Book Review: On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

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BOOK review
Started on: 14 February 2019
Finished on: 21 February 2019

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

Title: On the Come Up

Author: Angie Thomas
Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Pages: 447 pages / 464 pages (e-book)
Year of Publication: 2019
Price: Rp 142,412 (https://www.bookdepository.com/)

Rating: 4/5
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"There's only so much you can take being described as somebody you're not."

Brianna is a sixteen-year-old girl who has a big dream of becoming one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least make it out of her neighborhood one day. As the daughter of an underground rap legend who died before he was successful, people had a lot of expectations on her. However, her mother seems to be against the idea of Bri becoming a rapper just like her father. And things started to fall apart when her mother suddenly lost her job, making them short of food supplies and gas. With bills piling up and homelessness haunting her family, Bri no longer just wants to make it—she has no other option but to make it big. But making it big comes with a lot of consequences that Bri might not be ready to take.

"We can't have any power, either. I mean, think about it. All these people I've never met have way more control over my life than I've ever had."

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! 😊

  by.stefaniesugia♥ .