A Rose in the Concrete: A Review of "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas
"Once you've seen how broken someone is it's like seeing them naked--you can't look at them the same anymore."
--Angie Carter, The Hate U Give, pg. 83
Its been a long time since a book made me cry, but this one had me sobbing all the way through the acknowledgements. Holy shit.
I knew absolutely nothing about this book going in, other than that it was a must-read. When my library got it in, I decided to give it a read, and it is probably one of the best books I have read so far this year. Nothing I had read in reviews prepared me for this book.
Starr Carter is the narrator of The Hate U Give. She tells the story of how she witnessed her unarmed best friend get shot and killed by a cop, and tells of the fallout after it. But Starr also deals with so much more than just her friends murder; she struggles with her identity as a black woman who attends a white school, who has friends who are white and don't understand the situation she has been placed in. She deals with judgement from both blacks and whites, as well as struggling with her image. She doesn't want to be seen as "ghetto" by her white friends, and doesn't want to be seen as "white" by her black community.
The best thing about this book is its realness. The character read like people, with insecurities and fears and flaws, and not like cookie cutter people. This is also probably the least cliche book I have ever read. It doesn't lean on trope and stereotype, in fact, going out of its way to break those rules.
I think one of my favorite ways it broke trope was the choice of having Starr in a committed relationship from the beginning. In the first chapter, we find out she has a boyfriend, and they are still together by the end of the novel. It was great to see them go through their ups and downs, but they always managed to talk it out. Their relationship was real and it was healthy; both Starr and Chris went out of their way to communicate with the other when their was an issue, and they fixed it through conversation, not petty arguments like in other young adult novels.
I also really enjoyed Starr's character development. She grew from a person who kept her head down to someone who was willing to stand up for what she believed in, who used her voice to speak up for those who couldn't. It was amazing to watch, as it was not only influenced by the situation she was put in, but by the people who went through the same struggles as she did.
I also absolutely loved the diversity in this novel. To be perfectly honest, I believe this is one of the few books I have read where most of the characters are people of color and I think that is sad. There needs to be more of this type of book out there, because more than just white people exist in this world. People need to read about characters they can relate to, whether that be through thoughts, religion, sexual orientation, and especially race.
This book was also very timely. It came out during a time where race was heavily discussed in the US, and still is. This is also a hard, and sometimes uncomfortable topic for some people. But it shouldn't be. We need to discuss police brutality, and how black lives do matter. Because people don't deserve to be shot for "looking shady" or having skittle in the pocket of their hoodie, or having a hairbrush in their car. This novel touched on all of this and so much more. The Hate U Give was heartbreaking, it was honest, and it was real.
And we need real.
Description from 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.
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.62/5 stars
Publication Date: February 28, 2017
Page Count: 444 pages