Concrete Rose
By Angie Thomas
5 stars
“Living your life based on what other people think- aint living at all”
After reading The Hate U Give and it becoming one of my favorite books of all time I knew I had to real the prequel right away. Just as with The Hate U Give, I adored this book. After reading Concrete Rose I have establish that there is nothing Angie Thomas can write that I will not like.
In Concrete Rose, we revisit Garden Heights seventeen years before the events of The Hate U Give in this searing and poignant exploration of Black boyhood and manhood.
This book is a masterpiece, not only is it beautifully written, the themes it touches upon are so important. Honestly there is nothing I can write in this review that hasn’t already been said. This book is so important, so needed, so beautiful and so well written. This book although beautiful, it is not pretty, it is honest, heartbreaking, thought provoking and it shines light on topics that are so important in today’s political world.
Aside from the incredibly important political topics this book touches upon. Concrete Rose has an amazing cast of characters. To begin with, the main character of this book was one of my favorite characters from The Hate U Give, Maverick Carter. Maverick is such a strong yet sweet father and the love he has for his children filled my heart. Being able to see him 17 years before he became the adoring father of Starr was amazing. We get to see him growing up and stepping up his game the minute he knew he was going to be a father. The secondary characters are great as well, but Maverick stole my heart.
Even though this book deals with serious topics such as race, fatherhood, unplanned pregnancies and so forth, this book made me laugh out loud. Maverick is such a sweet and funny man and the banter between him and Lisa just made me smile. The plot in Concrete Rose is quieter than the plot in THUG, but I ended up really appreciating that. It was comforting to just read about a man becoming a father, and although THUG is such an important and essential book, so is this one, it is just less action packed.
My favorite part of the book by far was the ending. If you have read THUG then you know something about Maverick´s life. That moment of his life is not included in Concrete Rose, and although at first I was a bit thrown off, it ended up being by favorite thing about the story. Angie Thomas ended the book on her terms and on the moment that felt most significant to their characters and I applaud her for that.
Overall, this book was outstanding, even though I still like THUG a little bit more, this book was still a masterpiece. Angie Thomas has a way of writing stories and characters that just fell real and tug at your heartstrings. I am sad to let these characters go but I loved every minute of my reading experience.
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