On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
Release: February 5th 2019
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: Amazon
On The Come Up Synopsis:
Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least make it out of her neighborhood one day. As the daughter of an underground rap legend who died before he hit big, Bri’s got big shoes to fill. But now that her mom has unexpectedly lost her job, food banks and shutoff notices are as much a part of Bri’s life as beats and rhymes. With bills piling up and homelessness staring her family down, Bri no longer just wants to make it—she has to make it.
On the Come Up is Angie Thomas’s homage to hip-hop, the art that sparked her passion for storytelling and continues to inspire her to this day. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; of the struggle to become who you are and not who everyone expects you to be; and of the desperate realities of poor and working-class black families.
Review:
Watch my video review of On the Come Up by Angie Thomas!
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejuVVBt7aZ0[/embedyt]
I loved reading this book, and could not put it down!
The main thing that stands out in this book is Bri’s character. From the first page, we get to see how strong willed she is in pursuing something she is passionate about. She wants to reach her goals and also help her family out of the tough situations, even when her loved ones and the environment are labeling her in a certain role and pushing her to be someone she is not. True, she doesn’t think clearly at times and makes really stupid decisions, but her intentions are good. In fact, one of my favorite scenes in this story is when Bri sees the children of the neighborhood rap her lyrics and misconstrue it to sound like a violent song about guns and shooting people. You can clearly see her go through a change and see the negative affect her words have on others.
I enjoyed Angie Thomas’s style of writing, and how down to earth and realistic she makes the characters and situations. Although I am not really a big fan of hip-hop, I did enjoy the freestyle lyrics that Bri comes up with to voice her opinions, and the process she goes through to make it. I loved all the supporting characters as well like Jay, Sonny, Malik and Aunt Pooh. They are so interesting because the author has made them diverse and complex, facing other issues different from Brianna. Moreover, I loved how the author highlights Jay’s struggles to do what is right for her family even when they hit rock bottom. The author has not only highlighted about racism, but about poverty, drug abuse, public harassment and other issues.
Overall, ON the Come Up has diverse characters, realistic situations and dialogue, family drama, teen romance, and a strong main character that makes this book stand out from the others. I actually liked this book a slot and would give it 5/5 stars. I will definitely be reading “The Hate U Give” now that I have enjoyed reading this one.
