Review: The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas

Author: Angie Thomas
Publisher: Walker Books
Release Date: 6th April 2017
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Pages: 438
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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.
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Well. Wow, is all I really have to say. I could gush about this book for hours on end if you asked me. It really was, truly incredible.
Honestly, I don’t know how I managed to pull of getting a UK copy so early. I ordered it off BD, but had ordered the one that came out on the US release date, so I safely assumed it would be the US copy. But I ended up getting the UK copy when it’s not even yet.
But, whatever, because I’m certainly not complaining. It’s what’s on the inside that counts. And what was on the inside, well…it was a masterpiece.

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“At an early age I learned that people make mistakes, and you have to decide if their mistakes are bigger than your love for them.”

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I’ve been looking forward to this for a loooooong time and it did not disappoint. Not even close. Let’s start with Starr. Such an amazing, badass teen voice who I will never forget.
And you know why? Because of her voice. The best part of this book is the voice because it’s so real and honest and strong and you can just hear Starr, as if she were standing right beside you in real life. It focuses so much on family too which is so beautiful and uplifting because it’s something that’s so important to Starr. This is incredibly well written. Confronts the issue of race and police brutality towards black people and class so well and it sends such a powerful message to its readers.
I would urge this onto the hands of everyone I know. It’s life-changing and eye-opening. I really cannot recommend it enough.
Although the story is dark and will at time leave you in tears, there’s so much humour in it and I was grinning through some parts of this amazing book.
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This is definitely going to get 5 stars out of 5 from me and I’m so so glad that it’s ended up on the #1 New York Times Bestseller because it sure as hell deserves it!!