Concrete Rose

My expectations for a prequel to a book I thought was just okay? Extremely low.

But man, this was such an improvement.

Part of it may have been that I listened on audio this time and the narrator was really good. But part of it is that THUG seemed very overhyped to me. It felt like every character was cardboard and meant to perform the specific function that Thomas wanted to talk about, and the dialogue was just clunky. It felt like because the subject matter is so good, people overlooked those things more than I did. Or who knows, maybe I was just in a grouchy mood when I read it.

Either way, I expected Concrete Rose to be more of the same. Good premise, has something to say, not a great book. But Thomas's dialogue and characterization has improved so much in this book. Maverick is a great character and everything that happens in this book feels powerful and necessary. I really enjoyed it, and I hope more people read it.