Book Review : The Hate U Give

★★★★★

 

“Sometimes you can do everything right and things will still go wrong. The key is to never stop doing right.” 

 

Trigger Warnings : police brutality, racism, violence and abusive relationships, mention of drug abuse.

You have no idea how hard it is for me to gather my thoughts about this book and write a review about it. I’ve read it five days ago and I still don’t know how to say what I have to say about this book.

First of all, I want to thank everyone who joined the buddy-read for this book, all of you kept me motivated to read the book. I don’t know if I could have done it without you because I’ve hesitated for a year due to my huge expectations and the fear that they might not be met. But this book – this book absolutely delivered.

I love Starr with all my heart, I love everything she stands for, I love how brave she was through this book, she has become one of my favourite characters without a doubt.

I loved how this book didn’t play around, it was raw and powerful from the beginning, presenting how racism impacts black people in the worst kind of ways. I think the conversations between Starr and her father were very insightful, as they didn’t speak only about racism, but also about how white supremacy continues to exist. Those conversations really destroyed some of the most used excuses on racism and hate crimes.

Starr’s family was the best!!! Their familial dynamics was so much fun, but also so meaningful. Her parents were so protective and supportive, that was some hella great parenting. I wish more authors wrote parents like Angie Thomas does.

I lived for all the Harry Potter references and also for Starr’s grandmother, who was absolutely amusing. I aspire to have one-liners as good as hers, at some point in my life.

I think The Hate U Give shows us a lot about what it means to stick together, what it means to stop being silent in moments of crisis. Starr’s journey was absolutely inspirational and I think everyone should read THUG, it’s a great book that shows us many of the issues humanity faces – it teaches us tolerance, it shows us how world is never fair, especially not to minorities, it shows us how to use our voices to raise ourselves, but most of all, to raise those who are in need and I think that’s what we all need to learn.

I’ll keep this review short because I have too many emotions. Just please read the book if you haven’t already because you’re missing out on a great twirl of emotions and raw experiences and you will surely learn a lot from this book.

We, white people, need to do better and surely this book shows us where we can start.

Have you read The Hate U Give? What did you think about it? And do you have any book recommendations similar to The Hate U Give?