8 starred reviews · Goodreads Choice Awards Best of the Best · William C. Morris Award Winner · National Book Award Longlist · Printz Honor Book · Coretta Scott King Honor Book · #1 New York Times Bestseller!
“Absolutely riveting!” —Jason Reynolds
“Stunning.” —John Green
“This story is necessary. This story is important.” —Kirkus (starred review)
“Heartbreakingly topical.” —Publishers … Green
“This story is necessary. This story is important.” —Kirkus (starred review)
“Heartbreakingly topical.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A marvel of verisimilitude.” —Booklist (starred review)
“A powerful, in-your-face novel.” —Horn Book (starred review)
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.
Want more of Garden Heights? Catch Maverick and Seven’s story in Concrete Rose, Angie Thomas’s powerful prequel to The Hate U Give.
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This is hands down my favorite book of 2017 so far. I laughed a lot and cried even more. This book is very informative and realistic. I saw a lot of my childhood and upbringing in this book. I cannot recommend this book enough. The characters and the story is so amazing.
Brilliant, moving, sometimes funny, very, very timely. Thomas does a brilliant job of telling a story that is all too common in our culture. Black Lives Matter.
Every month, I hold a vote on my blog in the Book Bucket List feature. Followers get to choose which book I read the next month. The 12 candidates usually come from award winners or indies that I’ve come to adore. For April 2020, the winning book was The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. I’m glad it won because I want to watch the movie this spring, but I needed to read the book first. Now I can say that the book is done, and I’ll find time for the movie in the coming weeks.
Overall, this wasn’t a book that I enjoyed very much. This will probably be a somewhat unpopular opinion, and I’m going to try to separate the subject matter from the writing and messaging. For those new to the author or novel, here’s a quick synopsis: It’s from 2017, won tons of awards, was turned into a movie, and focuses on racism. I’d consider it young adult fiction, and I’d also say it’s powerful and important in the way it clearly shows what happens in today’s world. Starr is a sixteen-year-old black girl who has transferred to a white school with her brother to escape some of the impacts of the area in which she lives. After a party, she and a friend, a sixteen-year-old black boy named Khalil, are driving home when they are pulled over by a white cop. Khalil is pulled from the car and ultimately shot and killed despite having done nothing to harm the cop. The remainder of the story follows the subsequent three months in the town, noting how various people handle the situation.
Clearly, this story reflects reality on a major scale and needs to be told and shared. Clearly, racism is awful and shouldn’t exist. Clearly, certain groups of people have been mistreated and deserve justice. I support everything that this book is trying to say and do to help create equality, as it is necessary and must happen for the future of our species. That said… I really did not like this book. Part of it stems from my disinterest in wanting to read about the reality of a situation that is wrong. I generally don’t like those types of books; however, if they are written in a way where I can connect with the characters, then it works well for me.
Let’s take two alternative stories / books that I loved: Hidden Figures and The Help. There was depth, love, and personality to these characters and stories. There were balances between stereotypes and the truth about how to try and improve a situation. The Hate U Give was filled entirely with stereotypes, and it contained only black and white opinions until the very end. It merely reflected a realistic situation without adding more to it. I felt like I read a really long news article about what happened instead of developing a story that made me truly think about how to change the future.
I also found the book way too long, containing too much focus on gangs, and filled with language that doesn’t help create empathy or support. While these might reflect reality, it also alienated me as a reader because the characters we should root for behaved poorly in many situations. As a human being, I want to connect with others and understand their struggles and plights. When I see fathers angrily throw hate at their daughters claiming it be love, being part of the problem to continue to let racism prosper, and treat women poorly, I cannot let all that go and still just focus on “but they deserve equal rights too.” Of course they deserve them… I don’t care where someone lives or what they look like. But if that person is also part of the problem, then I can’t feel the right level of sympathy for that character.
While I understand some of the behaviors and language and actions are part of a culture, it doesn’t make them right. I would’ve liked to see a little less gang fights and intentional separation of race and ethnicity in this book. Starr’s father went from being someone I disliked until the last 5% when he woke up a bit and said “maybe I can support my daughter” to some degree. So… since this is a book review, I’m focusing my dislike for parts of this book on the poor characterization. But I also see tons of value, and there are a few touching scenes, and I do want to help Starr. Unfortunately, she still had some of those whiny teenage sentiments and immature reactions to things that made it hard for me to 100% be on her side in this book.
