Name: On the Come Up
Rating: 4.318051575931232 (349 reviews)
ISBN: 9781406372168

Angie Thomas

On the Come Up

Ellie 

Sarah Sammis

A question I've gotten from many interested readers is how does On the Come Up compare to The Hate U Give? Both are raw, emotional reads. Both feature believable, memorable leads. Both feature raw emotion but Starr and Bri are not the same person. They, though, are clearly products of the same environment but their outlets are different. Starr is an activist and her main platform is Tumblr — but later as the lead in the riot. Bri's outlet is rap. Both books are equally good, just different, as they should be.


http://pussreboots.com/blog/2019/comm...

Lindy

The main plot is nothing to write home about ((view spoiler)[ girl wants to be a famous rapper; girl has initial breakout success; girl meets industry people who drive a wedge between her and her family/friends; the industry people make the girl do things she's uncomfortable with; girl decides to ditch the industry people and stay true to herself and her artistic vision; girl likely achieves renown and acclaim. (hide spoiler)]), but once again I am in awe of how Angie Thomas is able to portray the complexities of familial relationships, particularly the relationships between teenagers and their parents.

This is the highly anticipated second novel by Angie Thomas, the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling, award-winning The Hate U Give. Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri’s got massive shoes to fill. But it’s hard to get your come up when you’re labeled a hoodlum at school, and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. So Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral…for all the wrong reasons. Bri soon finds herself at the center of a controversy, portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. But with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri doesn’t just want to make it—she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be. Insightful, unflinching, and full of heart, On the Come Up is an ode to hip hop from one of the most influential literary voices of a generation. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; and about how, especially for young black people, freedom of speech isn’t always free.

--◈ 3.75 STARS 

This book has definitely something to offer. It provided some society issues in reality and how people faced it. On that part, I totally praised the author. She managed to show the readers another well crafted representation of the particular issues in real life. 

However, Brianna, that was my problem. Maybe I was expecting another  Starr  in this story, the reason why I was deeply disappointed on Bri's character. You see, I really really loved Starr from THUG, and though they have a few similarities in character, there are more differences between them. Bri being hard-headed, impulsive and with a nasty temper, that I can't really handle. 

The only simililarity I loved from both of the main female characters is their older brother's relationship with them. Apart from that, I loved Starr's family relationship a lot more. 

I am sorry if I ended up comparing these two books instead of just giving my focus reviewing OTCU, but I guess I am just so invested in THUG more. Other than Bri herself, OTCU is quite a good read.

Jamieson

“You’ll never silence me and you’ll never kill my dream. Just recognize when you say brilliant that you’re also saying Bri.”


OH, this was absolutely 100% amazing and Angie Talent is WAY too talented for me to handle. Obviously, I literally adored 

  “There's only so much you can take being described as somebody you're not.” 


Easily my favourite part of this book was Bri's character. Bri is the kind of character I've been wanting and needing in YA for so long. She feels so genuinely teen and she makes a lot of mistakes that stem from inexperience and her young age but that is what I loved about it. Bri can be brash, harsh, rude, and act without thinking (so many times) but I felt a bit of myself in her recklessness and identified with her teenage angst. I really love that Angie Thomas decided to write a character that really fucks up, and that is really outspoken, it's refreshing. But it's not just her flaws that made me love her - Bri has so many strengths too! she has a heart of gold, is trying to do her best, and loves her friends and family with so much of her heart. She's ambitious and cool, and funny - and damn, I loved the hell outta that girl! 

Plot wise, this was a lot more fun than The Hate U Give. It still has a lot of the hallmarks of that book though. It deals with racism and growing up as a black teenager in America. It has strong family dynamics, and friendship focus. The focus on family, especially, was a highlight. Angie Thomas knows how to drill down into the core of a family and examine what makes each one tick, and I love the portrayal of the family in this book. 

