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A review by mediaevalmuse
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
4.0
I’m probably not the best person to ask for a review of this book - it deals with a lot of topics that I, as a white person, cannot possibly claim expertise in. Therefore, this review is going to focus more on things I can talk about with some confidence: writing style, organization, characterization, and the like. If you’re wondering about how well Thomas portrays racism, black culture, etc., I recommend you read reviews by people of color. I will say upfront that the reason I didn’t give this book 5 stars has nothing to do with the premise or the portrayal of black culture/Black Lives Matter - I’ve seen some other reviews that knock the rating down because of “reverse racism,” but I don’t think that’s what’s going on in this book. Rather, my rating comes from my opinion on the way the technical aspects of the book are handled - and you are welcome to disagree with me on those.
Things I Liked
1. Carter Family: I loved the portrayal of the (slightly) dysfunctional yet loving Carter family. Starr’s father is an ex-con who is committed to his family and helping out people in his community. Lisa, the mother, is supportive and has a big heart while being a superhero that works double shifts at the medical center. Starr’s half-brother, Seven, is also supportive, and it’s easy to see how much he’s torn between wanting to better himself and wanting to stick around for the sake of his half-sisters, who are stuck in a bad home environment. The family is full of joy and love, and I think it would have been a mistake to have this same kind of story happen to a “traditional” nuclear family with a squeaky clean slate.
2. Code Switching: Throughout the book, Starr comments on how she is stuck between two worlds - that of her predominately rich white school and the poor black community at home. This choice to have her not quite fit in anywhere was a good one because it allowed Thomas to explore black communities and white communities at somewhat of a distance - everything was able to be explained to the reader, which means that the book doesn’t seem to assume any prior knowledge on the reader’s part. It also allowed Thomas to explore the idea of code switching and its implications.
3. Range: This book portrays a range of characters, from criminals, to ex-criminals, to the blatant racist, to the accidentally racist. I think it was a good choice to incorporate so many different kinds of characters so that no one was portrayed as a monolith. Not all black people were of the same mind, and not all white people were the same either.
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Pace: This book was very long for a YA novel, which isn’t a problem in itself. The problem was that Thomas seemed to devote as much time to day-to-day moments as to important, plot-driving moments. As a result, the book seemed to drag in moments when there wasn’t much going on, but things like the shooting, court-proceedings, protests, etc. seemed to whiz past. While I loved seeing the interactions between friends and family, I think a lot of it could have been cut or condensed so the primary focus was on exploring things that were related to the theme of the novel.
2. Lacking Commentary: I’m not sure how else to explain this point other than to just blurt it out. When I say “lacking commentary,” I mean that a lot of what goes on in the novel is not really commented on by the narrator. The novel is written in first-person, but most of the book (I think) is dialogue. As a result, readers are often left to interpret an event or moment for themselves, and less focus is placed on Starr’s feelings. While I don’t need everything to be interpreted for me (that would feel too much like the book was preaching to the reader), I do wish that Thomas had made clear what some moments were supposed to be doing. I think this is where a lot of the claims that the book is “reverse racist” stems from - for example, people may see Starr as racist because she tells her white boyfriend that they shouldn’t be dating because he’s white. While some read it as racist, I read it as an example of Starr’s insecurity (over being the only black girl in her school, being poor, etc). A little more support from the author to make clear what was going on would have been helpful.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in Black Lives Matter, officer-involved shootings, institutional racism, code-switching, and cultural differences.
Things I Liked
1. Carter Family: I loved the portrayal of the (slightly) dysfunctional yet loving Carter family. Starr’s father is an ex-con who is committed to his family and helping out people in his community. Lisa, the mother, is supportive and has a big heart while being a superhero that works double shifts at the medical center. Starr’s half-brother, Seven, is also supportive, and it’s easy to see how much he’s torn between wanting to better himself and wanting to stick around for the sake of his half-sisters, who are stuck in a bad home environment. The family is full of joy and love, and I think it would have been a mistake to have this same kind of story happen to a “traditional” nuclear family with a squeaky clean slate.
2. Code Switching: Throughout the book, Starr comments on how she is stuck between two worlds - that of her predominately rich white school and the poor black community at home. This choice to have her not quite fit in anywhere was a good one because it allowed Thomas to explore black communities and white communities at somewhat of a distance - everything was able to be explained to the reader, which means that the book doesn’t seem to assume any prior knowledge on the reader’s part. It also allowed Thomas to explore the idea of code switching and its implications.
3. Range: This book portrays a range of characters, from criminals, to ex-criminals, to the blatant racist, to the accidentally racist. I think it was a good choice to incorporate so many different kinds of characters so that no one was portrayed as a monolith. Not all black people were of the same mind, and not all white people were the same either.
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Pace: This book was very long for a YA novel, which isn’t a problem in itself. The problem was that Thomas seemed to devote as much time to day-to-day moments as to important, plot-driving moments. As a result, the book seemed to drag in moments when there wasn’t much going on, but things like the shooting, court-proceedings, protests, etc. seemed to whiz past. While I loved seeing the interactions between friends and family, I think a lot of it could have been cut or condensed so the primary focus was on exploring things that were related to the theme of the novel.
2. Lacking Commentary: I’m not sure how else to explain this point other than to just blurt it out. When I say “lacking commentary,” I mean that a lot of what goes on in the novel is not really commented on by the narrator. The novel is written in first-person, but most of the book (I think) is dialogue. As a result, readers are often left to interpret an event or moment for themselves, and less focus is placed on Starr’s feelings. While I don’t need everything to be interpreted for me (that would feel too much like the book was preaching to the reader), I do wish that Thomas had made clear what some moments were supposed to be doing. I think this is where a lot of the claims that the book is “reverse racist” stems from - for example, people may see Starr as racist because she tells her white boyfriend that they shouldn’t be dating because he’s white. While some read it as racist, I read it as an example of Starr’s insecurity (over being the only black girl in her school, being poor, etc). A little more support from the author to make clear what was going on would have been helpful.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in Black Lives Matter, officer-involved shootings, institutional racism, code-switching, and cultural differences.