The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
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Web ID: 14352329Amazing Book
I would give the novel “The Hate U Give” 5 stars because this book is a perfect example of how racial discrimination and judgement cause immense pain and horrific trauma to the victim and others who hear about or witness it. This book addresses important social issues and how racism is an ongoing domino effect. This book was not only inspiring and relatable, but it was also informative and intriguing because of the lessons and themes that stood out to me, such as racial judgement and identity. I related to Starr in this novel because, at her age, she is still trying to find herself and her identity while having to try to find where she fits in. Her skin color and her ethnicity are the things that stand out about her, and everyone loves to focus on them. The emotional and realistic storyline left me wanting to read more and find out how the story ends. The realism of the story reflects the damages that the youth experience from violence and inequality. So, I enjoyed how the story flowed, along with the unexpected plot twists, as well as feeling the emotion and energy within the themes. I would definitely recommend this book to the youth and others who enjoy an informational and inspiring book.
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Important Read!
Title: The Hate U Give Author: Angie Thomas Genre: Teen & YA Release Date: February 28th,2017 Number of Pages: 447 Format: Audiobook Date Finished: April 5th, 2025 Stars Rated: 5 Writing Mechanics: 5 Writing Artistry: 5 Story: 5 Characters: 5 World Building: 5 Honestly, I don't feel like five stars is enough for this book. The message is powerful. It's an important book that I personally feel like everybody needs to read. There are so many critical thinking moments throughout the entire book. Sometimes we need to take ourselves out of our comfort zone to really see things from somebody else's point of view to truly get the problem. I do plan on reading this book again many times. I can't recommend this book enough. It's an important read.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A book of our times, about hard-hitting issues
When your 14 year old boy, who doesn't read fiction, tells you to read The Hate U Give because "I think you'll like it, Mum", you don't decline. You pick that book up and you devour it. And it wasn't hard to like this book although in a lot of ways, there's not a lot to like. With that contradictory statement, let me explain. The book concerns itself with Starr who witnesses the shooting of her childhood friend, Khalil. That in itself is a heartbreaking tale, only it's not some street killing: he's killed by a cop. A white cop and Starr and Khalil are black. Yes, this opens up a whole other story. Add that it's in a deprived neighbourhood called Garden Heights, plagued by drugs and gangs and you're reading a novel of our times, for sure. Angie Thomas' book covers many things. It is a book about a shooting and injustice but it is also a book about family and community and coming together; it's also a coming-of-age book and all of the awkwardness, excitement and anxiety that comes with being a teen; it's about roots and identity and hopes and aspirations and whether wanting a better life means leaving behind what you know and moving elsewhere, although it may be seen as betrayal; it's a book about desperation, violence and having nowhere to turn and what do you do when you have nothing and no-one to help you but you still have to live somehow? So when I say there's not a lot to like, it's because a mirror has been held up to society and there's a whole lot of ugly reflected back. The book is good. It is a great read and Thomas' storytelling is vivid, right; her characters are rounded and the narrative flows. It's a book you can read quickly and fluidly. But it is hard-hitting in what it depicts and doing it through the eyes of a black teenage girl heightens that vulnerability. It is a social treatise for things to change; for a long hard look to be taken to see the people behind statistics and the families who are struggling, in communities that receive no investment, and to not give up on them or leave them to decline. Read it. You won't be disappointed. I was especially pleased that Starr is depicted as strong, despite being scared. She has integrity and emotional intelligence and Thomas shows her conflicted emotions adroitly. Despite its subject matter, it is a hopeful book. Light is hitting that mirror of ugly like a searchlight and showing there's nowhere to hide and in these dark days in which we live, we need to read books like this to see the human element that we all share beneath our skin.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
great imagery and good diction choices
The hate u give is about a sixteen year old black girl named Staar who lives in Garden Heights. She has to deal with living two different lives, one in her predominantly black neighborhood and another life at her fancy white private school named Williamson Prep.The story takes place in Garden Heights in which it takes a terrible turn. Whenever Staar witnessed her best friend Khalil get shot and killed by a Causacian Police Officer. The officer assumed Khalil reached for a gun and shot him multiple times and he ended up lifeless. He was wrongfully killed due to a racist police officer who believed the suspect had a gun. I admired how Staar wasn't perfect and how she struggled with her everyday tasks. For example, she had to adjust her personality depending on who she was hanging out with to avoid being stereo-typed. She didn’t want her Caucasian friends to assume she was too ghetto and poor to hang out with them. Staar tries to act differently around Haley and Maaya who are Caucasian. She doesn’t want them to judge her for being African American. It is hard for Staar to be her normal self around people of another race as she is comfortable around her own ethnicity. The African American girls in her neighborhood also think Staar is too “bougie” for her to hang out with them because she attends an all white girl school. She feels like she has to code switch just to fit in but Staar says "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? She finally realizes that she doesn't need to act differently around others. Towards the end of the story, she finally enjoys being herself around others including the people from her neighborhood and her school. In conclusion, this story is mainly about how Caucasian Police Officers stereo type against African Americans. staars white friend and teammate haley tells staar”” pretend the ball is a piece of fried chicken “”or this stoie shows how blacks “”gett portrayed as thugs or drug dealers””, thats how khalil was portrayed after his death ,by the cops who didnt face no consequences after wrongly killing Khalil But personally what i liked the most about reading this book is it was entertaining and interesting to read because the imagery was real good and it was like instead of painting a picture in ur mind ur their imagining ur self in garden heights thru the imagery and diction like for example when khalil was getting pulled over then it escalated and he got shot u could feel all the feelings staar and everyone else were going thru
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Great Read!