This book also just had so much love and heart in it - you could tell. You could tell Thomas loves rap music and hip-hop, she loved her main character, and she loved writing this book. I think that passion and care really leaked onto the pages and it made me care. This book is about music and family but you don't need to care about music to be invested - it just seems to grab you and in a minute you realise you're a hundred pages deep and so invested in the story and the characters. I love that in books. 


  “All these folks I've never met became gods over my life. Now I gotta take the power back.”


Overall, I think this was just as good as THUG - just in a different way. It's kind of sad to me people seem to have slept on this book a bit because it's great and has so many themes people can connect with. It's a YA book that isn't afraid to shove a loud and bossy main character into the forefront - and to celebrate them for those traits. It's a book that blends rap and friends and family, that has the hallmark YA tropes like first love and family issues, while also exploring race issues in America in a genuine way that only an #ownvoices author can. 

I also loved the audiobook for this a lot - the narrator sings the raps and its PERFECT.

harper fitzpatrick

** spoiler alert **
           focusing on the experience of 'coming up' while refusing to deny the complexity of moving out of one's community through education, notoriety, or fame. 

the narrative builds to a crescendo that forces bri to decide who she wants to be as a rapper and a person. with sharp, even piercing, characterization, this indeliable and intricate story of a young women who is brilliant and sometimes reckless, who is deeply loved and rightfully angry at the world that reduces her to less than her big dreams call her to be, providing many pathways for readers. 

secondary characters, including bri's two best guy friends and her fiercely protective drug-dealing gang-member aunt, along with her strict but loving paternal grandparents (making for a remarkably well rounded cast). 

a love letter to hip-hop, with bri's lyrics and her thought process behind them included throughout, this richly woven narrative touches on many themes, such as the over-policing of black bodies and navigating beloved communities that are also challenged by drugs and violence. an amazing read, totally worth it

Kailey Rios

this was such a powerful and realistic story, i really enjoyed it!

i felt like i could connect to the characters even though i’d never experienced a lot of the things they were dealing with.

loved both the family and friendship dynamics, you could really sense the love they had for each other. 


  4.5 stars

Dee B. 

Oof. This book man. Angie, you do the damn thing.

Julia Z Price

5 stars is not enough! This book is amazing, made me cry, laugh and more

Steph L 

an excellent contemporary 

This book was excellent. I think I enjoyed chatting this more than The Hate U Give. I loved the characters they were raw and they were fun to read about. I loved the plot and it kept me entertained throughout the book. The writing is stellar and really helps tell the story. I loved the romance at the end it was sweet. I really enjoyed reading Bri’s story.

Natalie Sypeck 



I really enjoy Angie Thomas's books, especially the audiobooks. The audiobook experience was especially important in this one because of the rapping. While rapping isn't something that I'm particularly interested in, I did enjoy the commentary that was happening in this book. Especially when she spoke of people blaming songs that speak of violence for violence rather than looking at the reason for why the song was written or why people are angry. 

We also spoke on topics of discrimination at school, overcoming drug addiction, and staying out of gang violence, even when it surrounds you. We saw how different decisions lead to different outcomes, but we also saw that there can be more than one way for someone to get out of the "ghetto".

I liked that Bri was working on becoming her own person, making a name for herself. She didn't just want to be her father's daughter, didn't just want to be the stereotype that people think she is, doesn't just want to be the victim. 

I also enjoyed watching her go through changes while still trying not to lose those around her. 

Overall, an entertaining read. 

Nicki

I wish I enjoyed this more, and it wasn’t even like I read her previous book either. I just never truly could get into it and I don’t think that it is any fault to the writer because I quite like her style. It actually inspired me a lot to explore #ownvoices more and think about how I write and what I will do for my pieces. Overall, this was a solid book, it reflected to African-American society quite well and I could empathize and understand the characters, but at the root of it all… It just wasn’t entertaining to me. I can objectively say that this was a good book. However, I subjectively didn’t like it that much.

