Rowena
Written on Jul 12, 2018
Now a major motion picture, starring Amandla Stenberg
No. 1 New York Times bestseller
Winner of the Waterstones Children's Book Prize · Goodreads Choice Awards Best of the Best · National Book Award Longlist · British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year · Teen Vogue Best YA Book of the Year
Sixteen-year-old Starr lives in two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she was born and raised and her posh high school in the suburbs. The uneasy balance between them is shattered when Starr is the only witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed best friend, Khalil, by a police officer. Now what Starr says could destroy her community. It could also get her killed.
Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this is a powerful and gripping YA novel about one girl's struggle for justice.
Want more of Garden Heights? Catch Maverick and Seven’s story in Concrete Rose, Angie Thomas's powerful prequel to The Hate U Give.
PRAISE FOR THE HATE U GIVE
"Stunning." John Green
“A masterpiece.” The Huffington Post
“An essential read for everyone.” Teen Vogue
“Outstanding.” The Guardian
"This story is necessary. This story is important." Kirkus (starred review)
"Heartbreakingly topical." Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A powerful, in-your-face novel." Horn Book (starred review)
- ISBN10 1406372153
- ISBN13 9781406372151
- Publish Date 6 April 2017 (first published 28 February 2017)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Walker Books Ltd
- Format Paperback
- Pages 400
- Language English
Reviews
lovelybookshelf
Written on Jun 24, 2018
Leah
Written on Jun 17, 2018
This was such a tough read, so hard to see what Starr and her family go through. It’s almost unreal and yet, you see it happening in real life every day. I genuinely can’t wrap my head around the fact innocent black people are killed for being black. And even worse that the police who kill them don’t get indicted and jailed for life. It’s unfathomable.
THUG is a book every body should read. It’s eye-opening, real and unflinching and it’s incredible.
nannah
Written on May 3, 2018
I'm pretty sure this should be required reading for all white people. Its writing style makes it really easy to get into, but also shows people the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement and really portrays well the racial bias, racism, and microaggressions that happen when yet another black person gets shot (murdered) by a cop.
There are two different Starr Carters. One lives in a poor neighborhood and another goes to a high school in which her classmates live in literal mansions. They act differently and speak differently, and Starr takes pains to make sure their lives never meet.
And then her childhood best friend is shot by a cop right in front of her, creates a national stir, and this delicate balancing act between these two worlds is shattered.
Okay, so I'm white. My input on the book's topic isn't one that's going to be valuable (or even wanted), so I'm going to stay out of that. But what I can say is that this book was pretty hard to put down, even if there was some lag in the longer sections. And I definitely cried at the very end, when the author listed names I recognized from real life.
This book definitely makes an impact.
Amber (The Literary Phoenix)
Written on Apr 21, 2018
I don’t care if you are a twelve-year-old South African girl or a wrinkly, crotchety white American man. Starr’s story casts an uncomfortable light on the things that are wrong in our society and in ourselves. She tells the world like it is, but not for a single moment does Angie Thomas preach to her readers. She is raw and real, and if it makes you uncomfortable... well, it should. Every once and a while I got a novel that makes me want to talk about the themes more than the story or the characters. That’s where I’m at. When I post the review on my blog in a couple weeks, I’ll talk about the racism theme. I’ll try to focus on the book here.
First of all, the writing is flawless. Angie Thomas ropes you in from the first sentence and never lets you go. Folks, I am on vacation heading overseas to Europe (this is dropping on Goodreads from Ponta Delgado - ola!) and I would rather sit here and reread this book than go sit in the hot tub, chill in the spa, or play Deal or No Deal. I’m going to return it to the library though because I can reread it at home. 😊
All the characters represent something - strength, joy, hope, fear. The transition between Starr’s two selves is positively and perfectly uncomfortable. The difference between choice and expectation are wonderful/enraging. Honestly I just want to give Angie Thomas a hug. And this book sure wasn’t written for a 28 y/o white girl like me.
