The Hate U Give

Whenever you have books that are really, really hyped, you run the risk that the hype might inflate everyone's expectations so much that the book has trouble living up to them.

That wasn't remotely the case with Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give.

I'd actually started The Hate U Give a little earlier than I'd originally planned because the other book I was reading wasn't grabbing me as much as I'd like. That wasn't an issue here—I was immediately sucked into Starr's voice, and world, and the characters of her life. The Hate U Give juggles several conflicts in Starr's life—the conflict inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, of course, with witnessing Khalil's murder, but also her half-brother and friend living with an abusive father—the neighborhood's most dangerous gang leader, a friend who gets into a dangerous situation, Starr juggling the disparity of going to a private school where she's one of the only Black kids and then going home to her neighborhood, that as dangerous as it can be is her home, her secretly dating a boy from her school, and her PTSD from witnessing her best friend's death. Not to mention the conflict of trying to decide whether to speak up or whether to hope no one outside of Starr's family ever learns she's the one who witnessed Khalil's death.

All of these conflicts in Starr's life may seem overwhelming—and for her, at times, they are—but the way they're written always makes sense as one conflict blends into another into another. Altogether it creates an incredibly compelling plot that keeps you turning the pages, because truly, there are no dull moments.

Then there's the voice. Starr's voice is so powerful, and honestly, The Hate U Give serves as an excellent example of why #ownvoices books are just better when it comes to portraying different marginalized groups. From the constant code-switching, to the cultural nuances, to even the way Starr thinks just felt so incredibly raw, like I was reading a real person's thoughts transcribed unfiltered onto the page. I had the undeniable sense while reading that this book wasn't written for me—and that was a good thing.

To say The Hate U Give is eye-opening and unforgettable is an understatement. I'm not at all surprised it debuted #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and I fully expect to see it win loads of awards, because this book is that powerful and that good.

All in all: read it. And any time you hear someone disparaging the Black Lives Matter movement, give them this book. I really do believe it could change hearts, minds, and lives.

Diversity note: Most of the characters, including the protagonist, Starr, are Black.

Sometimes you appreciate a creative work so much that simply buying the book is not enough. You look for a Kickstarter or an IndieGogo or a Patreon or a Kofi, hoping for more ways to support the author. This is one such work, a great debut novel. I only have one criticism, and that's that the main cast was too perfect. I don't mean that they led charmed lives, because they didn't; what I mean is that in almost every situation, when facing almost every challenge, they acted how one might hope they would act. Like, you know how sometimes you say or do something, and two days later you're like awww, maaaan, I should've said/done this other thing, that would've been so much better. Most of these characters, most of the time, act and react in an almost ideal way; and, in so doing, their credibility is somewhat diminished. That niggle out of the way, there is so much here to love. The Carter parents interactions are wonderful, as is Starr's ability to appreciate them and see her parents as individuals separate from just “Mom” and “Dad”; this ability speaks to a maturity far beyond her 16 years. The whole family dynamic, in fact, is so great: there is so much love, compassion, and empathy. I look forward to reading whatever Angie Thomas has next in store for us. (I was on an airplane without in-flight Wi-Fi while I was writing this, so I wasn't able to look up that what she has in store for us is [b:On the Come Up 36578443 On the Come Up Angie Thomas https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1549338526s/36578443.jpg 56364068] and it just came out a little bit ago and I must buy it immediately.)

So good. I loved the characters - everyone in Starr's family all the way down to her classmates and neighbors were well-drawn, with small details that made them come to life. The book has a much bigger scope than just being “the Black Lives Matter YA book,” which is what I'd heard it described as pre-release. It is about that, of course, but also about gentrification and negotiating two different cultures and growing apart from old friends and so much more. Also, it's funny! Even late in the book as things come to a head, there were conversations that had me cracking up. (And then crying over the last few pages - seriously, it's so good.) Everyone should read this book.

This a quick YA read, situated in the fictitious neighborhood of Garden Heights, a generic “ghetto” neighborhood in an American city. The narrator, a teenage girl named Starr, is witness to a police shooting. The rest of the book explores her dealing with the subsequent grief while also grappling with her role as a young black woman straddling the worlds of a poor neighborhood, her family, her middle-to-upper-class school friends, and burgeoning activism. The narrative progresses nicely to allows the reader to understand the forces at play in poor, predominantly black neighborhoods, and empathize with those situations. However, I felt like some of the sections of lazy dialogue that hit the reader over the head with messages, versus letting that play out more subtly. But maybe that speaks more to my tolerance of YA as a genre than the book itself. I still think it's a good book for young readers to pick up, as it well illustrates an all-too-common American narrative.

