Thank you Walker books for this book in exchange for an honest review

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.

Review:

Straight off the bat. I was HIGHLY disappointed in THUG. I mean come on, the hype about it was misleading and overall it was a very drawn out, slow paced book that spent too much time in the characters head. Blahh.

Upon received On The Come Up from Walker Books, I actually pushed this down the line of my TBR because I felt that it would mirror THUG and I really dislike sending ranty reviews to publishers. However I got prompted by Walker Books to read it and well, I was pleasantly surprised about how damn amazing this book is.

I am advoiding the topic regarding peoples race in this book review, so if that was what you wanted to read about, bad luck. Like people, I don’t deem characters important based on the colour of their skin, it really is what’s on the inside that counts.

I loved Bri. Her struggle, her dreams, her family and her every day to day life. Bri had a charismatic charm about her, and a very fun loving personality. Bri is a highly emotional teenager as well, this can clearly be seen when she reacts without thinking of the consequences, ignore peoples advice when they tell her to watch out. These small mistakes happen over and over, where Bri is forced in a difficult position because of her choices. To be honest, it kept the book alive and I loved the drama and struggle of her life.

The song lyrics? Were fricken epic!! I would often find myself singing them out and rereading them. Not only are they powerful but extremely well written. And if I’m honest, as was the rest of the book. THUG I thought was poorly written and we spent way too much time in the characters head that it strayed not only from the story but from the ‘meaning’ as well. On the Come Up, flowed smoothly, had humorous and light-hearted dialogue between the characters and most importantly it stayed out of Bri’s head.

Overall, On the Come Up blows THUG out of the water, and I would much rather this be made into a motion picture. On The Come Up is eye-opening, captivating, and brilliant and needs to be on everyone’s bookcases.

Rating: 5/5

ISBN: 9780062498571

Publisher: Walker Books