If you’re on the fence about reading THE HATE U GIVE, let me give you a bit of advice. If you’re worried that the story is overhyped, don’t be. It lives up to expectations and is fantastic. It has the potential to be a single sitting read. If you’re worried this book is going to be preachy about racism... it’s not. It’s brutally honest, but I never felt like anyone was pointing fingers at me and calling me a sucky person. And if you’re worried that this book will make you uncomfortable... well, I hope it does. Because people who can identify unsavoury traits from the characters in this novel within themselves need this book.
Linda
Written on Mar 21, 2018
With each diverse book I read, I become more aware of my white privilege, and I think I have always been aware that I have it. To me, reading a book like The Hate U Give opens my mind more, and it also makes me want to help fight for equality!
The Hate U Give is very well written, and I think the fact that it was written from a first person point of view made me really walk a mile in Starr's shoes. Her fear, her frustrations, her grief and her fight all felt relevant and realistic to me.
COYER Summer 2019 Treasure Hunt: Read a book that has been turned into a movie. 3 POINTS
wcs53
Written on Jan 31, 2018
The story, which is such a timely one, centres around a young girl of colour, Starr Carter, who exists between two very different worlds - the poor black neighbourhood where she lives and the world of the prep school she attends in the suburbs. These worlds collide when she witnesses one of her best friends, Khalil, who was unarmed and doing nothing illegal at the time, being killed by a police officer. After it becomes pretty clear that the police officer will not be charged with anything, tensions start to rise and it becomes evident to Starr that she needs to do something, to be heard, to get the truth out there.
Although the story takes place in a world that I really have no experience of, it seems to be very realistic in the way that it is portrayed. There is a rawness to the writing, which is appropriate as the author weaves a story that is all too close to the truth of the reality for many people today.
As I previously said, this is a must read book, especially for anyone who has no experience of the kind of situation that is described in it. I can't wait to see what Angie Thomas comes up with next, although this may be a difficult one to follow. The movie of the book is already being filmed and I hope that it does justice to the story.
lisbethwhite
Written on Jan 22, 2018
lisacee
Written on Jan 1, 2018
But I do know I love Starr. Words are our weapons.
gmcgregor
Written on Nov 29, 2017
Starr's already living a fairly unusual life...she lives with her family in the inner city, but goes to a private, overwhelmingly white high school in the suburbs, where she has mostly white friends and dates a white classmate. She's always found herself living half in each world, but what happens that night really blows up her burgeoning racial consciousness. Her relationships with her friends and family shift and change as she tries to navigate the legal system and get justice for Khalil, and she discovers more and more who she is and who she wants to be.
This book had been hyped for months before I got to it...glowing reviews all over the internet, movie rights sold before it was even published. I always try to temper my expectations with any kind of media that's been all the rage, but sometimes it doesn't work. And honestly, I think it contributed towards the way I felt about this book: it's very good, and I probably would have thought it was amazing if it hadn't been sold as life-changing and mind-blowing, but it didn't quite measure up to those enormous accolades for me. There's a compelling story, solid writing with both emotion and humor, and great characterization. But as a reader, there just was never that moment where it really went into hyperdrive and became more than the sum of its parts.
Like I said, though, it does everything it's trying to do very well: Starr practically jumps off the page and feels very real, and her family is also beautifully, warmly drawn. Even though Khalil is barely alive during the novel, the way that Starr thinks about him as she processes what happened to him is touchingly rendered and makes the reader really feel his loss. Thomas also does an excellent job of balancing the heavy topic at the center of her book with lightness...there were parts that literally made me laugh out loud, but she never either undercuts the seriousness of police violence or gets too ponderous. But the characters of Starr's school friends, and especially her boyfriend, seem underdeveloped for the significance that the narrative places on them. And a decision Starr makes near the end of the book seems out of place, in a way that was jarring.
At the end of the day, I'd recommend it to just about everyone, honestly. It's written as YA (and as a primarily non-YA reader, I'd say it doesn't read as typical for the genre but does have some markings of it), so it's appropriate for younger readers, but it didn't feel dumbed-down to me, someone who loves a gigantic tome of literary fiction. Obviously the focus on police violence will be difficult for some, but it's a well-crafted, enjoyable book that will likely inspire you to examine your own pre-existing opinions. I highly recommend it!