lapetitepritt posted: " Hello, bookworms! Today I am here with what will probably be the last review of the month, because even if I have read more books I have to review, I have something planned for Februrary that will take almost the whole month to write; so, to still"
Today I am here with what will probably be the last review of the month, because even if I have read more books I have to review, I have something planned for Februrary that will take almost the whole month to write; so, to still post something in the meantime, I am going to wait to share the reviews for Shadow of the Fox and This Savage Song.
All that to say, hi! I am here to talk about The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, which is one of my 22 books for 2022. I have owned this one for like 5 years now, so it was about time. I have no idea why I didn't pick it up any sooner, probably because everyone was talking about it back then and I felt under pressure, or something like that.
About the books Title: The Hate U Give Series: The Hate U Give #1 Author: Angie Thomas Publisher: Blazer + Bray Publication date: 28 February 2017 Pages: 454
Plot, as stated on Goodreads 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. Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this is a powerful and gripping YA novel about one girl's struggle for justice.
My rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Review Let's start by saying that I should have read this book when it first came out. By now, I have read many other books that deal with the same topic, with a general storyline and characters I enjoyed more than this one, such as Anger Is A Gift by Mark Oshiro or even Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé. However, I have to recognize the importance of this book, as it was one of the first YA, if not the first one, talking about racism and police brutality that hit the Bestsellers list and stayed there for a very long time. In many ways, I am sure this opened a lot of paths for many voices and authors and made a lot of white people realize their privilege and learn-unlearn a lot of things. Of course, it is just a first step, but it is an extremely important one and I am grateful to have finally read it.
The best part about this book it's how realistic it was. It was hard to read, but it was intended that way, and I loved how it still thought and untought me a lot of things, despite the fact that I have already read many stories like this one. As always in such cases, I encourage you to find reviews by Black bloggers, but as a white person, I found this book extremely informative and it made me reflect on my privilege; it's something I am always trying to do and I am always trying to improve and learn, so I really want to thank this book for helping me achieve exactly that. The road is neverending, but everything I learn is welcome.
I really liked the main plot; I found it was well crafted and it doesn't read like a debut novel, which it was. It was challenging to read, but it's — as I've said — such a realistic story, it felt like watching the news, unfortunately. The characters in general were nicely developed as well and I liked the likeable ones and hated the racist ones. My favourite were Starr's brothers and her dad; I know Concrete Rose is about him and I am debating whether I should read it or not. I am also trying to decide whether to read On The Come Up, because out of the three is the least interesting one to me, but I am still curious. If you have read any of them, please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!
However, there are three main things I did not enjoy. 1) the subtle slut shaming: there were a lot of comments that felt like slut shaming to me and while I recognize they are things that are commonly said, especially in certain situations and places, I felt they were not necessary or that should at least have been addressed; 2) the useless HP references: while this book was published before she-who-shall-not-be-named revealed herself to be a TERF, the similes and references to her books were totally unnecessary and felt weird even putting aside all the other stuff. Why would someone compare themselves to the inside of the nose of one of the most popular villains of all times is beyond me; 3) there were too many subplots and the book was a bit too long: I appreciated the subplot about the subtly racist friend, because it shouwed another side of racism, but I could have done without the romantic subplot here.
As far as the style is concerned, once again it didn't read like a debut and I did particularly like the fact that the author chose to mix some slang in there, differenciating when Starr is in her Black neighbourhood and when she goes to school in a white neighbourhood.
Overall, it was a really good book and I wish I had read it when I first bought it; however, I completely agree with those who say it's a book every teen (but also adult) should read at least once. I feel like adding something, though: since then, lots of books by Black authors have been published both about Black joy and about racism; I highly encourage everyone not to stop at The Hate U Give, but keep reading books by BIPOC authors (and also queer, disabled and/or neurodivergent authors) all year round. It's really important to always try and expand our reading horizon and it's something I am constantly working on myself.
That's all for today, I'll see you next month with some more reviews and a very special article, which I am excited about! Keep an eye out.
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