About the Book
Title: The Hate U Give
Author: Angie Thomas
Genre: YA Contemporary
Pages: 447
Edition Read: Kindle eBook
Blurb: 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, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. 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 upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
Review
To say that I enjoyed this book would be the wrong word. This is not necessarily a book to enjoy. That said, this is a book that everyone should read, especially right now with the tensions going on in the world.
First off, I want to give a big thank you to the Immortal Bibliophiles book club over at GoodReads for picking this as their June book of the month. I had been looking for a book group to do a read along with and this book had been on my radar for a long time. It was a perfect timing of events.
On to the review. The first thing I have to say is that Angie Thomas is an amazing author. Amazing. The characters in this book were brought to life in a way that is rare to find these days, particularly for me when reading contemporary literature. Because of this, you couldn’t help but love and empathize with Starr. I spent so much of this book on the edge of my seat, worried about Starr and her family, wondering what would happen with Khalil’s case, and wanting to slap silly Starr’s so called “friends” at the private school she attends.
While I’m sure this story would be very impactful whenever you read it, with the Black Lives Matter movement in all the news cycles right now, it was even more poignant. As I said in my BLM post a while back, I am a white girl living in America. I will never know what it is like to be Black in this country, to always worry about being judged, and to live in fear of those who are supposed to protect us. Reading stories as well-crafted as this one gives me a very small glimpse into what that feels like and inspires me to continue to learn more and to be a more active voice in my community. I don’t think anyone could read this book and come away thinking that our system is just fine and doesn’t need to change. It needs to change – badly. Maybe this time, it will. I certainly hope so.
GoodReads rating: 5 stars all the way.
Categories: Books I've Read
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