I was absolutely blown away by Angie Thomas's powerful writing. Starr is one of the most fully realized and authentic characters I've ever come across in YA, and every single supporting character was realistic and expertly nuanced.The power punches that Thomas packs in relatively simple sentences, the way she's able to concisely and expertly capture such social complexity but distill it into a simple line of thought or dialogue, is nothing short of magic. Required reading for middle school to adult, and maybe even especially adults.

Some favorite examples:

p.186 “They act like I'm the official representative of the black race and they owe me an explanation. I think I understand though. If I sit out a protest, I'm making a statement, but if they sit out a protest, they look racist”

p. 245 “Funny. Slave masters thought they were making a difference in black people's lives too. Saving them from their ‘wild African ways.' Same shit, different century. I wish people like them would stop thinking that people like me need saving.”

Bom, foi difícil começa-lo a ler porque, bem, não estava a conectar-me com as personagens nem com a história (como disse no início). No entanto, a medida que fui lendo, apercebi-me que estava a gostar cada vez mais das personagens.

Primeiro, é um tema pouco falado nos livros: a diferença das raças e a injustiça que existe. Segundo, cria uma ligação com a personagem que sofre com essa perda o que nos faz pensar mais sobre este assunto. E terceiro, ninguém tem direito de tirar uma vida só porque é preto/branco, traficante/certinho, novo/velho, por mais que pareça certo.

Eu acho que além de ser um livro sobre uma morte injusta por causa das raças, também é sobre como reagimos sobre uma morte em geral. Por exemplo, todos nós já vimos notícias de uma pessoa morta e o nosso pensamento é do género “oh! olha, mais um!” e passamos para a próxima, como no livro, muitos deles criam os hashtags sobre a morte do Kalil, mas poucos os que realmente sentem a pena.

Depois entra a parte do racismo “invisível”, o que eu quero dizer com isso, é que nós somos racistas mesmo quando parece que não somos, como o caso do polícia que o matou. Ele até pode ter tido amigos de outras raças, mas o facto de estar naquele bairro e saber por exemplo que o Kalil podia ter drogas e tê-lo morto sem razão nenhuma assumindo que é “preto que vende droga”, faz dele um racista mas que ele próprio pode achar que não foi acto de racismo mas sim de defesa. E como foi o caso da amiga dela, que mandava piadas esquecendo que isso podia magoar a Starr.

Gostei muito da atitude do namorado dela - Chris, a maneira como ele não queria saber das diferenças deles além de raciais mas também de estatutos. Ele um rapaz típico branco cheio de dinheiro e ela típica rapariga negra do guetto, no entanto a relação deles era completamente natural e sem qualquer preconceito!

No geral, achei o livro interessante, o tema e os problemas que ela infretava pareciam reais e eu acreditei na história dela. E acho que quando um livro consegue fazer isso, quer dizer que fez bem o seu trabalho!

In the kidlit world, the accepted black narratives tend to focus on a few things: slavery, gang violence, or sports. But beyond that, the main point in all of them is black pain, which can come across as entertainment for some. Just look at how black kids getting shot and posted online are shared over and over.
Angie's book has gang violence, it has sports. There is black pain. The pain of seeing friends die in front of you, by the hands of white and black people. The pain of losing friends. The pain of wondering why my life doesn't matter. And why people destroy their neighborhoods when they're angry. WHY they're angry.
Hard choices, like letting go of people who don't serve you. And people who sacrifice in the name of love.
But what makes this book unique? There is also black JOY. So much black joy. Family, love, togetherness. In YA, disappearing parent syndrome is a thing. But Starr's parents are present–all up in her business even–and they are amazing. So much love in her family. So much love from her white boyfriend who doesn't understand everything... but he's trying.
I could hear the cadence of the voices. I got the inside jokes. It felt like home reading this book.
EVERYONE needs to read this book. It gives a glimpse into the complex emotions of being a black teen–heck, a black person–in a country, a world, that is often hostile towards us. Nothing in this book is simple. Just like nothing in our lives is simple. Layers of joy, pain, love, sweat, tears, laughter. Empowering, engaging, and very, very important.

This book spoke to me about a reality I never knew of. I don’t know the African American experience because I don’t live in America. But in every chapter I cried and not because I’m soft, but rather a reality of what happens and how every case is unique hit me. These aren’t just stories and new segments, the killing and oppression of Black people in America is life changing and fatal. Also the look into black on black crime. This was written in a relatable aspect by making Starr seem like she was having a conversation. I recommend anyone and everyone reads this

Damn, I did not know this book was so good. The story is real. Shit like this happens all the time and it's not okay. This book made me realise that even more.