It’s hard to decide what to do in a situation like this… authors want a book to reflect reality. But if reality is problematic and the book is supposed to try to fix it, then an author should take it to a level beyond reality and try to show a way to make things better. I don’t think this was supposed to be “hey, look at what’s happening in our world today.” I think it should’ve been “hey, this is happening and here’s how we can change it to be better.” So… for those reasons, when I balance my opinions on everything in this book, I ended up with a 3. I liked parts, I didn’t like parts… it’s kinda average to me. But what it is trying to fix, and what this world needs to fix, is 100% deserving of all our attention and focus. I’m strictly speaking on how effective this book was in that manner to me.
This book is amazing. I’m usually the person who always wants a book to have a happy ending, but part of me knew this book wouldn’t have one. It had a hopeful ending.
I normally don’t jump on the bandwagon when it comes to book reviews. But this book totally deserves all the praise its received. It speaks to everything that is happening in the United States in terms of racism, police brutality, poverty and the downright anger so many people have right now.
Starr may only be sixteen, but she’s already witnessed two murders in her life: as a child she had to witness her best friend killed in a drive-by shooting and then later her friend Khalil is killed by a police officer after being pulled over in his car. He was unarmed.
The death of Khalil throws Starr and her family into a whirlwind. The media branding him as a drug dealer and a thug. Starr is already living two lives; her one at home in Garden Heights, a neighbourhood known for gangs, poverty and drive by shootings, and then her life at Williamson Prep, a virtually all-white school where she’s labeled an outsider.
From having to face the racist comments of her friend as school, to hiding her secret of being the witness to this deadly shooting from her boyfriend, who happens to be white, Starr is thrown into a tailspin of emotion and turmoil. Starr is afraid of the consequences of telling the truth of what happened that night to police, prosecutors, even her friends—what if police or the Kings gang target her family? What if others think she should just keep quiet? And will speaking up make the difference, especially if most of the time white cops don’t pay the price for shooting black people?
“What’s the point of having a voice if you’re gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn’t be?”
Although Starr initially tries to remain anonymous as the sole witness to Khalil’s murder she eventually speaks out publicly. Through doing this, she learns so much about herself, her family and even her community. Coming face-to-face with the people who will alway be there for her, and even those who turned out not to be worth being in her life.
I read this whole book in one sitting. I could not put it down. I openly cried during some of the scenes, like Khalil’s murder. This is going to be so blunt, but I truly feel all white people need to read this book. It is so poignant with race relations taking place in the United States right now. From Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players kneeling during the national anthem, to the need for more Asian characters being portrayed in movies, this book touched on all these themes of racism that are beyond relevant right now in American history. I would even go so far to say this book has as close as a message as “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee did and does.
This book needs to be read by everyone and anyone. It should be part of high school curriculum. We need more books like this! Books that draw attention to the tensions that face America, from racism, poverty, and even police brutality. All I can say is, thank you Angie Thomas!
Read more of my review here: https://bit.ly/2RoWJu2
A powerful and timely story written with authenticity, heart, and keen perception. I would love to see this book on high school reading lists everywhere–not because it’s exclusively written for a teen audience but because understanding and real empathy needs to begin as early as possible. A remarkable debut novel by Angie Thomas expertly read by Bahni Turpin. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook for an immersive experience.
Amazing story a MUST READ!!
A story that will change the way you see everything.
I’m having a hard time writing this review because is such an amazing book and I don’t want to spoil anything but definitely you have to read this amazing story.
Starr is trying to make her way in life, she is just a teen and already has lived and seen so many awful things that a kid shouldn’t have to experience.. this has made her strong and bold but still she is very confused not knowing how to act and what to do.. she has been living like this for such a long time, having to behave in certain ways, around certain people.. but time and life are about to change her forever in a way she didn’t expect..
“You can’t even tell me what’s going on!”
“You’re white, okay?” I yell. “You’re white!”
“I’m white?” he says like he’s just hearing that for the first time. “What the f that got to do with anything?”
Starr’s life changes abruptly watching her best friend died in the worst circumstances ever imagine. now she would have to decide if she will stay quiet or tell her story.
“A black person gets killed just for being black, and all hell breaks loose. I’ve Tweeted RIP hashtags, reblogged pictures on Tumblr, and signed every petition out there. I always said that if I saw it happen to somebody, I would have the loudest voice, making sure the world knew what went down. Now I am that person, and I’m too afraid to speak.”
This was an epic ride, so many emotions and many things that I wasn’t aware of, so much to learn but must of all so much to change.. This is a story that we’ve been seeing in the news in our daily life for many years and even decades. this is a story many of us have suffer seen or even live on a daily basis, but most of all this is a story of hope and dreams, a story that we’re equal no matter where you live, who you’re or how much you have. This is a story for ALL.
