Review Detail
Young Adult Fiction
719
Not a single bad thing I could say
Overall rating
5.0
Plot
N/A
Characters
N/A
Writing Style
N/A
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
N/A
WHAT I LOVED:
Maverick Carter is the son of the King Lords’ former leader, but that doesn’t mean much to the rest of the gang. To them, he’s Lil Don, not Mav. As he discovers in the first chapter, he’s also a new father thanks to that one time he hooked up with his best friend King’s on-off girlfriend Iesha while temporarily broken up with his own girlfriend Lisa. When Iesha abandons the baby soon to be known as Seven with him and pulls a disappearing act, it’s just the first event in a series of them that puts Mav at a crossroads: become a true scion of his father or blaze his own path.
The vernacular English Mav narrates with is pitch-perfect and I could practically hear his voice in my ear throughout the book. When his beloved cousin is murdered in a robbery and chatter at school makes him certain it was a Garden Disciples member who did the deed, his grief and fury are palpable enough to induce tears. I sure cried multiple times throughout the book. When Maverick approaches that precipice of earning his own teardrop tattoo or letting it go for the sake of his loved ones, my heart was in my throat.
His complex relationship with Lisa we saw pieces of in The Hate U Give is a vein throughout the book and whatever you thought of them there, the two kids you meet in this book fight so much you might be surprised they stick together for the next decade and a half and even have another child together. Between her, his mother, and the take-no-prisoners grocer he starts working for, there are a lot of people whipping Mav into shape as a new father about to become a man.
If there was an alternate title to give this novel, it would have to be Defining Mav. That’s what this novel is really about: Maverick deciding how he will define himself as a Black boy and later a Black man in a world that rages against him, stereotypes him, and takes from him without remorse. Everyone around him wants to define him in their own way, but Mav needs to decide who he wants himself to be. He fights just as hard against the violence in his life as he does a brand of toxic masculinity particular to Black boys and men.
That’s who Maverick Carter is: a fighter. He messes up and suffers the consequences, but he will always fight for the ones he loves and for the future of those around him. I don’t think there’s anything more I can say about this speech-defying masterpiece.
FINAL VERDICT:
If I had time to reread The Hate U Give, I absolutely would. If you’ve never read it, then I recommend reading it and Concrete Rose one after another to get the most out of the foreshadowing, callbacks, and everything at play in the world of Garden Heights. Pair it with a viewing of The Hate U Give‘s film adaptation for good measure. Another brilliant novel from an author who’s a bestseller and award-winner for good reason.
Maverick Carter is the son of the King Lords’ former leader, but that doesn’t mean much to the rest of the gang. To them, he’s Lil Don, not Mav. As he discovers in the first chapter, he’s also a new father thanks to that one time he hooked up with his best friend King’s on-off girlfriend Iesha while temporarily broken up with his own girlfriend Lisa. When Iesha abandons the baby soon to be known as Seven with him and pulls a disappearing act, it’s just the first event in a series of them that puts Mav at a crossroads: become a true scion of his father or blaze his own path.
The vernacular English Mav narrates with is pitch-perfect and I could practically hear his voice in my ear throughout the book. When his beloved cousin is murdered in a robbery and chatter at school makes him certain it was a Garden Disciples member who did the deed, his grief and fury are palpable enough to induce tears. I sure cried multiple times throughout the book. When Maverick approaches that precipice of earning his own teardrop tattoo or letting it go for the sake of his loved ones, my heart was in my throat.
His complex relationship with Lisa we saw pieces of in The Hate U Give is a vein throughout the book and whatever you thought of them there, the two kids you meet in this book fight so much you might be surprised they stick together for the next decade and a half and even have another child together. Between her, his mother, and the take-no-prisoners grocer he starts working for, there are a lot of people whipping Mav into shape as a new father about to become a man.
If there was an alternate title to give this novel, it would have to be Defining Mav. That’s what this novel is really about: Maverick deciding how he will define himself as a Black boy and later a Black man in a world that rages against him, stereotypes him, and takes from him without remorse. Everyone around him wants to define him in their own way, but Mav needs to decide who he wants himself to be. He fights just as hard against the violence in his life as he does a brand of toxic masculinity particular to Black boys and men.
That’s who Maverick Carter is: a fighter. He messes up and suffers the consequences, but he will always fight for the ones he loves and for the future of those around him. I don’t think there’s anything more I can say about this speech-defying masterpiece.
FINAL VERDICT:
If I had time to reread The Hate U Give, I absolutely would. If you’ve never read it, then I recommend reading it and Concrete Rose one after another to get the most out of the foreshadowing, callbacks, and everything at play in the world of Garden Heights. Pair it with a viewing of The Hate U Give‘s film adaptation for good measure. Another brilliant novel from an author who’s a bestseller and award-winner for good reason.
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