The Hate U Give

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SYNOPSIS:

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.

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REVIEW (4 STARS)

There was not a single chapter in this book that didn't make me tear up or ugly cry.

This is a powerful book, one in which each word is thought meticulously to make the gears of your brain work.

As a white woman, I can only try to imagine what it's like to be a victim of racism. I can imagine what it feels like to be, but is it really the same? Isn't it one of those things that one only truly understands when one goes through it? I think it is because even though I got angry at what happened in this story, even though I get angry at what happens in the world, I don't have to deal with it every day. This wasn't a battle I was born into, it's a battle I choose to fight if I want to and that surely makes a difference. I think the reason why this book is so good is because it makes you see that: the gap between Them and Us is a thing that still exists because We (and I mean EVERYONE) let it, despite being something that can change with education, a thing that can be fought and won just like so many other things everyone thought improbable became (female suffrage, gay marriage and adoption, for example).

The system is corrupt (it fails everyone) and is designed to keep the minorities in an endless cycle of deprivation - deprivation of justice, of support, of education, of a WAY OUT. It's in its best interest: the system feeds on them to work.

This story was good because it was real. And it's an amazing way to start educating: give this book to your kids to teach them about racism, corruption, and privilege. After it their lives won't stay the same. Don't think they're not ready, it's always the right time and the sooner they learn, the better.

The only reason why I didn't give this book 5 stars was because I felt the ending dragged a bit. But EVERYTHING ELSE WAS PERFECT. The writing was amazing and Angie Thomas makes everything feel really natural: the transitions, the waiting, the growing, the decisions – it always feels like it's the right time. All her characters have different voices and that's something I think I'm only now beginning to appreciate – real-life people are not the same. When you're an author and you work with more than one character, you need to make the reader understand they're different besides their appearance. It's another level of deepness, deeper than giving them an attitude or making them villains: their thought process, their mannerisms, their voice, everything has to differ and has to be manifested solely through the author's writing. That's tough but Thomas nailed it and I loved her for it. However, the thing I admired more was the fact that she exposed many problems – it's easy to stay silent, but she was brave – and she taught me things I had no idea about.

THUG LIFE is real – The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody – but it is, like Angie Thomas writes, way more than that. It's about the oppressed who suffer from lack of opportunities, not just in America but in the whole world – "the system’s still giving hate, and everybody’s still getting fucked" – and how we shouldn't be silent: people have to keep using their voices even when They try to muffle them. This is why this book is SO SO GOOD - because, behind this story, there are millions of stories just like it. This is about the real world and what's happening right now. This is not a work of fiction: this one of the most real things you'll ever read about and a good inspiration to make you want to fight back.