“What’s the point of having a voice if you’re gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn’t be?”
Another great thing that I really like about the story is the crazy shenanigans between Maverick and Starr, especially Maverick, he is off the charts with all his Harry Potter theories, haha making the story more real and enjoyable.
“Daddy, you’re the worst person to watch Harry Potter with. The whole time you’re talking about”
“”Why don’t they shoot the nigga Voldemort?'”
“Ay, it don’t make sense that in all them movies and books, nobody thought to shoot him.”
I love so many things about the story, so many great characters Kenya, Khalil, Maverick, Hailey, Maya and many more who will bring so much to the story and will make you want to know more about all of them.. I love how many of them were so supportive with Starr when things got ugly.. I like how Chris was a gentleman all the time, always being there for her, wanting to know more about Starr’s family and life.. he was a real hero. I wish we could see more of their relationship.
“Sometimes you can do everything right and things will still go wrong. The key is to never stop doing right.”
It was a great read, great story, and characters, very emotional but a beautiful ride.
I really recommend this book a lot!!
PS: ‘‘A hairbrush is not a gun.’’
All the LOVE!
I figured from all the hubbub this book’s been receiving it had to be something special. “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas was all that and more. I listened to the audio version narrated by Bahni Turpin and I can’t imagine experiencing the story any other way. Turpin breathed life in the characters and had me laughing out loud in all the appropriate places with her voices.
Despite the injustice and seriousness of the overall subject matter, “The Hate U Give” was eye-opening, thought provoking, and empowering. And entertaining as all get out!
I think EVERYONE should read this book about a young black girl who attends an upscale high school rather than her local school. She tries to balance her neighborhood world and her high school world which includes her white boyfriend. A good inside look at black lives.
This book is a powerful read. The story’s first person perspective offers a look into a life (and the associated racism that comes with it) that many do not get a chance to experience. Ms. Thomas’s fictional story paints a very real picture of life in America as a visible minority. And that’s why the book is important. The racism, the killing and murder, the abuse of power must stop. One way to do that, as is driven home in the book, is to speak up. But before speaking, we must be educated. This book helps.
As a work of fiction, The Hate U Give comes about as close to true-to-life as it can. The characters, and they are numerous, are all well described. I could picture every one clearly in my head, as I followed Starr through some of the worst moments of her young life, sharing her mind’s eye.
Do yourself a favor and read this brave and honest book.
One of the most important books I’ve ever read.
The author did a great job depicting the struggles of police brutality and the black comminity.
Absolutely riveting!
It is very insprational
This book should be required reading. Police brutality, code switching, driving while Black, and so many more important topics in such a beautifully written package.
To all the souls who have suffered injustices from a broken system, this book is for you.
Revolutionary. Culture yourself on the Black Lives Matter movement with this MUST-READ, extraordinary Y.A. book.
“It’s dope to be black until it’s hard to be black.”
I couldn’t believe this story was reality as I was reading it, which made the emotions that much more raw and real. Many tears were shed for the hearts and souls mistreated/failed by the system, the names this book carries, along with George Floyd, plus many others, now an addition to those tears.
THE HATE U GIVE taught crucially important messages of racism happening in America today, shining a light on how impoverished or small areas suffer the worst (but aren’t the only ones), how people get trapped in the cycles with only the lucky getting out, why rioting happens when protesting doesn’t achieve desired results, and the ugly truth about police brutality, control, and injustices happening within the court system. Racism can work both ways and this book showed contrasting colors exceptionally well too. For example, every perspective shared, the opposite perspective was also discussed, books like this teach you things.
This was SO GOOD.
The messages are shared vividly, I don’t even need to watch the movie based on this book, because the characters and storyline were extremely well written. I probably will watch the movie anyway, because stories like this need to be told and I’m happy to support them.
I liked that this was a YA storyline, making the information easy to interpret and the dialogue… perfect. Like I said before, it is good to culture yourself.
The main character Starr (POC-Black) has a white boyfriend that her father has an extremely hard time dealing with, I can’t say enough about how impactful and necessary sharing this relationship was amongst everything that was going on. I think the relationships and messages were the most important part of the story, they made me FEEL. I also loved that this showcased how privileged people may be ignorant and racist in thinking they are completely right in their theories because they have never been exposed or told otherwise, it’s all they’ve known- privilege. IT’S UP TO US TO LEARN BETTER THEN WHAT WE WERE TAUGHT. It is completely ok to change and say “What I learned (or was taught) wasn’t correct, I now choose a better way.” Show up, be that person, and PREACHHHHHH. It may be necessary to RE-PARENT ourselves! Another extremely important relationship shared how the MC’s black uncle was a cop and how the family has a very hard time trusting that not all cops are bad either. (See? —contrasting colors.)
