The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

by LiterallyLenny - 1:47 PM

What's it about?

"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." - Goodreads Synopsis

My Thoughts:

This book is so insanely important to read, especially in this day in age. This book is relevant to everything that our society has been facing for the past couple years.

Storyline:

Absolute perfection. All you really hear when these tragedies happen are what the news outlets have to say about the story, but you never hear from the actual people it directly affected. I found that it was also important to see not only the short term effects it had on society, but also the long term effects. Many people forget about these tragedies because they were not involved, but what we don’t realize is that people continue to struggle day-to-day with the memories of what happened, and that’s important to acknowledge. Tragedies don’t just vaporize as if they never happened. They’re still there, having an everlasting effect on people’s lives that the rest of society likes to just ignore or forget about.

Characters:

I like that Angie Thomas was able to write about so many diverse characters in such a realistic way, without it seeming forced.

Starr: The girl who saw it all. Strongest and bravest girl to have ever fictionally existed. Probably one of my favorite fictional characters of all time as well. She was so REAL. Angie Thomas nailed the mindset of a teenage girl going through a tragedy.

Chris: The white boyfriend who saw no difference between black and white. An outlook that I think the entire world could benefit from. He was that typical preppy high school boy who had absolutely nothing wrong in his life, but that never stopped him from wanted to be 100% involved in Starr's life.

Khalil: The boy whose life ended too soon. The alleged “drug dealer” and “gang banger” who supposedly “deserved” what was coming to him.