Review: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas // A diverse book which lived up to the hype!

Title: The Hate U Give
Author: Angie Thomas
Standalone
Genre: Contemporary, [Young-Adult]
Heat Rating: Cool
Format: 447 pages, Ebook
Published: February 28th 2017 by Balzer + Bray
Source: Purchased
My Rating:

Blurb (from Goodreads):

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 afterwards, 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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Hi guys!! I am still pretty much AWOL, I know. As much as I would like to blame everything on my schedule, I am kinda lazy too! XD So umm yay to me not being for once!

I also just realised I have not done a wrap-up in 3 months!!! I love doing wrap-ups!! And I haven’t done them since May!! Oh! What has the world has come to! I also veeery dramatically failed in Camp NaNo this July. I mean… I didn’t even write. *facepalm*

Anyway, one can only hope. So I am hoping to bring myself back on track this month!

Okay, enough blabbering. Now let’s move onto this review, shall we?

I believe I am the last person on planet Earth to pick up this book. I haven’t seen a single blogger who hasn’t read this yet. (Any minority out there?!) Hehe… if you get the reference!

Sooo this book was eye-opening and absolutely heartbreaking. Hell, I did not realise this book was going to be so realistic. I mean I know this was going to be a serious one but this one just hit it in the feels. The Hate U Give tells the story of a young black girl named Starr who has a pretty normal life. Well, at least on the outside where she maintains two different kinds of avatars. She is someone different when she goes to her school while a different person with her kind of people. Everything turns up and down for her when her friend Khalil is shot in front of her eyes without any reason. Even after his death, the injustice does not stop and that’s when Starr decides to speak up. But telling the truth comes with a whole lot of prices.

“Once upon a time there was a hazel-eyed boy with dimples. I called him Khalil. The world called him a thug.
He lived, but not nearly long enough, and for the rest of my life I’ll remember how he died.
Fairy tale? No. But I’m not giving up on a better ending.”

This book is pretty character-centric. I absolutely loved the diverse representation. And a realistic portrayal at that. It really deals with some sensitive topics like racism and I felt that the author did an absolute justice to that. Well, this book is pretty much more than that. It brings out the injustice, unfairness a certain amount of people have to deal with even if it’s the 21st century just because they are of a different colour or have a different faith. Unfortunately, it’s a sad truth which exists even today. And for the fear of being judged, Starr, our protagonist of this book maintains a different facade when she’s at the “white” school as quoted by some of her friends. (Frankly, quoting those made you racists too! Stupid people! But well that’s how the world functions I guess.)

“I’ve taught myself to speak with two different voices and only say certain things around certain people. I’ve mastered it.”

Starr is not a biggy for parties but she decides to go with her step-sister. There she meets her childhood friend Khalid with whom she hadn’t talked for quite a long time. It’s on their way home when the calamity strikes. Even it was a book, I felt everything happened at slow-mo. I knew what was about to happen next but it still shocked me to the core. I actually had to put the book down for a few minutes before I could pick it up again. The thing is Khalid even didn’t do anything wrong but him being black was what got him killed.

“People like us in situations like this become hashtags, but they rarely get justice. I think we all wait for that one time though, that one time when it ends right.”

I fiercely wanted justice for Khalid but I could understand Starr’s reluctance too. Especially after she and her family were personally attacked. And those of you know me already, can understand how badly I wanted to go after that with a frying pan. Anyway, I want to highlight a few things which I absolutely adored in this book. The family rep!! Like a huuuuuge thank you to Angie Thomas for representing such an awesome functional family which we rarely get to see in YA. Starr’s parents were thankfully normal and mature, unlike some books where parents are even more childish than the main characters. She had a two brother, although one was a step-brother who was annoying as hell but it was clear how much Starr cared for them.

“What’s the point of having a voice if you’re gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn’t be?”

Starr’s boyfriend was a white guy. And he was such a damn gentleman! I mean he had his shortcomings but Chris really was a pillar of strength to her. Thank god, he wasn’t a douchebag! I was very much afraid he was going to turn out that way. I also didn’t like Kenya, Starr’s step-sister at first but she slowly grew on me. I don’t think without her motivation Starr would have gotten the courage to speak up. Ms Oprah was pretty awesome too.

“Brave doesn’t mean you’re not scared. It means you go on even though you’re scared.”

The ending of this book hurt like hell. I mean I kind of knew this book was not going to be all rainbows and sunshine in the end (I still hoped?) But yes, it definitely left me with hope. (J-Hooooooooooooooooooooooooope!! Sorry!! Sorry!! That was absolutely inappropriate and unnecessary. But that has become a habit like breathing!!!) Anyways, I loved the fact that how everything made their family more unified. I even enjoyed the small aspects like Uncle Carlos and DeVante’s story. I mean I was not a fan of Carlos in the beginning but as I got to know him more, I understood he was a genuine person as well. I loved Starr’s character development. She grew up so much from a scared girl to a matured person who’s able to let her voice shine for her!

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

So why did I give it a 4 star? It’s because the beginning was pretty slow. I almost put it down but then again this book was received too much hype for me to shut down my curiosity. I am glad I listened to that voice and continued with it. Overall, The Hate U Give was a pretty fantastic read. I adored Starr’s parents to the moon and back, especially her father. I mean usually, parents encourage to stand up against wrong but when it’s something that big, they usually fear for the children’s safety. But Starr’s father went beyond that. Even after getting personally harassed, he not for once told Starr to back down. That man earned my respect! Her mom was no less by any chance. Now. let’s come to the writing. It felt a little weird in the beginning because the author wrote in a different accent but once I got the hang of it, it didn’t matter much. Whoever still has not picked this up, really needs to asap!!!

(Wow. I did not realise how big this review was. Thank you to those of you who have made it till the end. Sarangheeeoo!)

Recommend it?

Yes.

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So guys, have you read this yet? Well, that might be an understatement. I think I was the only one yet to read this book!! Is anyone out there who still haven’t picked this up? Then, is it in your tbr?

Also, who’s excited for the movieeeee???

• 4 stars
• 4 stars out of 5
• Angie Thomas
• Balzar+Bray
• Coming of Age
• contemporary
• diverse
• diverse reads
• diverse rep
• ebook
• February release
• hyped books
• own-voice
• Purchased
• Realistic Fiction
• romance
• The Hate U Give
• YA
• Young-Adult