The Hate U Give by: Angie Thomas

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary
Published: February 28, 2017 by: Balzer and Bray
Pages: 444
Rating: 5/5 stars

Starr Carter lives in two worlds: her tight-knit black community in which she lives, and her fancy, predominately white prep school. When Starr is the sole witness to her best friend Khalil's murder by a police officer, her two worlds have a lot different reactions to the event. Khalil's story becomes a headline, and while her community rallies around protesting his murder, others outside question his role as a gang banger, a drug dealer. Only Starr holds the answers to what happened that devastating night, but revealing the truth, could change her world forever.

If you've been living under a rock and haven't heard about this book yet, just know that you have to read it. This book tells the story of Black Lives Matter. It reveals the harsh truth of racism, stereotyping, and sadly, the epidemic of unarmed black teens being murdered for reasons I still can't seem to comprehend. This book deserves ever ounce of attention its gotten, and I have seen people talk about it that have never talked about YA books before. So if you're going to read one YA novel in your lifetime, make sure it's this one.

Obviously the main theme in this book is police brutality and Black Lives Matter, but I also love this book because it shows the core of a community coming together in times of crisis. You will fall in love with Starr's family, her parents are superheros and the family themes are honestly stronger than any other relationship in the book. Each character was perfect in their own way, and I especially loved Seven.

I also loved how Thomas really made the book relevant to the times. Not only with the theme, but with her references to pop culture. She really captured the voice of a sixteen-year old girl in 2017, and that was really special. I really felt as if I was reading a story that actually happened, which is sickening in a way, but also I'm happy that Thomas made this so realistic. She is shedding light on an issue that everybody and their cousins has an opinion on, but who we should really be listening to, are the people affected first. The black men and women who have had loved ones, husbands, fathers, brothers, taken from them, because they were reaching into a glove compartment, getting chocolate from the store, trying to live their lives. Black Lives Matter. There's really nothing else to that.

Have you read The Hate U Give? What did you think?

Emily @ Paperback Princess