Please note that this post may contain spoilers for this book and that these opinions are my own.
Goodreads Synopsis
Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least make it out of her neighbourhood 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.
My Thoughts
I had been putting this book off for a bit and wasn't actually sure if I was going to read it. I absolutely loved The Hate You Give which I read earlier this year and even gave it a 5 star review so I think the reason I was putting it off was more because I was scared that Angie Thomas wasn't going to be able to impress me again.
How wrong I was.
Angie Thomas knocked it out of the park and I'm glad I picked it up to read on my holiday. It meant I could completely absorb every single word I read.
The Characters
It's hard not to feel some emotion about each and every one of these characters.
I could relate to Bri in being sixteen years old, barely any money in the house and wanting to pull your own weight. I remember not wanting to talk about it to other people and I remember how hard it was to live day by day not knowing if your family was going to survive financially.
Bri is a typically sixteen year old who will do or say whatever she wants and seriously does not consider the consequences. At times she is down right rude and pushes the people who care for her to one side, replacing her Aunt as her manager for someone who only focuses on how much money they are going to make. The abuse and hardships she faced where little in comparion to what Starr experienced in The Hate You GIve, it didn't make me love her any less, plus the fact that she was a complete and utter nerd was the icing on the cake. Those pop cultures where making me smile so much, I loved it!
I loved Jay the most. I felt so proud of how far she had come, from losing her husband, to battling her drug addiction and then losing her job with two children to raise. She knows that she messed up in the past, even leaving Bri and Trey at their Grandparent's house when her addiction became too much, and she is spending the rest of her life trying to rectify that.
She's a kind, caring woman who hosts recovering addicts at her house every week, cooking them a meal and checking in on them. When she lost her job I felt so sorry for her but she didn't wallow in her own self-pity, she got out there and constantly tried to find a job. She quit college where she was so close to getting her qualifications as a social worker so that she could get food stamps.
She wants her kids to have the best childhood they can, rejecting the idea of Bri getting a job. She wants to prove to everyone that she's a good mother and good person and I completely respect her for that. I admire her for going to her mother-in-law, who absolutely hates her, to patch things up and to make Bri and Trey's future more secure.
Final Thoughts...
I love this book. I love the characters, I love how in-depth and how creative Angie Thomas is with her writing and even the raps throughout the book. I love the world that she has created and the representation of diversity. The world is pretty messed up at the moment and this book helps reflect some of the issues that children are facing.
At times I did keep having to refer to youtube for songs that Angie had referenced in this book but that's more my issue for not being as cultured in rap music as i am in other genres.
As soon as I put the book down (at 1am in the morning), I felt lost. I desperately need another book by Angie Thomas because I am completely and utterly in love with this book and The Hate You GIve.
Rating: 5/5 stars
Favourite Quotes
"Jay’s a people person. I’m more of a “yes, people exist, but that doesn’t mean I need to talk to them” person.”
“Um, excuse you, but Harry Potter is a cultural phenomenon.”
"You'll never silence me and you'll never kill my dream, just recognise when you say brilliant that you're also saying Bri"
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