April Stories I Ate This Month

For everything that I have had going on this month, I was still able to read quite a bit. I don't think I will get that much reading in throughout May, but we'll see.

Movies

• Saban's Power Rangers
• I was skeptical about this movie when it came out last year. I grew up watching the original Power Rangers and even dressing up as the Pink one for Halloween and crushing on the Red one all of the time. I was worried that the nostalgia would hold me back from enjoying this new version. However, I really enjoyed it. I do wish that they had morphed sooner though. It felt like it took forever to get to them being Power Rangers. 
• A-
• Jeepers Creepers 3
• I watched the original two films with my great-grandma growing up. I own the first on VHS. I didn't even know that they had come out with a third one. It had been a while since I had watched the original two so I don't remember much about them but I was still able to enjoy this one. It had a similar spooky feel without being the most terrifying film ever. The same feeling that I have with the other two just without the memories. 
• B+

TV Shows

• Jessica Jones -season 2- a Netflix Original
• It is no secret that I love all of the Marvel shows that Netflix produces and really enjoy any Marvel superhero movies too. Although three years separate the first and second season of this show. I didn't feel disconnected. I'm really going to miss Malcolm and Jessica working together, but maybe season 3 will surprise us.I love the new connections that Jessica is making in her personal life though. 
• A+

Audiobooks

• When They Call You A Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir - Patrisse Khan-Cullors
• I was expecting her to talk more about the movement itself but she really delved into its creation and her motives behind it. It was a great insight.
• A+
• The Job: True Tales from the Life of a New York City Cop - Steve Osborn
• The typical New York City accent meshed with the hilarious yet action-packed stories of a New York City cop makes this perfect!
• A+

Books

• The Poet X - Elizabeth Acevedo
• I was excited to read this YA contemporary in poems. It reminds me a lot of Ellen Hopkins' books that I really enjoyed throughout high school. It delved into family relationships, family expectations, struggling with faith, first love, etcetera. 
• A-
• Blackout - Kit Mallory
• This book comes out on May 8th and I will be putting up a full non-spoiler review before that. I had the privilege of being sent an ARC by Mallory. And I love it! LGBTQ+ representation, mental health awareness, etc. 
• A+
• History Is All You Left Me - Adam Silvera 
• This book has been on my radar since it was published. I believe that this is the first book I have read where the main character was a gay man. I read the first 250 pages in one sitting and finished the last bit the following morning. I haven't done that in years! I got emotional and really felt everything Griffon was going through.  I can't wait to read more by Silvera. 
• A+

The Hate You Give ~ Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

Book Review

There is a lot of hype around this book right now, much of it due to our current Political Climate and the Black Lives Matter Movement that this book gives an interesting and new perspective on; therefore, I was hesitant to pick it up. Usually when there is such a hype around books, I get nervous about reading them. Are they going to live up to the expectations that social media has planted into my head? Are they going to have those same tropes like other YA novels that have become boring to me? Is it going to be as mindblowing as I need it to be? Although, I was nervous, I was also very excited. This is a debut novel by Angie Thomas and personally, I find debut novels to be a great incite into the talent of an author. Also, the plot line has such a strong sociopolitical dynamic to it that I just couldn't resist. 

I took an immediate liking to Starr. She is so strong even though she has a lot of internal conflicts. Her relationships with her family is so realistic but sweet at the same time. Throughout the book, she has to come to terms with who she is while living two different lives. On one hand, she is an ex-gangster's daughter in the middle of the ghetto. On the other hand, she is one of the very few black kids at a very prestigious school in a ritzy neighborhood. Her friends and boyfriend from school don't understand her life at home, they don't understand the culture, and they really do not understand how racism impacts her and her family on a daily basis. 

Now, as if the internal identity issues weren't enough, you throw in the fact that she watched a police officer kill her unarmed friend in front of her. She has to deal with the uprising in her community due to his death, as well as a gang war, and having to make an eye witness testimony against a police officer. Throughout this novel we watch Starr stick to her morals and values, which I find to be very empowering. In a lot of YA novels, we deal with a character who is struggling with doing what his or her peers are doing or going their own way, but this gave that trope a very realistic, powerful, current, and new outlook.   

After I finished reading this novel I wanted to pick up something similar. This happens a lot of me. For example, in middle school, after I finished the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer I began reading the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead. But this style of writing is very unique. The plot is very unique. Trying to find another YA novel with a strong sociopolitical plot is and was difficult. But Angie Thomas has made this style a new favorite for me.

Pages: 464                                                                                                                                 Rate: 5/5

Favorite Quote:

“At an early age I learned that people make mistakes, and you have to decide if their mistakes are bigger than your love for them.”