Would you use your voice as a weapon to defend the death of your lifelong friend? The novel ‘The Hate U Give’ by Angie Thomas delivers a powerful story of a black teenage girl named Starr Carter struggling with the overwhelming situation of the death of her beloved friend. The story explores themes of racism, justice, and family. The book has its strengths such as the realisticness as the media portrays Khalil, Starr’s friend, as a drug dealer, ultimately trying to justify his death by a white cop. On the other hand, a weakness of the book is the repetitiveness. For a handful of chapters, Starr feels hopeless and doesn’t believe the strength of speaking up will bring justice to Khalil’s death. However, the book is still amazing and a fun and easy read as the author tells the story through the teenage mind, making it easy to relate to as I too am a teenager. The novel takes place in Garden Heights which is a fictional neighborhood where Starr feels like she can be herself, as she’s more familiar with the community. In contrast, she feels the need to hide herself at Williamson Prep, where she attends school, because she doesn’t want to appear “ghetto”, as the predominant race is white there. After leaving a party in Garden Heights, she and Khalil are pulled over. Tensions rise and Khalil is shot and killed right in front of Starr’s eyes. This leads to conflict, as Starr’s friend Hailey, who has made racist comments, reacts negatively to Starr lying about not knowing who Khalil was when his death was on the news. After several weeks of Khalil’s passing, Starr realizes she can no longer remain silent and builds up the courage to reveal the truth. This turning point in the story is adds to the strength of the realistic nature of the novel. Starr’s hesitation to speak up reflects the fear pressure people face when in similar situations. She believes that her voice isn’t powerful and has no meaning, especially while in a marginalized community. This allows the reader to empathize with her because many people have had moments of doubt where they feel powerless. Also, the story feels more authentic by making it last longer as she struggles dearly with basically everything piling on top of her. However, this can become a weakness, as it leads to repetition. Starr is stuck in this void she can’t escape, constantly doubting herself and keeping too many things to herself. While the repetition of self-doubt in the story may feel pointless, it actually resembles the process of character development. While she continues to doubt herself, she gains the confidence to speak outloud as she learns how to manage her fears while faces them. Besides the deeper meaning of the plot, the author’s use of literary devices helps the reader understand the themes of the book. Right off the bat, the author uses symbolism in the title “The Hate U Give”. The title references the acronym “THUG LIFE”, standing for “The U Give Little Infants F**** Everybody”. Essentially, it means that the hatred and violence toward the youth effects society as a whole. Another literary device Thomas uses in the novel is first person point of view. By using the first person point of view, the author allows the reader to connect with Starr, as we fully understand the emotional process Starr goes through. For example, this point of view explores the feelings of fear and pressure Starr faces, allowing the reader to feel emotional and truly understand the tension she is facing. In conclusion, “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas is a fabulous novel. It explores many powerful themes that are common amongst the youth, ultimately speaking out to us. Through Starr’s experience, we learn the importance of speaking up for what is right, as it leads to impactful changes. By the author’s use of literary devices, the deeper meaning of the story is revealed, leading the reader to reflect on today’s society. Overall, “The Hate U Give” is an inspiring and fun novel that uncovers the importance of standing up for justice.