This book keeps it the REALEST. —The pop culture references were spot on, those made for fun, happy uplifting moments. The family values and core bonds in this book show what the foundation of a family should look like no matter the tribulations they face. There was an abundance of STRENGTH radiating from this book, I can’t get over it. My favorite part explained Tupac’s THUG LIFE acronym: (The Hate U Give Little Infants F’s Everybody) meaning that hate and racism are ugly LEARNED traits from our youth, it’s up to us to realize this, let go/work on unlearning behavior that isn’t helpful to society or anyone for that matter, instilling better values and morals in our lives. Practice what you preach, don’t just tell the youth, we must show the youth, most of us are visual learners. Don’t be a whistleblower saying “Do as I say, not as I do”, and expect anything good to come out of that fear tactic, but sadly that’s the life so many of us grew up living in. It’s up to us to do the work that needs the UNDOING.
If you have a story to tell, if you’ve been weak or oppressed, this can be a great motivator to make your story known and heard. Everyone’s story deserves to be told. Everyone deserves to feel heard, loved, and supported, no matter who opposes those views and this book conveys these messages and so much more with incredible grace.
While I may not be a person of color, as a white female living in a broken (in)justice system and not always having lived in the nicest neighborhoods, I myself, related to this story on so many levels. I was always the white chick who was friends with everyone but didn’t really belong to any one group. A poser or a “slut” who obviously didn’t know where she belonged. (Just like the MC of the story I had different versions of myself that I shared with people to more or less varying degrees). I have also faced being mistreated and harassed by not only men and women of society but doctors, the police and justice systems, who I was supposed to feel protected by, numerous times (I have also had good encounters with some of these professionals but the occasions are rare, my faith is NOT lost though), I have lost cases in court because I was a white female going against a white male’s word, I have seen people do horrible things and snitch for the police and be rewarded, letting the horrendous crimes they did go, just to get someone else on the radar. You can’t pick and choose, BUT AMERICA DOES, this book speaks the truth. The weak are now rising, things are changing and I hope, finally, for the better.
THERE IS STRENGTH IN NUMBERS. And please remember, family doesn’t have to mean blood. WE ALL BLEED RED.
BLACK LIVES MATTER. and if you don’t know why saying all lives matter is offensive towards this specific cause right now, here’s the scoop, it’s ok to ask questions, it’s how we learn and grow. Here’s an example: We used to say ” One nation under God, not all nations under God”… When people are creating Lyme Disease awareness we aren’t saying well what about Cancer, eff you for forgetting about them?!… Dimming someone else’s light doesn’t make ours shine any brighter, just as fighting for your cause and making your voice heard doesn’t diminish any other cause. Fighting for a specific cause doesn’t mean you disregard other groups, the focus isn’t there at the moment but it IS IMPLIED. Of course, all lives matter, but saying it to a group fighting for equality is offensive. Instead of one-upping each other, we need to lift each other up, one by one. Someone will always have it better or worse than us, don’t make that a reason to hide or be silenced, like the story teaches, “Your voice is your best weapon, use it.”
A thirteen-house publishing war (aka auction), tells you how good and important this story is… WE NEED DIVERSE BOOKS!
I want to thank @writelikemab (M.A. Bishop) for passing down this exceptional title to me! I won this book through a giveaway she hosted on her Twitter profile. This just made my favorite’s book list! (I have less then 100 favorite books). I was under no obligation to write this review, my honest opinion is freely given.
This book was SPLENDIFEROUS!! Starr was so realistic, and you had to just keep turning the pages. It also specifically resounded with the death of George Floyd, since Starr’s friend Khalil was also murdered by a white cop. The Hate U Give is a book that should be required reading for anyone and everyone.
It’s very relatable. It’s something that, unfortunately, some young African American children have faced. Trying to find their identity in two polarizing worlds and when those worlds converge, trying to figure out who they really are. I think this book opens eyes and does it in a way that really brings to light an issue that some don’t seem to notice.
This book is realistic, and gives you insight on how racism still exists today. A lot of people want to act like it doesn’t. But even though African-Americans were “deemed” the same as everyone else (which they most certainly are!!!!!) the problem is still around us. The color of your skin should not be a factor in the way you treat other human beings. This story is necessary. This story is vital. This story is the truth.
Awesome book! please read(: