The Hate U Give

"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.

Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this is a powerful and gripping YA novel about one girl's struggle for justice."

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I would give this book a ★★★★★. I've seen the cover of this book/movie in the past and have always wondered what it was about. I was on the Libby app looking for the next book to read on my Kindle and decided on this one because I was intrigued by the synopsis of the book and wanted to continue educating myself on the Black Lives Matter movement. It was a very powerful and emotional story, especially since these injustices have been and is still occurring in America. Although this story is fiction, events like this is very real. You are able to draw so many parallels to what is happening in today's society. Police brutality is real and no justice is being served. Black Lives Matter and it is so frustrating how so little change is being made.

"People like us in situations like this become hashtags, but they rarely get justice. I think we all wait for that one time though, that one time when it ends right.”

This was definitely a page turner for me since it was just so captivating and thought provoking. I kept wanting to find out what would happen next. I found myself reading an additional one or two chapters than intended during my nightly reading before bed. The book was 444 pages and although it is the longest book I have read so far on my Kindle, I finished this book the fastest. There were at least two instances where I would dream about the book as well, but unfortunately, I don't remember exactly what happened in those dreams.

“Pac said Thug Life stood for “The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody. T-H-U-G-L-I-F-E. Meaning what society gives us as youth, it bites them in the ass when we wild out. Get it?”

I never realized that Thug Life stood for something or even begin to understand what it really meant until reading the book which does an amazing job exploring that through various different characters. The novel perfectly intertwines social commentary and political criticism into the story through Starr's thoughts and the dialogues between the characters in the story. I felt so many different emotions while reading this - sad, angry, frustrated, annoyed, shocked, scared, happy, etc. You get so engrossed into the story that it is hard not to feel what Starr feels. You view things from her perspective, a witness to her childhood best friend's unjustifiable death. Not only does the book convey a strong political message, but it also explores the internal conflict Starr struggles with.

All the characters in the story was perfectly written and I love how Angie put a lot of thoughts into the names of characters which she explains in the epilogue section of the novel. I loved the dynamic of Starr's family and how supportive they are of each other. It was amazing seeing the growth of the characters such as Maverick, DeVante, Maya, Chris, and most importantly, Starr. Each character offering a different perspective on things and every character was so well written.

“I can't change where I come from or what I've been through, so why should I be ashamed of what makes me, me?” 

This is one of my favorite quote from the novel. Starr struggled a lot with her identity as she moves between her two world, Garden Height Starr and Williamson Starr. She felt that she had to act a certain way depending on which world she is in and who she interacts with. As Williamson Starr, she often times felt ashamed of where she comes from. We all tend to act differently when we are around different groups of people. For example, how we act with friends vs how we act with our coworkers. I know that it really rings true for me in so many aspects of my life. I will admit that there were times in my life where I was ashamed of my Chinese/Vietnamese background and things I had to go through. But I shouldn't be ashamed, but proud of who I am and how far I have come.

After finishing the book, a few days later, Gabe and I watched the movie. It was a great and emotional movie, but the book was way better. The movie just felt so short compared to the book. Everything felt so rushed in the movie. A lot of things were left out in the movie, which is expected since a movie cannot be exactly like the book. But I was upset how the movie portrayed the hairbrush and have Khalil reach for it, which some will say that it justifies the shooting (which it definitely does not!). In the book, the hairbrush was sitting on the car's dashboard and Khalil did not reach for it and was simply just checking up on Starr. Ugh it was frustrating how they changed that and very unnecessary. Also, they completely took DeVante out of the movie which I didn't agree with because he was such an important character in the book and I did not like how they portrayed Maya in the movie. In the book, it was made clear that she was Chinese American and that she had racist remarks made about her family from Hailey too. She stood in solidarity with Starr and they even formed a minority alliance. I loved their relationship in the book and the movie failed to portray that. From the movie, I did like the director's take on portraying T.H.U.G.L.I.F.E. though in the end. I really recommend reading the book and watching the movie. It is truly an amazing and educational book. It really puts things into perspective.

“Sometimes you can do everything right and things will still go wrong. The key is to never stop doing right.”