Review: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Narration by Bahni Turpin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was excellent. Starr reminds me so much of some of my friends from middle and high school. They not only struggled with the normal teenage angst of trying to figure out who they are and where they fit, but they also had to deal with keeping up two personalities like Starr did when she was with her friends from school and her friends and family at home. I know that happened with some of my friends because I saw it first hand, they were taunted because of the music they like or who they dated. It wasn't the accepted cultural norm. Unfortunately, the way they spoke and acted changed depending on who was around, much like Starr mentioned in the book. She spoke one way around her family and neighborhood friends and another way around her schoolmates. She never just got to be Starr, who was really a mix of the smart, beautiful girl who was from the not so great neighborhood but also went to the fancy school. I loved the pop culture references to The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Harry Potter. I also loved that Starr was able to share those things with her friends on both sides of her life to bring the things she loved together.

While this isn't a true story it felt like it was. I felt like I got to know Starr and the Carter family. I felt empathy for what she was going through after her friend Khalil was shot. The story focuses on how the shooting affects Starr and her community after the fact. The shooting should have never happened, and Starr has to decide if she is going to testify against the police officer, if she wants to speak out as an activist and use her voice in the wake of the shooting, she also has to consider the safety of her family and how her friends will treat her if she does or doesn't say anything. She also has to deal with the guilt of not being there for her friend when he was struggling and grief of losing a friend. Fortunately she has an amazing family who has a wide range of experiences to help her through it. On top of that Starr is just a teenager, and she has to deal with normal friend and boyfriend stuff. I love the way Angie Thomas dealt with the "you just don't understand" conversations between Starr and her boyfriend Chris, who happens to be white. He may not understand but he always comes to Starr with love and a desire to understand. He wants to see her perspective, and doesn't come at her with argument or excuses. He just wants to be there for her and see her point of view as a person of color. There is also her friend Hailey who doesn't approach racial tension with that kind of desire to have an open discussion. I think those two viewpoints are very powerful. I think there are more Hailey's in this world and not enough Chris', regardless of what the topic of conversation (race, religion, gender, etc).

I didn't particularly care for the way that Chris was spoken to by Starr's friends and family. I can understand that he wasn't immediately beloved, as no boy usually is when he starts dating someone's daughter. It was more about their biracial relationship, and the slang that was used to refer to Chris. It would be racist and unacceptable if Chris had used those words in reverse when speaking to Starr and her family. Those double standards need to go in my opinion. We have a long way to go to break the racism barriers, and better communication, compassion, empathy, and understanding of differences are things we all need to do to break those walls. Overall this was a minor dislike compared to the book as a whole.

Bahni Turpin was an amazing narrator. I highly recommend the audio, she really brought life to the characters in such and authentic way. The characters, regardless of race are very well developed and the narration just adds so much to them as if you were really there and part of their story. The main thread of the story is how Starr uses her voice to give power to the injustice that occurred. Bahni Turpin's voice was very powerful here.

I'm trying to figure out which prompt to use this for the 2018 reading challenge.  It fits a few different ones.  I've got it penciled in as a book about a problem facing society today right now, but it also fits a Goodreads Choice award winner, a book I meant to read last year, and a few others.

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