The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Starr lives in two worlds: the poor neighbourhood 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.

"I've seen it happen over and over again: 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 book is not on hard to read in some ways, but it's a necessary book to read! Thomas's narrative explores Black Lives Matter and the way that the system is rigged against people of colour in ways that are much more subtle and nuanced than often happens in the real world, through battling left-wing and right-wing news sources. The emotion and humanity that Thomas brings to her characters will cause readers to flinch, despair, hope, and search their own minds and hearts.

I have been reading a number of debut novels recently, and I'm continually amazed by the talent and potential of new authors in the YA scene. Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give is beautiful, gripping, raw, heartbreaking, and honest. The characters are all so well-rounded they feel real and the setting is totally immersive. 

I know this is a short review, but I don't think I can do justice to this fantastic book.

Highly Recommended

(NOTE: This review is from and Advance Reader's Copy - Out Feb. 28, 2017)

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