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amy_alwaysreading 's review for:
Concrete Rose
by Angie Thomas
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Immersive, complex, and challenging. Thomas is masterful at fighting against pervasive stereotypes with grit, heart, wit, and a side of nostalgia.
We first met Maverick as an upstanding entrepreneur and family man in The Hate You Give. Concrete Rose takes us back the late 90s (hello light blue beeper) as Maverick is verging on manhood with the deck stacked heavily against him.
In Maverick’s story, Thomas takes what society has vilified- teen pregnancy, “deadbeat dads,” drug dealing, gang banging- and upends it and paints a human element to it, creating understanding and empathy in place of condemnation. Maverick’s circumstances are foreign to my experiences of growing up. And yet, Thomas adeptly created a connection between me and Maverick’s world. The author humanized Maverick’s situation. She put me in his Nikes and challenged me… what would I do in his circumstances?
Just like a rose that can overcome the harshest of environments, we watch Maverick struggle and overcome. Thomas doesn’t sugar coat the situation. Instead she lays bare its complexities. And that makes watching him grow from a self-centered teenager into a man focused on putting his family first a true joy.
We first met Maverick as an upstanding entrepreneur and family man in The Hate You Give. Concrete Rose takes us back the late 90s (hello light blue beeper) as Maverick is verging on manhood with the deck stacked heavily against him.
In Maverick’s story, Thomas takes what society has vilified- teen pregnancy, “deadbeat dads,” drug dealing, gang banging- and upends it and paints a human element to it, creating understanding and empathy in place of condemnation. Maverick’s circumstances are foreign to my experiences of growing up. And yet, Thomas adeptly created a connection between me and Maverick’s world. The author humanized Maverick’s situation. She put me in his Nikes and challenged me… what would I do in his circumstances?
Just like a rose that can overcome the harshest of environments, we watch Maverick struggle and overcome. Thomas doesn’t sugar coat the situation. Instead she lays bare its complexities. And that makes watching him grow from a self-centered teenager into a man focused on putting his family first a true joy.