The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighbourhood 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.

I think this may be the most hyped book of 2017. For the past few months I have seen this book posted and talked about on all forms of social media. I was so excited to get a chance to read and review this book just so I could actually see whether it deserves the hype it has been receiving. Now having read The Hate U Give, I can honestly say that this book deserves all the hype and more, because it is amazingly raw and emotional with a very important message.

The Hate U Give tells the story of Starr, and how see deals with the aftermath of seeing her friend shot and killed by a police officer. Starr tries to fight for justice for her friend Khalil, even though her fear of the police grows and the safety of Starr and her family is under threat.

Starr is strong, resilient, determined, smart and one of the bravest characters I have ever had the opportunity to read about. There were times in the book where I had to put the book down just to think about how I would act and react if I was Starr and I don’t think I would or could have been as brave as she was in this story.

One of the many things about this book that I loved was that the shooting was not just the main part of the story. The Hate U Give has many different stories to tell, whether its how Starr lives in the poor, black neighbourhood of Garden Heights, the experiences she has while at her private school, and its all about family, and how Starr’s family manages to cope with this devastating and life changing event. With these many different aspects explored and developed in the book you are able to learn and understand what its like for Starr and many other people who are in the same predicament as her.

Angie Thomas is such a fantastic writer. Every word is this amazing book is written from the heart and it draws you in immediately. Her writing is a pleasure to read, even in the intense scenes like the shooting of Khalil, it makes you feel numb and leaves you shocked, but you cant help notice how its beautifully its written. When reading about Garden Heights you are able to feel and understand what its like to live there, and not being able to afford food and realising that perhaps the best way to make life a little more easier is to join one the gangs. It is sometimes very hard and maybe too realistic to read about because this is happening every day for some people and its difficult to think of this as a story of fiction. With the Black Lives Matter movement very current in todays world, its hard not to relate the topics from this book to that of todays news stories.

This is a very important book and I think it will still be spoken about in many years to come, because it has a powerful, heart-breaking and emotional story to tell and everyone needs to read it. The Hate U Give is not an easy book to read because there will be several times you have to put it down and process what you have read, or wipe a tear from your eye, or to just take notice of how realistic and raw the writing actually is. My review will never do this book justice, all I can say is I would recommend this book to everyone because this is a book that MUST be read.

I rate this book 5/5 stars

***I was sent a copy of this book by the author to review. Everything in this review is my own honest opinions.***