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Casey's Reviews > The Hate U Give
The Hate U Give
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What an awful pile of garbage
Wow. It's been awhile since I couldn't stop reading a book because it was so bad. It was like watching a car wreck.
This book is like..you'd think the publishers gave a plot outline to a 40 year-old Midwestern housewife whose favorite channel is Fox News and went "Here! Pretend you're a 16 year old black girl and write this book!"
Why does it have to be so extreme? Why does the author need to fit hundreds of stereotypes into a handful of characters? It's insulting. Of course there's a pit bill! And Jordans! And they play basketball! And they say stuff like "aight" and "bubble guts"! And dad used to be a gang member! And there's a Lebrun/Kobe divide in their household! And they listen to Salt n' Pepa and Jodeci and they drive tinted out SUVs with rims. Give me a break. It's like the author had a checklist of black culture and stereotypes she had to include and just inserted at random.
There's no depth or nuance anywhere in this book. Everything is so IN YOUR FACE. I don't read a lot of YA fiction.. but if this is how the writing style is, that's like an insult to young adults.
I'm so shocked this has such a high rating on Goodreads and now I'm convinced the majority of Goodreads users must be 16 year old schoolgirls from Idaho or something.
This book is terrible. The plot is ok, and the subject matter is vital and needs to be addressed. I would've loved to see what the authors of "Americanah" and "Homegoing" could've done with this plot. The Hate U Give just ended up being cliche and a parody of itself. It was offensive.
Wow. It's been awhile since I couldn't stop reading a book because it was so bad. It was like watching a car wreck.
This book is like..you'd think the publishers gave a plot outline to a 40 year-old Midwestern housewife whose favorite channel is Fox News and went "Here! Pretend you're a 16 year old black girl and write this book!"
Why does it have to be so extreme? Why does the author need to fit hundreds of stereotypes into a handful of characters? It's insulting. Of course there's a pit bill! And Jordans! And they play basketball! And they say stuff like "aight" and "bubble guts"! And dad used to be a gang member! And there's a Lebrun/Kobe divide in their household! And they listen to Salt n' Pepa and Jodeci and they drive tinted out SUVs with rims. Give me a break. It's like the author had a checklist of black culture and stereotypes she had to include and just inserted at random.
There's no depth or nuance anywhere in this book. Everything is so IN YOUR FACE. I don't read a lot of YA fiction.. but if this is how the writing style is, that's like an insult to young adults.
I'm so shocked this has such a high rating on Goodreads and now I'm convinced the majority of Goodreads users must be 16 year old schoolgirls from Idaho or something.
This book is terrible. The plot is ok, and the subject matter is vital and needs to be addressed. I would've loved to see what the authors of "Americanah" and "Homegoing" could've done with this plot. The Hate U Give just ended up being cliche and a parody of itself. It was offensive.
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Reading Progress
April 30, 2017
– Shelved
April 30, 2017
– Shelved as:
to-read
June 11, 2017
–
Started Reading
June 12, 2017
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 138 (138 new)
message 1:
by
Nicky
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rated it 5 stars
Jun 26, 2017 10:48AM
Y'know the author is a person of colour, right? Pretty sure she was writing what she knew, not "inserting at random".
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"Let's fight racist stereotypes by using more stereotypes!" The message this book tried to give was lost due to all the blatant hypocrisy.
1. "I'm so shocked this has such a high rating on Goodreads and now I'm convinced the majority of Goodreads users must be 16 year old schoolgirls from Idaho or something."What is it about 16-year-old girls from Idaho that makes you think the majority of GR reviewers must fit in that category? Just curious.
2. The people of color I've spoken with who've read this book appreciate the cultural references author Angie Thomas, a person of color herself, included.
Agreed 100% The subject matter in the book is important, hence I read it. I was looking forward to it even. But in the end it was just offensive.
I’ve seen a couple of people complain about the “stereotypes.” However, as a black girl I actually really appreciated it and couldn’t be any more happy about it. Wanna know why? Because it’s RELATABLE. Angie Thomas knew what she was doing. She’s obviously a black woman and she’s only writing about things she know. I feel like people are missing the point of the entire story. The stereotypes about black people is what made the story more special to me because i felt as though the author understood us black girls. I also feel like non-black people just don’t get it. You don’t get the stereotypes and you don’t get why it’s so important to us in a book. Especially coming from a black author you was brought up in the “hood.” Please don’t think I’m trying to exclude other races but I feel like this book Is especially special for young black girls like myself because there’s finally a book who gets us. And I’m glad there’s finally a book that will finally shine its light on black people and finally gives us a voice. I don’t care what anyone else says this book was perfect and as far as the stereotypes go, I’m sorry but mainly the majority of black people will really understand it and enjoy it. I definitely laughed out loud reading them.
Casey. You talk against cliches yet to support your opinion you use cliches. Typical Fox News viewer. 16yo girls from Idaho. Really!
