Author: Angie Thomas
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Pub Date: Feb 28, 2017
In Two Sentences:
Starr balances her two worlds perfectly until she witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend, Khalil. She needs to decide when to stay silent and when to make her story heard.
My Thoughts:
I am so ashamed this took me so long to get to. I received this ARC through work and I was ecstatic when I saw it on the shelf. I was going to read it and then I got home…. and passed out. How did I wait that long??? Seriously! (Okay, the hype got to me before I even picked up the book.) If you haven’t read this book yet you need to do it!
This book was inspired by the Black Lives Movement that has been going on since the 50’s, the catalyst being Emmet Till, which was touched on as well as some of the more recent deaths. It brought in parts of events that actually happened, like the hairbrush and the tear gas which added to the authenticity of this book.
The writing was perfection. It was quick and heartbreaking and put all the right bits in all the right places. Even though I knew exactly where it was going that just made it even more heartbreaking because there’s nothing Starr or anyone could do to change it.
It also sounded like a teenager’s voice, which isn’t something you can find very often. There were references to the things that are popular and there are mentions of inside jokes and fashion and OTPs, Twitter and Tumblr. The parents were around in this book and they were so supportive and loving. They were just… parents.
It would be so easy to just binge read this novel, but I had to spread out my reading time in order to fully give it the attention it deserved. This is definitely on the top of my 2017 list and I can’t wait for the movie to come out.
Other Reviews
Shenwei wrote an amazing review that goes in depth of the many different relationships and heritage of the different characters here.
India talks about this book on her BookTube channel here as well.
Have you read it yet? What were your thoughts? If not, what’s stopping you?
J. K. I'm Exploring! 
I don’t have a copy of this book yet and that’s what’s stopping me! 😦
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😭 that’s a very sad but also very good reason you haven’t read it. I hope you can find a copy!
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Oh, I have this book! I’ve read it about two months ago now, but it’s so great! Definitely very authentic.
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YAYYY I’m so happy you loved this (how could anyone not?), I totally agree with you on everything you said here ahah. I loved how INVOLVED Starr’s parents are and how genuine it all sounded ahh. Lovely review!! ❤
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I feel like she took all of the things people complain is wrong with YA and flips it around. Like people don’t generally like love triangles so they’re not there and the parents are never around so she put them in etc.
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Hahah SO TRUE 😂 Angie Thomas is keeping up with our requests haha
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I loved how it didn’t seem forced at all. It was all straight from the heart. I can’t wait to see what she writes next!
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Same here! It all just seemed so natural and her words really flowed! So proud of her fantastic work. ☺
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