Monday, August 14, 2017

Review: The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas


The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas


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: There was a slang word in this book that I didn’t know. It made me feel old. I shook my fist at the book and yelled, “Dang you, kids! Stop saying made-up words. And get off my lawn!”

Also, sneakers are supposed to be cleaned? Apparently, they are. There are sneaker-cleaning kits. I did not know this. I just scrape the mud off mine with a stick.

Okay, you guys have heard about The Hate U Give, right? The publisher paid an obscene amount of money for this book. There was a massive amount of hype surrounding its release. As soon as I read the synopsis, it shot to the top of my “most-anticipated releases” list. After spending months sitting on the world’s longest waiting list, I finally got a chance to read it, and . . .

It was really good. Not perfect, but really good.

The narrator, Starr Carter, is trapped between two extremes. She lives in a poor neighborhood that’s controlled by drug-dealing gang members, but she goes to school in an ultra-wealthy suburb. She doesn’t feel like she fits in anywhere. One night, she’s on her way home from a party with her friend Khalil when a cop pulls them over. The cop kills Khalil. Starr suddenly finds herself in a world of police brutality, gang wars, judgment, and celebrity.

“I can't change where I come from or what I've been through, so why should I be ashamed of what makes me, me?” – The Hate U Give



When I started reading this book, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to relate to it. I’m a rural white girl. Where I grew up, there weren’t enough people to make a gang, and the only things that got shot were dangerous or delicious animals. Cities are alien to me. I don’t even like reading about them because I can’t understand why anyone would want to live in one. As I read The Hate U Give, I decided that the point isn’t to relate to the story. The point is to shut up and listen. So, that’s what I did.  

I think the author did a fairly amazing job of showing the good and the bad in all of her characters. They have complex emotions and motivations. Starr makes some questionable decisions, but she’s a believable teenager. I was rooting for her. Starr’s father is involved in the gang world, but he loves his children and will do anything to protect them. Khalil dies within the first few pages, but he’s also complicated. He’s a drug dealer, but he didn’t deserve to get shot. He was unarmed and didn’t have any drugs on him.

“At an early age I learned that people make mistakes, and you have to decide if their mistakes are bigger than your love for them.” – The Hate U Give



This book is unusual in the YA world because it’s a story about family. Starr’s parents and siblings play a bigger role in her life than her friends. Most of the friends in this book are underdeveloped side characters. That’s different because it’s usually the other way around in YA. The friends are everything, and the parents are pushed to the side. I loved seeing parents who are involved in their kids’ lives. It’s refreshing. I hope this book starts a trend. I’d like to see more parent/child relationships in YA.

I wish the friend characters were more developed, though. A few of them seem to only exist to teach the reader lessons about racism. They’re important lessons, but I get annoyed when books try to teach me things. It pulls me out of the story.

“That's the problem. We let people say stuff, and they say it so much that it becomes okay to them and normal for us. What's the point of having a voice if you're gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn't be?” – The Hate U Give



My only other complaint about this book is the length. It’s over 400 pages, which is really long for a contemporary. To me, it felt long, especially in the middle. There’s some interesting family-dynamic stuff in the middle, but I still got bored waiting for something to happen.

So, what’s the verdict on my most-anticipated release of 2017? Is this my favorite book ever? No. Is it overhyped? Yes, slightly. Should everybody read it? Most definitely. It’s completely worth reading, especially if you’re a rural white girl like me. One of the reasons I read is to learn about the world. This book showed me a part of the world that I’m unfamiliar with. I think a lot of people are unfamiliar with the experiences of black teens in the inner city. So, go read The Hate U Give. You’ll learn something.


“Holy shit. Who the fuck complains about going to Harry Potter World? Or Butter Beer? Or wands?”  - The Hate U Give






14 comments:

  1. The hype about this one is crazy high. Which always makes me wary of reading it and then I wait years to read it but there is a movie coming out and now I have to read it. Which scares me as much as it makes me kinda happy too. And yes, trainers can be cleaned ahaha. My family does it all the time although I have yet to do that :P Glad this one was really good to you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’m glad I read it before the movie came out. That rarely happens. I’m such a slow reader!

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  2. I agree that it's both a must-read and not quite as good, purely as a story, as it is touted to be. I got more invested in How It Went Down and All American Boys, which have similar themes.

    As for the shoe thing--there's a quote somewhere about how anyone who makes fun of girls for being fussy has clearly never seen a 12 year old boy freaking out about keeping his tennis shoes white. It is definitely a Thing. Also paying obscene amounts of money for shoes they don't intend to wear. Tennis shoes as collector items. Weird.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha! I can’t imagine spending money on shoes I don’t plan to wear. I just added How It Went Down and All American Boys to my TBR list.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  3. I agree with you 100%. A little too long for me but good. I thought it was an important read but not my favorite. Great review!

    ReplyDelete
  4. The book does sound long... it made me think of a few of my daughter's friends. After we moved south, she attended a private girl's school and several of her friends were from inner city Savannah, there on scholarship, but she and several of the other girls bonded with them and learned from them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It sounds like the girls at your daughter’s school were living the real-life version of this story. It must be hard when your home life is very different from your school life.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  5. I have been hesitant to read this one for myself. My daughter read and really enjoyed it, but at 18 our tastes in books do not always line up very well. I'm glad to read a real adult's take on this one! It's also nice to know that there are involved adults in this one!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! I was very happy that there are responsible adults in this book. You don’t see that very often in YA. If you do read The Hate U Give, I hope you like it.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  6. Haha as a city girl I related to this book so hard, but it's also just a great coming of age story about a young girl trying to find her place. I loved Starr and hope she makes an appearance in the companion novel!

    And yes, sneakers are not meant to be dirtied, especially if they're Jordans. I'm curious about the slang word, was it "ill"?

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love this review. It echoes so many of the thoughts that I had about it, even some I didn't realize I had, or hadn't articulated, until I read them here. The family focus - YES. The friends being underdeveloped and used to teach a lesson. I knew something there didn't quite sit right, but I hadn't delved into it to really pinpoint it. But you're spot on.

    I love this book - I agree, it's not perfect, but it's so, so good and it did what I wanted it to perfectly. I particularly love your point, "the point isn’t to relate to the story. The point is to shut up and listen." I couldn't agree more, and I think this is why I was so surprised that I DID feel like I could relate more than I expected. But it wouldn't have mattered - I'd still recommend it just as highly. It's a very important one, and one I'm so glad to have read.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I do plan to read this book soonish..well really whenever my daughter finishes it and puts it back on the shelf. I am glad that you liked it overall. Great review!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I loved this book- and I think you nailed it when you said "the point isn’t to relate to the story. The point is to shut up and listen" because YES. So much yes. Because frankly, there should be SO many more books out there that young black women from a city can relate to, and it pisses me off that there aren't. I really think that Angie just did such a phenomenal job with this. And while it should not be on the shoulders of one woman to inspire change, I think she definitely did just that. I do agree with you about the length, but compared to the good stuff in this book I couldn't even get worked up about it haha. Great review!

    ReplyDelete