I decided to pick up this contemporary based off the hype (which tends to backfire, at least for me) and found another 5 star contemporary that left an emotional impact on me.

The novel deals with issues that we are facing today but do not talk about enough. Angie Thomas did a great job of awakening the readers to the negatives of racism and prejudice. It would be a good idea to have young kids read this book or even make it required reading in school.

The writing was amazing, the author made the characters come alive and I was able to emotionally connect with them. The sign of an amazing author/contemporary is when they are able to create meaningful and diverse side-characters. Starr's friends and family (most of all her family) were such great well-rounded characters that it was hard to let them go at the end of the novel. I hope that Thomas revisits Starr or even writes from a different characters point of view like Seven in the future,

It was also refreshing that the narration is old solely from Starr's point of view because the trend of multiple or duel povs has started to get on my nerves.

Plus, contemporary now tend to be solely focused on romance and it was great that Thomas did not do that instead the novel focuses more on friendship and family.

I recommend reading this, however, I suggest not reading it in public because it may bring the waterworks like it did for me.