Stefanie Sugia

"There's only so much you can take being described as somebody you're not."
After reading The Hate U Give by the same author back in 2017, I'm constantly waiting for Angie Thomas to publish another book because that book was just amazing 😍. Even though I didn't write a review for it, The Hate U Give certainly gave me all the feels while reading it. Thus, when this book is scheduled to be released in 2019, I readied myself because I'm going to read it right away after it's published. Now that I've finished it, I can confidently say that Angie Thomas is going to be one of my favorite auto-buy authors, because her writing is just as amazing as her debut release. Although I liked The Hate U Give a little bit better, this book is also really enjoyable to read and delivered some powerful message as well.
  "I've always had this theory that God is a sitcom writer who loves to put me in ridiculous situations."
"This a temporary setback for a major comeback. We ain't letting it stop the come up."The story in this book sets in the same world as Angie Thomas' previous book, The Hate U Give. At the start, the story about the death of an innocent black boy who got shot by a police officer has caused riots and fear throughout the neighborhood—which influenced the characters in this book as well. The whole narrative is written from the perspective of the main character, Brianna Jackson. Bri is a girl with a big dream; she wants to be a rapper just like her father who died a while back. Her perspective is really interesting because her thoughts are filled with rhymes and poems that will become a part of a song lyric. While I was reading, it kind of felt like there's always a constant beat in the background for Bri to rap to 😂. Even though her perspective is really interesting, I don't think Bri is my favorite character. I don't know if it's because she's still young or whatever, I personally think she's too reactive and causes a lot of unnecessary trouble because of her actions/decisions. I can totally understand that her past and what she went through has shaped her character that way (which made her more interesting because she's not just all good or all bad). But because of that, there are times when I felt scared for her because I knew bad things would happen sooner or later.

There are quite a lot of characters involved in this book, but I think my favorite one is Trey (Bri's older brother) and Jay (Bri's mother). They're the two people who always have to deal with Bri's mess but also the two people who always love Bri unconditionally. I love how Trey is really protective of his little sister and he seems to know how to deal with Bri in the best way possible. Despite having a dream of becoming a doctor, Trey decided to put aside his dream and work hard to provide for his family and made sure that is able Bri finished school. I think that's a very selfless act coming from someone whose age is not that much different from Bri. Same thing with Jay; despite being a former drug addict, I can really see that she regretted her past decisions and is trying to redeem herself. I truly admire Jay's character because she's a strong person who doesn't easily give up. At the end of the day, she was able to prove her worth and I'm happy that things worked out for the better 😊."It is kinda messed up. Here my brother is, doing everything right, and nothing's coming from it. Meanwhile, Aunt Pooh's doing everything we've been told not to do, and she's giving us food when we need it.
That's how it goes though. The drug dealers in my neighborhood aren't struggling. Everybody else is."
  "All these folks I've never met became gods over my life. Now I gotta take the power back."
At first I was quite hesitant when I found out that this book is about rappers and music—obviously because there's no background music that will enhance the experience. But I have to say that Angie Thomas successfully pulled it off. I was surprised when I got goosebumps when Bri first performed on stage 😲. I think despite not having music, the powerful lyrics made it impactful. I can't really explain how it feels, so I guess you just have to read them for yourself. I'm just not sure if the story is going to be delivered the same way if the book is translated to another language though 🤔. On the other hand, I do hope this book will also be adapted into a movie so I can see Bri live in action. I think it's going to be epic!

If The Hate U Give talks about prejudices against black people, what I learned from this book is how addiction to drugs will ruin your life. Not only that, even the lives of people who sell drugs for a living are also ruined—despite having money and security from it. That's why I love Jay's story that shows how you can still fix your life even though you've been addicted to drugs. It's never too late to stop using drugs and go to rehab. There might be consequences, for example Jay has a difficulty of finding a job due to her history, but it doesn't have to stop you from trying your best. Overall, I really enjoyed this book from start to finish and will definitely be looking forward to Angie Thomas' next book! 😊

Read the full review here:
http://www.thebookielooker.com/2019/0...

On the Come Up

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