Concrete Rose

If you haven’t read a book by Angie Thomas, you are missing out. I was late to the party reading The Hate U Give but I was profoundly changed by it. While it is a prequel to THUG,Concrete Rose was outstanding and absolutely stands on its own while also adding a whole new level of experience to THUG.We follow Maverick Carter at 17 years old. Mav's experiences in a gang, why he is a member to begin with, the loss of those who meant the world to him to gun violence, as well as how he chooses to balance school and fatherhood. Then there is the part-time job he didn't want to take in the first place that turns out to be a source of salvation for him.As THUG did, Concrete Rose will be a catalyst for many important conversations. Thomas masterfully deals with weighty topics like toxic masculinity and stereotypes against black families (especially black men) and young parenthood. You are given Maverick, all of him. He isn't always perfect and isn't always likeable but he is very real. Thomas is a master at making the reader feel just as invested in his struggles and doubts as he is.Understanding how Maverick Carter came to be the man we knew from THUG, adds another dimension. You will laugh, cry, cheer and grow right along with him.

Oh wow! Ms. Angie Thomas did it again! This story is filled with feels. And I loved that the characters spoke AAVE to make their story that much more authentic and also realistic. Maverick definitely felt like he got the short end of the stick at times, however, mostly, he was able to take a step back and think things through. He lived up to his name as an independent thinker.Lisa as a teenager was amazing, I loved getting to know her, and seeing how she had dreams and plans for her life. And while she was upset with Mav's lack of plans, she still kind of believed in him, too.Mav's mom was the best! I loved her the most, I think, but at the same time, I also love Mr. Wyatt and Ms. Rosalie.Very well written, this story made my heart both heavy and light, and I can't wait for everyone I know to read it.

#ConcreteRose is the highly anticipated prequel to #TheHateUGive which follows a young Maverick, son of a former gang legend (who is currently in prison) finds out he is now a father. Mav now has to step up/grow up to take care of his son.First of all.. All thanks to @angiethomas for getting me out of my reading slump 🥳🥳This book was great. If you didn't love Maverick from THUG, you really fall in love with him here. This book really gets into why boys, especially black boys might get into gangs and/or selling drugs and so on... And it's not because they want to tear down their community 🙄. It also really delves into toxic masculinity and the notion that men aren't to feel emotions, shouldn't cry."One of the biggest lies ever told is that Black men don't feel emotions" - Mr Wyatt^^^✊🏽🙋🏾‍♀️Highly recommend you read this one 😍This book gets ALL the starsCatch me on IG @elisethenovicebookworm

Excellent book! Absolutely love that the book is told from a man’s POV. Angie Thomas is a masterful author and weaves in information from other books (On the Come Up and Dear Justyce — read both if you haven’t already!). Once I started reading, I couldn’t stop. Wish there was a release date for another book in this series.

I read this as a 33 year old white woman who just gave birth to my first child this past January. Felt so much empathy for young Maverick, who finds out he is a dad at age 17! And meets his son at 3 months of age, same age as my son is now. I read On The Come Up as well as The Hate U Give, and loved them both. This is the prequel to The Hate U Give. It tells the story of Starr’s dad as a young man, trying to finish high school in a neighborhood where it’s safest to belong to a gang, where you can make way more money dealing than working an honest job. His mom supports them, his dad is in prison. I really really love how the characters are all complex, real people. Nothing is cut and dried. His mom is bisexual and is in a relationship with a woman; she is still married to Mavericks father and they have a complicated but honest and open relationship. The mother of Mavericks son is a teenager too who is struggling with post partum depression as well as life in the hood. Mavericks serious girlfriend breaks up with him when she finds he has a child by another woman, but he keeps trying to make it up to her and reunite. By the end of the book she is pregnant with his second child (Starr). They still are not an item but he is very involved in her pregnancy and also her future, her plans for college. He finally stops dealing so that he can live up to her expectations. He comes close to taking the life of someone who he thinks killed his cousin, but at the last moment thinks better of it and chooses to be the man who is in his kids lives, who isn’t in prison or watching over his shoulder waiting for the other shoe to drop. Great read!!!

The only downside to this book is that Angie doesn’t have ten more for me to read immediately. Another great book. I read it in a day because I just couldn’t put it down. Her writing is captivating and impactful. And as always, I had tears streaming down my face at certain parts.

This book was every thing I expected. This prequel made you respect Maverick even more. He was definitely a rose that grew from concrete. Maverick lived up to his name, independent thinker. I highly recommend this book.

this book starts off slow and ends in a good storyline. it involves the 90s era post Tupac in L.A. i was slightly disapointed in this book and assume it is one of her earlier works not published. because it didnt have the same flow as The Hate U give and On The Come Up. still i commend this writer and remain a loyal consumer of her novels present and yet to come.

