book had a lot of introspection and reflection and I found myself wishing that more men/boys pick it up. 

Because the number one thing that this book did was subvert society’s view of what a man should be. We see Mav actively work towards being a good father and caretaker and not fall into the traps of being a ‘manly man’. I love that we got to see the vulnerability of men and the turmoil they deal with. We saw this boy cry - and from what I understand in black community - vulnerability is not something black men are taught to show. I cannot speak of a lot of things, but as a woman, it was the small things that mattered - such as the respect that he had and how he understood that it can be rough for women after a pregnancy with postnatal hormones. 

When I say that this book has layers, it has layers. There are layers to people, characters, situations and Angie Thomas expertly tried to peel back these layers just a little bit to give you an understanding of society and the way we portray black bodies and black men. In an interview she gave (which I will link), she talked about how it was so important to humanize black boys and men in this day and age where the media (and the police) perceive them to be one certain way. 

Like we saw with The Hate U Give, since it’s from Mav’s POV, the voice in which the book was written was his. There was a lot of slang and colloquialisms that a boy of his age and of his time and it might be a little difficult in the beginning for some people to get into, however, I was fine with it as I consume a lot of American content. 

The dialogue was sharp and witty as Angie Thomas’ other works have been. I found myself chuckling along and you could truly believe that such conversations would have happened. 

Along with that however, she sets you up with some hard hitting shit. I especially really liked the way she covered grief and the things that she had to say (through her characters) about that. My highlight though was the way Mav parented his child - there was so much joy to it. It filled my heart up. 

Other than Mav, I really loved how the rest of the characters were written as well. They stayed true to the characters that they were in THUG. I especially loved Lisa - but I’ve always had a soft spot for her. 

I was definitely super happy to spot a bunch of easter eggs from Angie Thomas’ other works in the book and there were a bunch. It made me want to reread The Hate U Give (which I just might). To end this, I would definitely recommend this book. This was an absolute delight to read. 

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