The Hate U Give – Review

I don’t know how to start. This book sadly is reality, but it is also so much more: an encouragement for oppressed people to stand up, to demonstrate they have a chance, for people to realize this world hasn’t found a resolution for racism and for young people to cherish life and opportunities. 

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas was EW’s most anticipated book of the year and I can understand why. It tells the story of the black teenager Starr who has two different lives: her life in Garden Heights, the poor neighborhood she lives in with her parents and brothers, and the rich school she goes to in the suburbs, almost being the only black girl there. When she sees her best friend Khalil get shot by a police officer only because he’s black, her life falls apart: she realizes she has to stand up for her friend, making sure the world knows this police officer MURDERED her best friend – her best friend who didn’t have a gun, who didn’t disregard any laws, who didn’t insult the officer, who simply turned around to her to ask if she was ok –

What’s the point of having a voice if you’re gonna be silent?

This book opens your eyes in so many ways: it shows how it is to grow up in a poor family and in a bad neighborhood, it demonstrates how it is to feel different than everyone of your classmates in school because you’ve been raised differently and most of all, it opens up to the reality of the victim’s family and loved ones who had to go through accusations that the person shot by a white police officer was threatening the officer’s life even though it’s clear to see that he was only shot because of the color of his skin.

A story that places a spotlight on #BlackLivesMatter at this crucial point in history.

I think that said it all.