The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
My rating: 5/5 cats
i rarely read realistic YA – if i’m going to read YA, i prefer fantasy or survival stuff where teens are in peril. but this was recommended to me by too many people to put aside “for later,” and while there are plenty of teens in peril, this sure ain’t fantasy.
it earns every one of its rave reviews; it’s an important, timely book that doesn’t feel as though it was thrown together in order to cash in on its timeliness. something like this could’ve easily skewed exploitative or preachy, and it doesn’t. at all. this was not thrown together, this was crafted. the voice is there, the emotional depth is there, it’s got strata for days, and its adaptation potential is a no-brainer – the family and neighborhood warmth-with-warts of spike lee (and my heart recognizes none but delroy lindo as maverick carter), and the focus of kids caught up in/on the outskirts of the game of the wire with a female gaze both of those (largely) lack.
it’s smart, occasionally subtle food for thought with plenty of appeal for adult readers. i’d go on, but i’m so late to reading this, i’m just one more admiring voice in a sea of positive response, and if you are even later than me, reading my garbage-words is just keeping you from reading this, and that’s no good.
two thumbs down for that prom scene, but everything else is gold.
