The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas | Book Review

This book has been on my TBR ever since I first saw it mentioned a while back and I only recently picked it up and finally gave it a read. It’s fair to say that I’m always cautious with books that receive insane amounts of hype but I can confidently say that The Hate U Give deserves all the hype it gets, and then some.

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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 best friend, Khalil, by a police officer. Now what Starr says could destroy her community. It could also get her killed.”

I honestly don’t know where to start with this book. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so many feelings as intensely whilst reading a book before. I was tucked up in bed whilst on holiday doing my very best to fight back the tears because whilst I knew this book was fiction, it is inspired by true events – and that’s what makes it heartbreaking.

As stated in the synopsis, we follow the story of Starr who is having to deal with not only the death of her best friend but also being the only witness to his murder and honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever felt as much sympathy for a character. Starr is definitely the kind of character who you root for. In fact, all of the prominent characters in the book have strong personalities and I adored that. All of the characters are written with such depth that when I hated a character, I hated a character. This is a book in which the characters are memorable and I know that I won’t forget these characters.

To put it bluntly, the plot of this book isn’t particularly pleasant but I didn’t expect it to be; I would consider myself to be a fool if I did expect it to be a cutesy read. The plot is raw and honest and really hit my core. It really is brutal and honestly I think that’s what makes it so effective as a young adult novel. It really does not sugar coat the topic at its heart. However, although at times this book was heavy, there are moments of laughter, parts which genuinely made me giggle (I literally just went back to reread a part.) Not only is Starr dealing with the death of Khalil, she also has other regular teenage things in her life which makes this book so much more real. Whilst this book is about fear, it’s also about family, friendship and courage. It’s quite simply beautiful.

As with many young adult novels, the writing style was simplistically beautiful once I had settled into it and I had no problems with Thomas’ writing and would happily read anything else she writes. The only problem I did have with the structure was that the chapters felt quite long but I’m generally a person who doesn’t enjoy long chapters but by the end of the book I didn’t mind.

Now, usually when I give a book five stars, it’s because I enjoyed it but I don’t really know if I can say I enjoyed a book with this kind of topic. The reason I’m giving The Hate U Give five stars is because it is important. I cannot emphasise how important this book for everyone to read. No book has left me feeling like this. Whilst reading this I felt heartbroken and angry because lingering in the back of my mind was that this is someone’s true story. So, whilst it isn’t necessarily easy or nice to read, I do urge you to read it. As someone who knows that they are privileged to have been born into the position I am, this book only made me more aware of this. I found it extremely beneficial reading this book so I most definitely urge those in similar positions to myself to read it. It’s the most important book I have picked up this year and I don’t think anything will match this book. 

Rated: 5 stars.