The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Challenge #49 ~ “A book from one of the Goodreads’ ‘Book of the Month’ lists.”

thehateyougive

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

My opinion in three sentences:

I enjoyed this, don’t get me wrong, and I think the plot and characters were so well done – it was definitely the kind of thing we need to see more of – but like every work literally ever, there are strong points and weak ones. Personally, I found that it took a little long to read because a) it was rather long for a realistic contemporary YA novel and b) the lack of fast-paced action that made it so realistic meant that the momentum wasn’t particularly high, which meant my attention was lost a good few times. I also stumbled at the ending which didn’t entirely seem to fit for me, becoming an action-packed and kind-of-unrealistic thrilling finale to what had been a thought-provoking and chillingly-realistic reflection of the contemporary world.

(Without spoiling anything) the best bit:

The concept and plot of the book was great, and the kind of thing we need a lot more of in fiction (and real life!) However, the crowning glory of the book for me was the ending. Not plot-wise, necessarily, but the final few paragraphs of poignant food-for-thought that was just the perfect way to finish such a book. Great job, Thomas!

A warning for the book:

This was another of those books this year that I felt was just a little too long for the story it was trying to tell (and thankfully I’m not the only one who felt this way!) Thomas kept it realistic, which was great, but as such there weren’t fanciful plotpoints simply to spur the pace on. This, combined with being over 400 pages, led to a rather slow pace and the regular putting-down-not-to-pick-up-for-a-while. Shortening it just a tad could have helped it not feel like such a drag to read in places whilst still having the impact it has.

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