Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas

48 reviews

dsova's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75


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bratlingling's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Read it in go, really loved the characters, the plot is not really finished and more just a chapter in the main character's life

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rachel1's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Concrete Rose tells the story of Maverick Carter, the father of the Starr from The Hate U Give, as a seventeen-year-old. The story is not a list of everything that happens to the character before the events of The Hate U Give, as a lot of big events happen after this story takes place. If that's what you were expecting, it may disappoint you. Instead, it focuses on this one year of his life, the year that his eldest son Seven is born and the year Lisa becomes pregnant with Starr. The book shows us his family, something we never see in The Hate U Give. But what this book is really about is to shine a light on the experiences of black teenage boys in lower-income neighbourhoods and to humanise them when others will demonise them, and to depict a different side of black life than The Hate U Give. The book serves humanise gang members and shows why people get stuck in gangs and why it may often be necessary, while not shying away from the inherent violence involved. It subverts stereotypes of black teenage parents -- Maverick, instead of abandoning his son like is stereotypical, instead raises him almost on his own. Lisa, instead of being portrayed as an irresponsible slut, is intelligent and responsible and trying desperately to do what she thinks is right for her unborn daughter. While she wants to have and keep this baby rather than have an abortion or give her up for adoption, the book doesn't depict either of the other two options as bad options, nor does it judge her for choosing to keep the baby. Iesha, Seven's mother, is also given a more sympathetic portrayal than she was in The Hate U Give, depicted as a teenage mother going through post-partum depression. That was one of my biggest issues with The Hate U Give, where Iesha was depicted as a whore and a gold-digger and was only really given any sympathy towards the end. While those issues are not gotten rid of entirely, she is still depicted as a gold-digger and judged for her sexuality, the added dimension to her character is an improvement. One of my issues is that the book ended quite abruptly. I didn't expect everything to happen in this book, we know the important stuff that happens to Maverick from The Hate U Give, we don't need to see it all, but I would like to see just a little more
perhaps ending with the birth of Starr
.

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kalzeb's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75


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charlee92's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

such a good read. I listened to the audiobook and I think that added sooo much. I loved maverick in the hate u give and I love him here too. he seemed so realistic and really jumped off the page.

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morganperks's review against another edition

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emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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shebke_21's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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jojo_'s review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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kthedestroyer's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Okay so... I don't really have much to say about this book.
I really liked the pacing and the writing style which is probably the main reason that I really enjoyed reading it. I wasn't really expecting the whole novel to be around very convenient baby-making but okay, whatever. It was fine I guess. The story isn't something that I would normally enjoy but as I said earlier, there are other attributes to it. 
The characters are enjoyable and they usually feel like real people in real-life situations. I like Thomas's representation of black people and their life in her books but still... how can no one use a condom on those streets? Like, everyone has babies at 17. And then they repeat their mistakes. Yeah, it's very convenient but that's just a minor observation.
Overall the book was good and would be great to get me out of a reading slump.

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sunsetcity's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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