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A review by ashlightgrayson
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book serves as a great portal to what life is like for many black people living in America today. Starr is the main character in the story and unfortunately feels like she must put on a mask when she goes to her predominantly white wealthy private school. She does everything possible throughout most of the story to not seem "ghetto" when she's at school, which has so many negative implications about stereotypes that are propogated about the black community. It is a very real issue though. In the book, Starr has the misfortune of seeing her friend Khalil be shot by a white police officer after they leave a party. All Khalil did was ask why he was stopped and then proceed to ask Starr if she was okay while grabbing a comb from his car. Unfortinately, that was enough for him to be shot to death and then be pegged as a drug dealer by the media. The rest of the book deals with how this affects Starr and her perspective on her own social identity.
The parts I enjoyed most about this book are the moments where characters were able to have open conversations about race and address racist comments as not being acceptable. Hailey was by far my least favorite character, but she did a great job serving her purpose in the story. She represented people who fail to understand race relations for what they are. She represents those people that are racist and unapologetic about it when they are corrected. She is an example of those who lack empathy for the unequal treatment others experience in the world. I think she is a good contrast to Chris. Chris is ignorant in many ways on race issues, but is willing to listen and understand where he goes wrong when he does. He comes to befriend many of Starr's friends in her neighborhood because he is open to breaking down any misconceptions he may have. My favorite example of this is probably when he has a conversation with Starr and her friends about black people having strange names. The moment he realizes he has made a blunder about the issue, he doesn't retaliate and is even apologetic about it.
This book has characters that feel real and are a reflection of what a lot of black America is going through. It's very well written and addresses social issues in a way that isn't subtle, but definitely realistic. I highly recommend this book for anyone that wants to better understand the Black Lives Matter movement as well as get a well written story that has characters that progress together with the events of the plot.
The parts I enjoyed most about this book are the moments where characters were able to have open conversations about race and address racist comments as not being acceptable. Hailey was by far my least favorite character, but she did a great job serving her purpose in the story. She represented people who fail to understand race relations for what they are. She represents those people that are racist and unapologetic about it when they are corrected. She is an example of those who lack empathy for the unequal treatment others experience in the world. I think she is a good contrast to Chris. Chris is ignorant in many ways on race issues, but is willing to listen and understand where he goes wrong when he does. He comes to befriend many of Starr's friends in her neighborhood because he is open to breaking down any misconceptions he may have. My favorite example of this is probably when he has a conversation with Starr and her friends about black people having strange names. The moment he realizes he has made a blunder about the issue, he doesn't retaliate and is even apologetic about it.
This book has characters that feel real and are a reflection of what a lot of black America is going through. It's very well written and addresses social issues in a way that isn't subtle, but definitely realistic. I highly recommend this book for anyone that wants to better understand the Black Lives Matter movement as well as get a well written story that has characters that progress together with the events of the plot.