Rating: 10 / 10
Pages: 438
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Triggers: Murder, racism, domestic abuse, drugs

I finally read it and wow, I will never forget it. The Hate U Give - THUG (it took me weeks before I realised that the title was an acronym for thug *cry laugh*). This book first came up on my radar on bookstagram. Realistically I scrolled past it the first time I saw it, but it kept popping up so I decided I should probably give it some attention. As one can imagine, it was always on loan in the library, and because I'm too cheap to pay $2 to put it on hold, it took me a while before I could get my hands on it. Then, once I got my hands on it, I was almost scared to read it. So much hype plus a strong message made me worry that I wouldn't like it and that led to the rabbit hole of, what if me not liking it meant I was racist? But here I am, and boy do I have words to share.
If you don't know, The Hate U Give is a story centred around a black high school student called Starr Carter. We follow her as she traverses the different lifestyles between her poor neighbourhood and her white rich high school. Starr has to deal with racism (both subtle and blatant), gangs, the idea of being true to ones culture and oh, did I mention her best friend gets murdered by a police man in front of her eyes? As you can imagine this is a tumultuous heart wrenching story that peels back the layers of modern racism to show you how devastating it really is.

I took a deep breath, opened the front cover and started reading. About six hours later I closed the back cover and stared into space, revelling in the read I had just experienced. Thomas hooked me in from the very first chapter and refused to let me go. Not once did my mind go off track (okay, I did go grab some snacks but that's it) as I sat there and absorbed every single word and the impact of them.

Okay, let us start Starr and racism. I really enjoyed how the first person narration allowed me to really feel what Starr was feeling, and be right by her side as she faced all the atrocities thrown her way. I could never EVER claim that I have experienced racism to the degree that African-American people have been subjected to, however, I feel like I did experience it to a degree, through Starr. Along with learning about how it feels to be a victim of racism I also learnt a lot about Huey Newton and the Black Panther Party; here's some of my brief research notes:
- An African American political activist who co founded the Black Panther Party in
1966.
- Primarily concerned with black people's right to self defence.
- Newton was involved in a police shooting, of which he was convicted of
murdering a police man.
- Murder by gun shot, by a member of the Black Guerrilla Family ( more info ).

Aside from the knowledge gained through reading this book, I loved the relationships between the characters. Starr and her dad reminded me of my own dad in how he's always looking out for me. The sibling relationships are relatable, realistic and sometimes hilarious. The romantic relationship was interesting as it certainly had a place in the novel and added positively to the moral of the story. I think my favourite relationship though, was between Starr and her mum. There was such a strong mother and daughter bond which I think we don't see often enough in books. The dialogue between the two involved real life advice as well as conversations that made me literally LOL (is lol old now?) such as,
"Starr: No, and you're forbidden to get one [Tumblr]. No parents allowed. You guys already took over Facebook.
Mum: You haven't responded to my friend request yet.
I know.
I need candy crush lives.
That's why I will never respond."

Aah, I love it. I've been thinking if there is anything I could critique the book on and I don't think there is. The pace, the characters, the message, all of it was spot on. Highly highly recommend this book.