Powerfully Moving Novel: A Must Read - The Hate U Give Review

 

Title: The Hate U Give

Author: Angie Thomas

Genre: Young Adult

Source: Hardback

Rating: 5 out of 5

Starr is a 16 year old girl, smart, beautiful, funny, and finds herself running between two worlds: Her neighborhood and the prep school she attends. When she witnesses the unjustified shooting death of her childhood friend Khalil, her world is shattered.  His death makes headlines and he is labeled a thug, drug dealer, and the officer label a victim.  Soon Starr and her family are harassed by police offiers and a local drug lord, but rather than standing down, Starr finds the strength she needs to stand up and make a difference.

This book may be labeled as Young Adult, but EVERYONE needs to read this book, especially now with the Black Lives Matter movement and the rise of police brutality we are seeing.  Anything I say about this breathtaking book will not do it any justice.  From the very beginning I was drawn into the book, and could not put it down.  My mother in law even commented on how engrossed I was in this novel.  Part of me feels ashamed that I have not read this novel sooner, or reviewed it sooner.

The novel is an eye-opener.  Yes we hear things like this happening on the news all the time, but for some reason it doesn't full hit home until you read how the families and communities are in turn effected, down to the looting and rioting.  I would almost equate that action to the tearing of clothes and hair in grief discussed in the Bible.  There is an anger and grief that no amount of words can describe.  The things happening in our world today need to be discussed, and we cannot remain silent and Angie Thomas did just that.  She spoke out and man has she been heard.

The way she writes this story draws intense emotion, I cried a couple of times, got angry at characters and fell for others.  This is a book that I will forever think about and insist that my children read as they get older.  It needs to be talked about and addressed. Throughout this book we see a girl find her strength and acceptance of who she is deep inside.  She grows stronger as she speaks out about the injustices in her world, some as small as a so called friend making racist jokes to standing up for justice for Khalil. It makes readers aware of what they are saying and how they are saying it.  It makes readers want to stand up to the vast injustice in the world.

This is a book that demands to be read, and I recommend it above all others.