Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* Thomas follows up her blockbuster, The Hate U Give (2017), with a sophomore novel that's just as explosive. On the Come Up tells the story of talented Bri, daughter of a deceased underground rapper, who's pursuing her own rap career. Bri is more than her dreams of making it out of the hood and reaching rap stardom; she is a girl who loves her family and friends fiercely. Bri's chance at fame comes after a rap battle in which the song she pens garners massive attention. When Bri's mother loses her job, Bri's rap ambitions become more crucial than ever. They could be her and her family's ticket to a better life unthreatened by poverty. Bri is a refreshingly realistic character with trials and triumphs, strengths and flaws. She's also a teen with a traumatic past who is still going through things in the present. She still, however, manages to find the beauty and joy in life despite her tribulations, and this is where On the Come Up truly shines in its exploration of Bri's resilience, determination, and pursuit of her dreams. ?In this splendid novel, showing many facets of the Black identity and the Black experience, including both the highs and the lows of middle-class and poor Black families, Thomas gives readers another dynamic protagonist to root for. High-Demand Backstory: Thomas' debut, The Hate U Give, might ring a bell? She had a long-term stay on the New York Times best-seller list for her first novel, and the hype for her second is damn near deafening. Grades 9-12. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.
BookPage Reviews
On the Come Up
"I might have to kill somebody tonight." It's a powerful opening line for multiple award-winning author Angie Thomas' sophomore novel, On the Come Up, which brings readers back to the neighborhood of Garden Heights, the setting of her debut, The Hate U Give. But what 16-year-old Bri really wants to slay is her competitor in the Ring, a place where wannabe rappers come to compete against each other. She's beyond confident; after all, she's the daughter of Lawless, a legendary and influential rapper who was killed in the midst of gang violence.
Fueled with a desire to be like her father, Bri goes big with her verse—maybe too big. When she wins the rap battle and a buzzworthy video of her performance goes viral, she discovers that her war has just begun. Bri's raw and controversial lyrics put her in danger when they incite misunderstanding and anger, and her classmates label her as "hood." Add to that an eviction notice, a drug-dealing aunt and an out-of-work mom who's a recovering addict, and it looks like Bri has bitten off more than she can chew on her way to the top.
Can Bri remain true to herself while rapping behind a tough persona? And is free speech really free—especially for young black people? Bri discovers that this fighting-for-your-life thing gets real in more ways than one.
Thomas knocked it out of the park with The Hate U Give—amassing scores of literary awards and a blockbuster movie deal. In the introduction to her new book, she calls that experience "surreal." But Thomas should prepare for even more attention and accolades, because On the Come Up is another raw and powerful look at the challenges of being young and black in America.
This article was originally published in the February 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.
Copyright 2019 BookPage Reviews.Horn Book Guide Reviews
Sixteen-year-old Bri attends a public arts high school and dreams of being a rapper like her late father. After winning a rap battle in her neighborhood, doors start to open--but at a price Bri isn't sure she's willing to pay. Thomas's sharp, even piercing, characterization includes a remarkably well-rounded cast. A richly woven love letter to hip-hop, with Bri's lyrics and her thought process behind them included throughout. Copyright 2019 Horn Book Guide Reviews.
Horn Book Magazine Reviews
If reading The Hate U Give (rev. 3/17) was like listening to 2Pac, intent on capturing the emotional impact of injustice, On the Come Up is more like Biggie, 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. Sixteen-year-old Bri attends a public arts high school and dreams of being a rapper like her father, who was murdered in a gang shooting outside their house when Bri was young. Her mother, a recovering addict, and her studious older brother, recently admitted to graduate school, work hard as they worry about making ends meet, and they face the perpetual indignities of a world that unfairly judges poverty as lack of character. After winning a rap battle in her neighborhood (the same setting as The Hate U Give), Bri—who is already known at her school since being thrown to the ground by security officers—becomes "hood famous." Doors start to open; her father's old manager wants to take her on as a client—but it comes at a price Bri isn't sure she is willing to pay. 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 indelible and intricate story of a young woman who is brilliant and sometimes reckless, who is deeply loved and rightfully angry at a world that reduces her to less than her big dreams call her to be, provides 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—make 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 themes familiar to Thomas's readers, such as the over-policing of black bodies and navigating beloved communities that are also challenged by drugs and violence. christina l. dobbs March/April 2019 p 91 Copyright 2019 Horn Book Magazine Reviews.
Kirkus Reviews
This honest and unflinching story of toil, tears, and triumph is a musical love letter that proves literary lightning does indeed strike twice Thomas' (The Hate U Give, 2017) sophomore novel returns to Garden Heights, but while Brianna may live in Starr's old neighborhood, their experiences couldn't differ more. Raised by a widowed mother, a recovering drug addict, Bri attends an arts school while dreaming of becoming a famous rapper, as her father was before gang violence ended his life. Her struggles within the music industry and in school highlight the humiliations and injustices that remain an indelible part of the African-American story while also showcasing rap's undeniable lyrical power as a language through which to find strength. Bri's journey is deeply personal: small in scope and edgy in tone. When Bri raps, the prose sings on the page as she uses it to voice her frustration at being stigmatized as "hood" at school, her humiliation at being unable to pay the bills, and her yearning to succeed in the music world on her own merit. Most importantly, the novel gives voice to teens whose lives diverge from middle-class Americana. Bri wrestles with parent relationships and boy drama—and a trip to the food bank so they don't starve during Christmas. The rawness of Bri's narrative demonstrates Thomas' undeniable storytelling prowess as she tells truths that are neither pretty nor necessarily universally relatable. A joyous experience awaits. Read it. Learn it. Love it. (Fiction. 13-adult) Copyright Kirkus 2019 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.
Publishers Weekly Reviews
Thomas's highly anticipated follow up to
School Library Journal Reviews