I need to say that I hated officer one-fifteen. He was a freaking prick. Starr is such a strong character. She didn't even realised it herself, but she is. I loved the relationship of starrs parents. They are so cute together. Yeah, they are an OTP. Oh and f*ck Hailey.

The setting of the book is also real. I've never been in a ‘ghetto' so I don't know much about how close it is to reality, but it felt pretty close. I felt so bad for Maverick when things got down. He did not deserve that.

The only thing I have to say to people who didn't read the book yet, you should. This book is dang good and it needs to be read even more. Yeah, I know it's on number one in the New York Times bestselling list, but ya'll still need to read this!

To add context I am half white and half black. Most of my family comes from the projects/ghetto even my white family.

I'm giving this a 3.75/5 stars. I really enjoyed the black culture aspect of this and thought it was very accurate to real life. The things the characters would say and even how they talked is very realistic. I also enjoyed how drug and gang activity was shown and talked about in a respectful way. The characters were so amazing and had me laughing my butt off. Starr is amazing and I love her family, especially her brother. The family aspect is very strong in this book and I like how it spreads to more than just immediate family which is pretty accurate as well. The pop culture references were also fantastic. There is also the aspect of Starr having a white boyfriend and interacting with white people that added an interesting dynamic to the book that I really enjoyed. It showed how people of different races who have extreme cultural differences can fight, get torn apart, but also get along

The reason I knocked this down over a whole star is because this book is supposed to stand up against racism when some of the lines it says are racist towards white people. I really don't understand that in today's culture. It may be accurate but so is the gang stuff and one is seen as okay and the other is negative. I don't get why black people think they are the only people to ever be enslaved. Irish slaves were the first slaves sent to America. And what about Jews. They have been persecuted time and time again and you don't see them rioting and destroying their own cities, as well as talking bad about another race. Just because our ancestors were enslaved by other people's ancestors doesn't mean that we have the right to talk ill of them. I am in no way saying we should just get over it. We should fight for what our ancestors believed and fought so hard for because there is still racism in this world. But Black people can be racist too and that is just fighting fire with fire. I see more racism towards white people these days than coming from them.

I just felt like this book basically added to that and almost promoted it in a way. I also found the Black Jesus thing super annoying because like Jesus doesn't have a race if you believe in him. Basically, in this book, the main character's family would always refer to Jesus as Black Jesus and had portraits of ‘Black Jesus' Also, the fact that the actual historical figure came from the middle east proves that most likely he wasn't the majority black. So just because you want to promote your race doesn't mean that you can change the race of historical/biblical figures.

Overall I think this book is good and has a good message but it has problems that not many people talk about and bring up big political and social issues, that nobody talks about. All lives matter.

This has been on my awareness for two years, on my physical bookshelf for one. It's YA – not my thing – so I just kept postponing it. Mistake.

OMFG.

What a beautiful book. Thomas has an exquisite sense for human complexity, moral dilemmas, for inner beauty and decency. Yes, it's heavyhanded, especially in the goody-goody Kumbaya sense – did I mention it's YA? – but I may have been needing that just now. I found questions to ponder and ideals to live up to. I found a horrible new insight, one I hadn't considered: blame. In addition to the powerlessness and anger that targeted communities must feel, there must be some people who feel (inappropriately) responsible: “If only I had done X or Y”. What a crippling burden.

Yet I think it'll change one day. How? I don't know. When? I definitely don't know. Why? Because there will always be someone ready to fight.

right now

”You can destroy wood and brick, but you can't destroy a movement.”

This book has been on my tbr for the longest time and I decided to make it my first read for 2023. I am so glad I did.

I don't think any words I can say can express what I truly felt about this book because it was so beautifully written and covers such important topics that need to be spoken about.

As a white person, I will never understand how terrifying it is to just simply exist because there are people who believe it's okay to judge and make assumptions based on the colour of your skin.

This book might be a work of fiction but the the injustice and racism that it contains is very real. Khalil's story might just be fiction but what happened to him happens to real people. There are countless victims who just like Khalil, lost their lives because of the people who are sworn to protect them. That isn't fiction.

It's always innocent until proven guilty until it's a black person. Then it's ”oh, but did they resist?” or ”they must've done something wrong. Bigotry and prejudice should have no place in the justice system. It should have no place at all.

I can't articulate properly how this made me feel. This is a very important read that I think everyone should pick up. I wish I could give it more than 5 stars.