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The Hate U Give Book Review | sprinkledpages

Today I am bringing to you a review for one of my absolute most anticipated reads of 2017 which is The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. The moment I heard about this book, I knew I was going to love it. The synopsis had me so intrigued and everyone in the book community was so so hyped about it.

Those who had gotten ARCs were talking about how amazing it was, it had such fantastic and credible authors blurbing and talking about it and it was the basically the buzz of the community.

And let me just say…I can see why it’s already been picked up to be created into a movie even before the release because DAMN.

Disclaimer: I am not an African-American reviewer so I can’t really say if this book had good representation or not because I wouldn’t know.

About the book.

Book: The Hate U Give

Author: Angie Thomas

Pages: 464

Publisher: Walker Books Australia

Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend, Khalil, at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, Khalil’s death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Starr’s best friend at school suggests he may have had it coming. When it becomes clear the police have little interest in investigating the incident, protesters take to the streets and Starr’s neighborhood becomes a war zone. What everyone wants to know is: What really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does—or does not—say could destroy her community. It could also endanger her life. (source)

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Recommended for: Anyone 13+. Just watch out for some swearing.

Thank you to Walker Books Australia for sending me a review copy however all thoughts and opinions are my own and this is an honest review.

My thoughts.

{ WRITING }

Okay, so can I just begin by saying that I loved how ‘Black’ this book was? The use of ebonics, the slang, the rapping – it just highlights the importance of #ownvoices because you can’t get any more authentic than that.

I found myself absolutely immersed in the world that was Garden Heights from the good to the bad and in comparison, I found I couldn’t connect as much with Williamson.

There was this realness to the writing that is too hard to describe. There was this realness to everything that is absolutely impossible to describe. The book is written in such a subtle and unsubtle and moving and terrifying and beautiful and emotional way that you feel absolutely swept away.

{ IDEA }

So if you didn’t know, this book is based on the #blacklivesmatter movement to end police brutality happening in the USA. And I thought a book based on that was not only really amazing but also really necessary.

Other than the idea being extremely unique, this book is important. This book is so very important because it taught me so much, it will teach you so much and it will teach anyone else who reads it SO DAMN MUCH.

This book is everything from entertaining, to informative to educating. Thomas entertains us through the quick wit and sass of Starr and her amazing, close knit family and informs us of what injustices are being inflicted on her people. And finally, she educates us. She educates us on what must be done, she educates us on what we need to do – Americans or not, African Americans or not – she tells us that we need to stand up against police brutality and we cannot let this go on.

I love how Thomas wrote this incredibly moving and emotive piece of literary work but she also kept it light hearted, at times positive and enjoyable. She made it easy to get wrapped up in the story and harder to come out and that is what every good author should do and very few can.

ALSO! The explanation of The Hate U Give title (THUG) is so amazing and GAHHH I cannot deal with how well Thomas linked that into the book. ALSO ALSO I’m not really into rap or basketball or shoes but damn this book makes me want to get into those things.

{ PLOT }

So the plot of this is not what I thought it’d be but I’d rather not say too much in the fear of spoiling it. However, what I can tell you is that this book focuses a lot on prejudice within society, stereotypes and racial bias many people seem to have. It touches a little on white supremacy.

This book is mostly about Starr and her family and her community as they struggle to come to terms with not only the death of her best friend but the treatment of African Americans in the US. This book is about healing and learning to become strong and to stand up for what you believe in.

I learnt a lot reading this book, maybe more than others as I don’t live in the US. I loved the sensitivity with which Thomas handled the topic and the way in which she explained possible solutions and better outcomes that we as a society have to work towards.

This book is eye opening yet oddly gentle at the same time.

{ CHARACTERS }

Starr is honestly such a fab protagonist. I loved how real she was – her sass, her pain, her kindness, her pettiness (at times). It just made for such an honest and realistic character. She was incredibly realistic and wonderful and every author needs to be able to write a character like her.

I loved the family aspect in this. Big Mav and Lisa and Sekani and Seven were such amazing characters and they didn’t feel like side characters at all. They were all so involved and important and had such great personalities and attitudes. They all looked out for each other which I loved and you could see how much they loved each other in their actions rather than their words.

I also want to talk about the friendships in this book. While I feel Starr did have some good friends, you don’t really explore the depth of friendships she has in this novel because I feel they were more superficial than the relationships she had with her family. However, there are some pretty positive female friendships in this novel and I felt I liked and enjoyed most of the characters.

{ FINALLY }

This was quite a difficult review to write because it was hard to put into words why exactly this book was amazing so I’ll end this off by saying READ THIS! IT’S AMAZING, IT’S IMPORTANT, IT WILL MAKE YOU A WHOLE NEW PERSON.

I learnt so much from reading this and I hope this book will encourage more #ownvoices authors to write their own stories to share with the world.

OVERALL RATING:

★★★★½

Have you read THUG? Did you enjoy it? What did you think? Or are you planning to and is it on your TBR? And what are some of your other #ownvoices recs? I’m looking for some new ones to read!