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Book Review
Books, while being one of the most amazing resources for learning, can also be very controversial. Due to some books' controversial nature, sometimes they may get banned in certain areas, whether local, like a school district, or even nationwide. The books that are prohibited often involve race or other social issues, and an example of a book like this is The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. The book talks about important racial issues, and it is a very well-written book that uses literary devices to help shape the theme. Despite this, the book may also contain portions that are hard to understand or shouldn’t be shown to a younger audience. The Hate U Give is a well-written novel that utilizes literary devices to shape the theme, such as juxtaposition and symbolism, while also containing potentially graphic content. The novel The Hate U Give follows the main character, Starr, a 16-year-old African American girl who lives in the mostly African American neighborhood Garden Heights and goes to Williamson Prep, witnessing her close friend Khalil get killed by a police officer due to a hairbrush being mistaken for a weapon. Being the witness, the incident causes Starr’s life to turn upside down, with trauma from not only Khalil's death but the death of their close friend, Natasha, when they were kids. As the public begins to talk about what happened to Khalil, Starr starts to realize that her friends at Williamson may not be who she thought they were, with racist remarks from Hailey to both Starr and Maya. In addition, Starr is also having problems with Chris, her boyfriend, and at home with her parents fighting and gangs being an ever-present threat, especially her uncle King, the leader of the King Lords, who is searching for someone that Starr’s dad, Big Mav, is protecting. Things intensify as the police officer's case is taken to the Grand Jury, and when he isn’t indicted, Garden Heights erupts into protest. During the protest, Starr’s friends are forced to take cover in her dad's store, only to have a Molotov cocktail thrown at them by King. Thankfully, they were able to escape through the back of the store and King was arrested for Arson, and the Carter family vows to rebuild the store. There are many literary devices used throughout the novel, but none shape the theme/plot like juxtaposition and symbolism. For example, the author uses symbolism by choosing the name of the book to be The Hate U Give. Popularized by rapper 2pac, this is a reference to the acronym “THUG LIFE”, which stands for “The Hate U Give Little Infants F***s Everybody. The acronym shows a cycle of discrimination, social injustice, and racism, which is only continued as society as a whole feeds negative information to the youth. Another literary device that helps add to the theme is juxtaposition. For example, Starr’s life is like a juxtaposition, switching between as the author calls “Garden Heights Starr” and “Williamson Starr.” This helps to add to the story by showing how much pressure Starr is under and what she is dealing with. Though The Hate U Give is a very well written book that speaks on important issues and helps educate people, there are a few drawbacks to writing such a book. Firstly, some content such as the description of Khalil being shot may be too much for younger audiences, which could also be used as an argument to ban the book. The book being banned is very negative, as if the book is unavailable, it cannot help anyone. Despite these small drawbacks, the book does an astonishing job conveying the theme that these social and racial issues are far from over, and we need to unite and speak up to get rid of them.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Great Book
The Hate U Give is an excellent book. I would recommend this book to friends and family. The Hate U Give really gives an insight into Starr Carter’s life. Angie Thomas provides lots of imagery that helps the reader visualize Starr’s world. The Author is fabulous at describing emotion. When I was reading the book, I felt like I could connect to what Starr was feeling. Obviously I haven’t gone through what Starr has so I can not ever truly understand what she went through, but in some ways I could connect to her. Starr tragically witnessed one of her childhood friends shot and killed by the police. Starr’s friend, Khali, did absolutely nothing wrong to deserve to be shot and killed. The book is about Starr’s journey of navigating a life of riots, protests, gangs, and racists. She has to do her part and make sure the world accomplishes justice for Khali. Starr goes through quite a lot of bad things but she manages to make the most of it. Starr’s family helps her get through this tough time and are very supportive people. Her close friends and family help her keep going. I have read some books that are very boring. This book was not one of them. The story is very captivating and interesting. It seems like something exciting and new happens on every page. In fact, everyone should read The Hate U Give because, not only is it enjoyable to read, but it also adressing very important topics. The book talks of racism and discrimination. People that decide to read this magnificent book could potentially be educated and informed about bigotry they didn’t know existed. If you’re looking for drama this is the book for you. In the book, Star navigates the ups and downs of being a teen in Chicago. This includes her dealing with relationship problems. Starr has a boyfriend and a friend that she doesn’t get along with very well. Starr is like all teenagers and has problems all teens face. Those factors help make her a relatable main character. At times, The Hate U Give can be a bit repetitive. The book constantly mentions that Khali was shot and killed. In my opinion it makes sense that Khali’s death is mentioned a lot. Afterall, the book focuses on police brutality and racial discrimination. Khali’s death is one of the main reasons there is a story to tell in the first place.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Book Review for the Hate U Give
This was a very interesting and enjoyable read. This book was like nothing I've ever read before and really shows you the perspective of a black teen facing tragedy in a bad area. Angie Thomas's novel The Hate U Give is a book about 16 year old Starr Carter who is a black teen that is growing up in not such a nice area. They see gang violence, drug dealing and shootings. She works at her dads store whenever she can and attends a rich white school after leaving her old school a bad area. Starr is the only black girl in her junior class which really shows that her parents want the best for her and for her to get the best education. This book had very good characterization and showed feeling very well even through the book. For example when she is at a party with all of her old school friends and you can tell she doesn't want to be there. After the party gets shot up Starr goes home with old friend Khalil, they get pulled over and Khalil gets shot three times by the cop. This is the start of when Starr’s life starts becoming crazy and very stressful. I disliked the story when Starr was going to put the whole thing behind her and not try to fight this incident because I feel like it was important for her to not just have this brushed away by her community. This book enabled me to step into the shoes of a 16 year old black girl who saw her childhood best friend shot simply because he was young, black, and in a neighborhood with a bad reputation. It also enabled me to see that the lives behind the news headlines are so much more complicated than I am often led to believe, but Angie Thomas never did any of that in a way that placed all the blame on the police. The blame was definitely there on the cop but rightfully so. Starr also acknowledges that there are still a lot of good police officers who don't agree with the actions of their colleagues, and although she helped me to understand the sentiment behind rioting, she also acknowledges that the damage done by rioting is usually to her own community only. And underneath it all, Angie Thomas makes it clear that Starr's community had its own problems from within that were not the fault of the police at all. There are two sides to every story but it still does not make the cops actions okay.
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