Review: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Published: February 28, 2017

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Format: via audiobook

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis

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 afterward, 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.

My Thoughts

The Hate U Give is a masterpiece! Centering around Starr whose life is instantly changed simply by going to a party and taking a ride home from a friend, those simple actions will change the fate of her life forever. They are stopped by the police and while Starr has been told by her parents over and over again to never give the police a reason to doubt her, her friend Khalil is quick to talk back and soon his actions will end in devasting results. The police think he is armed and shoot him to death but Khalil wasn’t armed and soon this incident is national news and Starr is the only one who knows what really happened.

Starr’s life is soon pushed to the forefront and everyone she knows and doesn’t know has an opinion about what happened. She wants to tell her story but soon riots are happening in her neighborhood and her friends at her private school soon discover she was the girl in the car with the guy who was shot. She struggles in trying to maintain her two worlds from colliding but all she wants is to tell everyone the truth, that her friend is dead and no matter what people think about him he was still a human being and nothing excuses that for being shot in cold blood.

I loved everything about this read. It is something that is happening all over the country and is something we should all be aware of. This novel speaks the truth on the subject and is something I think everyone should read. I know everyone has probably read it already, yes I’m late to the game but I highly encourage everyone to dive into this gem.