Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time, and when she gets an invite to battle in The Ring, she's on her way to living that dream. But with her rap legend father dead, her mother is struggling to keep the lights on. Bri not only wants to make it, but fears she may have to in order to keep her family afloat.

I was nervous going in to this book because I thought there was no way Thomas would be able to match the vibrancy THE HATE U GIVE had, and I am so glad I was wrong! ON THE COME UP feels just real, and is perhaps even more complex. The way Bri and her family dealt with overlapping issues and oppressions brought even more layers to the world of the Garden.

I was especially drawn in by the central issue - this complex knot of Bri rapping about guns and violence because that's what white people expect of a poor black girl, which in turn makes her money, which in turn makes people think she really is a gang member, and on and on in a destructive loop. I don't know if I've ever seen this issue examined so closely in a YA novel before.

I also really loved that Bri was a prickly character. She wasn't a meek girl - she said what was on her mind, especially when what was on her mind made her angry. She kind of reminded me a bit of Meg from A WRINKLE IN TIME.