Assuming that an author can't traffic in racist stereotypes because that author is non-white is benevolent racism at its finest. The white ppl defending this book in these comments of this spot-on review should start by rereading all the passages about the character named "Fo'ty Ounce." And to the last commenter who equated harmful stereotypes about Black Americans with really accurate, mild stereotypes about hateful Fox News viewers: No.
“hateful Fox News viewers”? Oh please, how so? Kate is correct.
The quote by Mark Twain goes "Write what you know". Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who is the author of Americanah did just that, she gave her experience as a Nigerian in the United States which is why her work draws one in. The same could be said of American Ghanaian author Yaa Gyasi. With the knowledge of both parts of the histories of the nations she comes from she was able to write a captivating novel. You don't have to like the book but to begrudge Angie Thomas her experiences you are ironically complaining about the very thing that made Homegoing and Americanah great. I'm not some 16 year old girl from Idaho, I've read everything from Austen to Chaucer and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Everyone is allowed their opinion about the book including you Casey but to make assumptions about others based upon their opinions about the books makes you look as if you have the maturity of a sixteen year old.
So she should have made her own experiences more white to avoid offending... white people? I don’t follow. She wrote from her personal history and experience.
It sounded exactly like this just looking at the cover and the title.
I totally get your comments about the stereotyping, it was fairly relentless. However, if I’d have read Angie Thomas’s authors note before reading the book and not after, knowing how much this book draws on her own experiences, I feel I would have got it. It just didn’t “get me” like I thought it would get me.
girl, sometimes the stereotypes are real or apply to the large majority of people. Heck, if i were to write a book about arabs I'd 100% divide the house into a chicken or meat shawarma war. (meat is obviously so much better)
Chet wrote: "Assuming that an author can't traffic in racist stereotypes because that author is non-white is benevolent racism at its finest. The white ppl defending this book in these comments of this spot-on ..."Not many stereotypes are accurate.
Disagree with you completely. This woman is writing about characters based upon her own personal life experiences. It’s not stereotyping when it’s life.
I completely agree with you! This is the number one issue that I had with this book. Everything is literally so Black and White. I appreciate that this book touched on a very sensitive and very current event that is happening here in America, but I hate the way that this was written which is why I’m so surprised that it had such a high rating. It’s way too cliche.
I understand how you feel about this book, but I can’t agree with your opinion. You had said that the author put ‘hundreds of stereotypes’ into a handful of characters. but I totally disagree with you. Well, to get to the point, why does those factors become a ‘stereotypes’? Couldn’t they be accepted as personalities or characteristics of a character? I have never thought those ‘stereotypes’ you said are actual stereotypes.
It’s too bad that you didn’t like this book, but I believe it’s not as bad as you think.
TRASH!!! Agreed, one star!
I’ve never seen such an ignorant review
Sarah wrote: "I’ve never seen such an ignorant review"Sarah, I like differences of opinion. I gave this book 1 star. I thought Casey's review was very good: the reasons for the 1 star rating are clearly stated by Casey. Your comment, Sarah, is directed at Casey, and you are in effect calling Casey ignorant. You do not state why you think Casey is ignorant, you do not support your thought in any way. So I'll ask you to do so: why, specifically, do you think Casey is ignorant?
Yes, this book is extreme. You want to know why? Because THIS IS THE STUFF THAT HAPPENS IN PUR SOCIETY! You can’t change that! I personally think that Angie Thomas portrayed everything in this book very well.
Sarah I completely agree with you. I would give it 10000/5 stars because it speaks to me. It’s much hard for colored people.
Kate wrote: "Casey. You talk against cliches yet to support your opinion you use cliches. Typical Fox News viewer. 16yo girls from Idaho. Really!"Kate, you hit the nail on the head.
Mariyah wrote: "I’ve seen a couple of people complain about the “stereotypes.” However, as a black girl I actually really appreciated it and couldn’t be any more happy about it. Wanna know why? Because it’s RELATA..."Mariyah, thanks for sharing your story. You're absolutely right, I'm an older white guy and I can relate to you as a person, and I try to relate to everyone as a person, but I can never fully see your perspective. I can tell you that as a child in the early 60s when I first entered 1st grade, I heard some words I'd never heard and repeated at home, and was smacked hard and told words like that weren't used in our house. I just read a book by Ross Macdonald, set in 1952, and in one line he says so much: "He [Alex] seemed to be seeing himself for the first time as he was: a black boy tangled in white law, so vulnerable he hardly dared move a muscle." Alex has been arrested for murder (early in the book) and we the readers, along with the lead detective, Lew Archer, know he is innocent. Alex's mother is terrified he'll be railroaded, as is the reader and Lew Archer. The book handles the racial issue, but is very subtle. That's why, for me "The Hate U Give" felt like a hammer, beating me when I already (sort of, as much as a person of another race can) got the author's point early in the book. I can not ever say I understand everything ANYONE else goes through, but I can say I try, and I try to be kind to all.
