The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Publishing Info: November 2018 by Walker Books, Special Collector’s Edition (first published 2017)  

Pages: 480

Star Rating: 5/5

Back Cover Summary:

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.

The Hate U Give is an outstanding and powerful novel. I bought this book last year but I don’t read much contemporary. Fantasy and science fiction are much more my thing. So even though I’d heard so much about it, I still hadn’t read it months after buying it. Then, two weeks ago, George Floyd was murdered by a white police officer in the US, and Black Lives Matter protests started up all around America and in other countries too. This prompted me to finally pick up The Hate U Give, and I’m really glad I did. 

As a white person, I can’t possibly imagine what it is like to experience racism and live in fear of the police in the way that black people do. But in The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas put me right in Starr’s shoes. I felt her fear, her pain, her sadness, her frustrations. Reading articles and non-fiction is a great way to learn, but fiction can be so impactful. It can really place you in someone else’s shoes and show you what their experience is like. Not only does it show police violence and the injustices of the American justice system, but it also provides an insight into day-to-day racism and microaggressions that black people sadly have to live with.

Starr is a brilliant character and I loved reading her and Khalil’s story. This is a book about a young woman who has witnessed a terrible crime and who finds her voice to stand against racism. Starr grows so much over the course of the book. At first, she is afraid. She witnessed the death of her best friend and she goes through so much dealing with what she witnessed and she’s afraid of the repercussions of speaking up. But she’s also angry with the way Khalil is being talked about by people and portrayed by the media, and angry that Khalil’s murderer could escape justice. Alongside this are Starr’s relationships with her family, friends and boyfriend, which are masterfully woven through the novel. I loved every character and loved seeing her family interact. This book is full of so much emotion and heart.  

The Hate U Give is well-written, well-paced and has so many brilliant characters. While reading it I laughed, I cried, I screamed at the injustice. All the elements that make a great book just come together perfectly. I had no hesitation giving it 5 stars. This is one of those books that will stay with me forever. It’s important because of the subject matter it tackles so well, but also because it’s just such a good book. I really think this is a rare, flawless novel. Although it’s about police brutality, it’s also full of love and hope. The Hate U Give is a book that everyone should read.