Considering all the hype that Angie Thomas’ debut novel has received, I honestly thought there was no way it could possibly live up to it. I assumed it would be a good book, even a great one, but I didn’t really expect it to leave such a lasting impression or to inspire this level of soul-searching. However, given the incredible reviews this book has gotten, I just had to pick it up and see for myself. Only a couple pages in, and I was hooked. […]
Such a Tough Subject Matter, It Took Me Two Months to Write This Review
Most of the YA I read tends to fall into either the dystopian future or fantasy bucket, but with all the buzz and positive reviews, I decided to give this one a shot (it also happened to be February so what better time to read this?). Then I put off reviewing it for almost two months because I wasn’t sure how to properly do justice to the novel. Many of the themes explored in this novel will feel familiar because Angie Thomas has quite a […]
“Now we have to somehow un-fuck everybody.”
Quick Review: This is a very good YA debut by Angie Thomas and it is important reading to be done in this cultural climate in the United States. Thomas clearly, and evocatively, brings the reader into the layered life of a black teen in today’s United States with its systemic racism. It reminded me of of my own history, and my lived experience, and grew it out. But it isn’t a primer in the way that Between the World and Me is, it is a […]
Learning to live with the unimaginable – THUG LIFE
When I try to start this review, I am cowed at the prospect of it. What do I, a mid-30s white woman have to say about Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give, the story of Starr Carter, a sixteen year old young black woman growing up in the ghetto, who is a witness to the murder of not one, but two of her friends? What do I have to say about her experience, or about the experience of everyone in this book, so far removed […]