This book is written by a woman of color and based on her own experiences. I’m not saying that black people can’t stereotype their own culture, because they can. But I don’t believe Angie Thomas is doing this because it’s based on her own life.
Too bad the actual author is a black woman who probably has more contempt for Fox News than you do.Which makes this racist book even more ridiculous, but thanks for being no better than the author.
Yes! agree with everything
What an idiotic waste of memory honestly this is the stupidest reveal I have ever seen. This was written by a black woman and your talking about using black stereotypes. For all you you know they could all be true
"Why does it have to be so extreme? Why does the author need to fit hundreds of stereotypes into a handful of characters?" This is 100% true.
I’m pretty sure the point of the book is to say “Hey look, stereotypes exist. These people exist. But that’s not all there is to them, and they don’t stop having worth because they’re black and they love being black and everything that means, or everything they think that’s supposed to mean.” Like... I’m sure there are plenty of people in the projects who act very stereotypical, but that doesn’t mean you can’t understand why that is, which the book does very well. It doesn’t try to get you to shame people for being a stereotype, nor does it ask them to change. It just says “hey, these stereotypes are real for a lot of people. It’s how they were raised, how they choose to live. It does not degrade their worth.”
“There’s no depth or nuance to this book.” Yesssssssssss, those were the exact words I was looking for when writing my review.
This book is about a black sixteen year old. You know who’s going to relate to that a damn black sixteen year old.
@by the cover honestly!
Imagine reading a 400+ page book and completely missing the point, because that’s exactly what you did here.
I think the point of it being so stereotypical was to show white people what being black is to them. and the other was black so she knows what she’s talking bout
Racist review tbh. This person doesn’t even have a profile so either they deleted it or they came here to review this ONE book :/
That’s all you got out of it? Damn
Stereotypes exist!!!!!!!!!!i hate when white people act like they understand everything, this is about a black 16 yr old which u r not so shut the fucking hell up!!!
if u dont like it then dont review, no one wants to see ur fucking racism dude
A lot of those stereotypes are true, but what's wrong with that. They are still complex characters. Does them acting stereotypically "black" mean they have no value?
Grace wrote: "A lot of those stereotypes are true, but what's wrong with that. They are still complex characters. Does them acting stereotypically "black" mean they have no value?"Exactly!!! smh some pple dont just get it
☆Pelumi☆ wrote: "Grace wrote: "A lot of those stereotypes are true, but what's wrong with that. They are still complex characters. Does them acting stereotypically "black" mean they have no value?"Exactly!!! smh ..."
Yeah, there's nothing wrong with owning a pitbull, living in the hood, or believing in black jesus. This person needs to reevaluate their biases.
Grace wrote: "☆Pelumi☆ wrote: "Grace wrote: "A lot of those stereotypes are true, but what's wrong with that. They are still complex characters. Does them acting stereotypically "black" mean they have no value?"..."I know right, its all stupid for her to reduce well made characters into stereotypes n calling em fake (she aint even black tho)
☆Pelumi☆ wrote: "Grace wrote: "☆Pelumi☆ wrote: "Grace wrote: "A lot of those stereotypes are true, but what's wrong with that. They are still complex characters. Does them acting stereotypically "black" mean they h..."Oh I know the reviewers definitely not black, that's why she's making excuses about not liking the book.
Black woman here. I love Jordans. My hubby and I collect them and match our Jordans.
We say bubble guts.
I'm not really a Tupac fan. I'm from NY so I like Biggie.
My dad used to sell drugs before he changed his life around. (And no he didn't go to jail. He made a life choice)
I love 90s rap and R&B. I usually bump it when I'm driving my car with the tinted windows.
While black people aren't a monolith, there are things that are universally accepted within my culture.
I don't read books by white authors and think, he/she is being stereotypical. But I'm sure there are things that white people do across the board. Honestly, I think reviews like this are just ways some white go out of their way to shit on things black people create.
Tisha wrote: "Black woman here. I love Jordans. My hubby and I collect them and match our Jordans.
We say bubble guts.
I'm not really a Tupac fan. I'm from NY so I like Biggie.
My dad used to sell drugs ..."
Preachhhhhh✍🏼✍🏼
white guy here. I LOVE James Baldwin's work, and it IS about black experiences. Just like Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou, although the later touches more on everyone's experiences. Besides, my fav pop song ever is R-E-S-P-E-C-T, and oh lord please send some to this chain of comments.
Greg wrote: "But still though "Hate U Give" total garbage. All of you need to read some Chester Himes and then Michele's "Becoming". And Bill Clinton's monumental autobiography. And let's remember, this black/w..."Your just saying random words in between thoughts. No one understands what you are saying.
