The Hate U Give: A review

[TeenHelp]

The Hate U Give: A review
By Jenna (~Abibliophobe~)

The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas, was recently published and has been hyped up on a lot of platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and Twitter. This book deals with a controversial subject and was inspired by Black Lives Matter which is a movement that originated in the African American community and campaigns against violence and systematic racism against African Americans. The story centers on a girl named Starr and her life after she witnesses the killing of her unarmed best friend at the hands of a police officer. The book could definitely be triggering for grief since it deals a lot with Starr coming to terms with the death of her friend.

I admit that I had really high hopes for this book and I was not disappointed by it. I was worried that I would be disappointed because I’ve noticed that a lot of hyped of books end up not being worth the hype. This book was definitely worth the hype and I am glad I took the time to read it. I was actually able to finish it in two days and it’s been a while since I have been able to finish a book so fast.

I think one of the things I liked most about the book was the relationship that Starr had with her family. They had such a tight bond and they supported her through all the trials she faced after witnessing the death of her friend. The book took a serious subject and added a loving family and it was amazing to see. I think at the heart of this novel is a story about family. While the death of Khalil, Starr’s friend, is a huge point, the relationship between Starr and her family also takes center stage. I thought her parents' relationship was absolutely amazing. While they didn’t agree with each other on everything, they stuck together when making decisions about their children. The other thing I really liked about this book was the way Starr’s community came together after the death of Khalil.

Starr’s parents happened to pay money for Starr and her siblings to go to a private school in a better neighborhood. The story focuses on Starr’s relationship with her peers at this school as well and that was interesting to see. There was some tension between Starr and one of her friend’s and it came to a head after the death of Khalil because Starr started to realize things about the friendship.

This novel also focuses on interracial relationships, seeing as Starr is dating a Caucasian student. I thought that relationship was handled quite well and it touched on some of the issues that can arise from being in an interracial relationship.

All in all I thought this book was amazing. I thought it was heartbreaking to read about and I felt the author handled such a controversial subject quite well. I don’t think I had one issue with this book.