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A review by megan_jessop
Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas
3.0
“It’s kinda like how we have to do with ourselves. Get rid of things that don’t do us any good. If it won’t help the rose grow, you’ve gotta let it go.”
Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas
I’ve got to be honest, I had a hard time getting into this one. I think a lot of it was because I felt like I already knew the story and where it was going to go from reading The Hate U Give. Granted that this is Mav’s story (Starr’s father) more fleshed out to help us understand more of the how and why The Carter family is the way it is in THUG and there are some great themes within the book, such as growing through diversity, getting rid of things that no longer serve us, systemic oppression/racism, and the choices we make with the hands that we’re dealt in life… and it was fun to see how Seven and Starr came about in the world of Garden Heights but overall, I just felt like there was nothing that wowed me as far as the plot went. I appreciate what this book means to the publishing world overall as far as diverse authorship and representation so I don’t want to undermine that. I can be honest and say that as a white cis woman, I just probably wasn’t the audience for this one. On the other hand, if I read this before reading The Hate U Give, I feel like I probably would have loved it—or at least appreciated it a lot more. Was it worth reading? Yes, absolutely. Will I read it again? Probably not. If you are looking to read this book and/or The Hate U Give, I would start with this one. I feel like it would add to the appreciation.
Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas
I’ve got to be honest, I had a hard time getting into this one. I think a lot of it was because I felt like I already knew the story and where it was going to go from reading The Hate U Give. Granted that this is Mav’s story (Starr’s father) more fleshed out to help us understand more of the how and why The Carter family is the way it is in THUG and there are some great themes within the book, such as growing through diversity, getting rid of things that no longer serve us, systemic oppression/racism, and the choices we make with the hands that we’re dealt in life… and it was fun to see how Seven and Starr came about in the world of Garden Heights but overall, I just felt like there was nothing that wowed me as far as the plot went. I appreciate what this book means to the publishing world overall as far as diverse authorship and representation so I don’t want to undermine that. I can be honest and say that as a white cis woman, I just probably wasn’t the audience for this one. On the other hand, if I read this before reading The Hate U Give, I feel like I probably would have loved it—or at least appreciated it a lot more. Was it worth reading? Yes, absolutely. Will I read it again? Probably not. If you are looking to read this book and/or The Hate U Give, I would start with this one. I feel like it would add to the appreciation.