Concrete Rose is the prequel to the amazing YA novel ‘The Hate You Give‘ which was released in 2017. The book is predominantly about Maverick Carter who is the father of the protagonist Starr from the first book. If you haven’t read, The Hate you Give, then I’m not sure this book will mean that much to you.Seventeen-year-old Maverick (Mav or Lil Don) lives with his mum. He has no siblings and his father who was the King Lord of the neighbourhood is in prison. Maverick has followed in his father’s footsteps selling drugs, that is until he unexpectedly becomes a father and is left holding the baby when the mother ups and leaves Maverick with their child. Now Mav needs to be responsible.Mav gets a part-time job at the local shop and is still at school but with his son needing more and more things and seeing his friends with flash new items can Mav stay on the straight and narrow or is the lure of easy money too much for him to keep away from?I was so eager to read Concrete Rose as I adored The Hate you Give and Maverick is a fabulous character in it. Always teaching his children to be responsible and how to behave around the police, etc. I was intrigued to read his backstory and whilst there are sixteen-years we still don’t know about as this book ends before Starr is born, it was fascinating to see Mav as a young lad who had to grow up quickly and what shaped his life.The characters are truly amazing. It was fun to see some characters from the first book making an appearance in their younger years. I do wonder if there will be an in-between book, especially as we never get to witness any real beef between Mav and King like in The Hate you Give, or if I am remembering rightly (It has been a few years since I read the first book), Mav does a stint in prison, but this would have been in the missing years.Angie Thomas has a way with words. She pulls you in the story and you can feel, hear, and be a part of every chapter. I certainly became emotionally involved in the plot and got angry when Mav did and upset when he did too. The setting is easy to visualise too and I would love to see them adapt this book as well.This is a book that you must read if you read and loved the first. It is superb. You can tell how good a book is when you start going slower towards the end as you don’t want it to end. I now can’t wait for more novels from Ms. Thomas.

Concrete Rose, the prequel to The Hate U Give, is the story of seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter. Following in his father’s footsteps, he earns extra cash slinging drugs, wearing gang stripes, and making a name for himself in Garden Heights. But when Mav unexpectedly becomes a father, he realises what it really means to step up.Maverick was a fascinating character in The Hate U Give, so I was excited to explore his story in Concrete Rose. As Starr’s father, he often acted like the grounded voice of reason, but subtle hints to his upbringing suggested he wasn’t always so level-headed. And in Concrete Rose, the reader gets a chance to learn about the trials, challenges, and lessons Mav faced as a young man. It’s also interesting to see appearances from other characters featured in The Hate U Give, including King and Carlos. Seeing where bonds and tensions began, only increases the nostalgia for the first book.Angie Thomas’ remarkable voice is in full form in Concrete Rose. Like The Hate U Give and On the Come Up, this book is written in the first person narrative. But it never falls flat, never loses heart, and never waivers. Mav’s voice feels defined and independent, stirring up the same inspirational determination Starr and Bri’s did. Additionally, the dialogue flows beautifully, and the personalities feel authentically full.I love the way emotion is explored in relation to Black boyhood. Mav has this nagging insecurity around appearing weak, especially as the son of a King Lord. It’s a very relevant and familiar stereotype, and the protagonist’s inner emotional outbursts and raw expressions give the book a strong sense of heart in the face of expectation. The concept of ‘manliness’ is written with sensitivity, as are the books other themes: racism, teen pregnancy, and grief.Naturally, I’m comparing this book with The Hate U Give. Concrete Rose is not quite as eventful and the pace is slower, but it’s just as moving. Maverick’s story is well worth telling. And I’ll always be captivated by Angie Thomas’ tales of Garden Heights.

This book--just wow!!!! I loved THE HATE U GIVE, and so the moment I heard that CONCRETE ROSE was set in the same world of Garden Heights, I just had to drop everything and read it immediately. And I'm sooooo glad I did.Angie Thomas's writing is just amazing, and this story is so, so real. It's authentic and compelling. And it really helps to remove stigma too.Maverick is such a great character. He is a Black man who is in a gang. He deals drugs, and there's drug-related violence, and drug-related murders and deaths affecting those close to him. But he is so much more than this--he's a doting father, even as a teenager. He's only selling drugs as he needs to support his mother, and especially when he finds out he's got a child. (And then discovers his girlfriend is also pregnant--two children. He is desperate to provide for his family.) He's fiercely protective of his family and friends. He's kind. He's genuine. We see him make mistakes--and we see him learn from mistakes.Mav's father is in prison for the entirety of the book, and we learn that this is because the only way out of the King Lords' gang is to be go to prison, often taking the fall for someone else in the gang, or to end up dead. Mav says countless times how he was encouraged by his father to join the gang for his protection--and we can really see this in the book too. King and the other King Lords do protect him from the GDs, the warring gang. And we can see how this almost creates a vicious cycle of these men ending up in prison. Something Mav is desperate to avoid as he wants to be there for his children, especially when he knows what it's like to grow up with a father in prison.But then Mav's cousin is murdered and he's expected to kill the murderer. We see his desperation to do this, and it's heartbreaking because we've already been shown what could happen.And, you know what? I desperately wanted things to work out for Maverick--perhaps more than any other protagonist I'd read. And I was so worried that it was going to end with him in big trouble in prison (like, I was sure that was happening). Thankfully, it didn't--though having read THUG we get a hint of what Maverick does have to do to get out of the gang.But, yes, I couldn't read this book fast enough. (I also LOVED the reference to Justyce in Nic Stone's Dear Martin too!)

This extended sampler was such a hook, I am almost sad I read it, because now I have to wait for the rest of the book!Set seventeen years before the story of Starr, in The Hate U Give, Concrete Rose is the story of Maverick Carter, Starr's dad.Absolutely going to be reading this when it is out fully.Fantastic.Many thanks to NetGalley and Walker Books for an extended sampler, in exchange for an honest review.

Great book! If you've read her other two books you'll see how some parts are indirectly linked like names of places etc lol (could be a coincidence, I'm from the UK so maybe those are the actual names of places idk but you catch my drift)Concrete rose is the dad from THUG younger pov in garden heights. The book is enticing, reading this gave a better understanding to THUG such as why Maverick is the way he is, Seven and Iesha relationship, Lisa and Maverick.It's a good read, this book also gives a further insight into the everyday life and struggles of the "hood" underfunded and underprivileged areas.I read it commuting to and from work made the journeys fly by!If you're contemplating it, just do it!