Concrete Rose – Angie Thomas

If there’s one thing seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it’s that a real man takes care of his family. As the son of a former gang legend, Mav does that the only way he knows how: dealing for the King Lords. With this money he can help his mom, who works two jobs while his dad’s in prison.

Life’s not perfect, but with a fly girlfriend and a cousin who always has his back, Mav’s got everything under control.

Until, that is, Maverick finds out he’s a father.

Angie Thomas has struck again with another beautiful novel that captivates you from the very first page and I am certain at this point that she is incapable of writing anything bad. The way in which she creates characters and atmosphere is extraordinary.

Whenever I read an Angie Thomas book I feel as though the characters are real people whose lives we are dipping into. This is something that is so special about her writing. The fact that not only does she show realistic people and situations but also that her stories and characters actually feel real for the reader. You feel the character’s struggles and frustrations with them and feel like you need to help them. It is very easy to understand what the characters are feeling and the situations they are facing.

I adored the links between the other books that Angie Thomas has written in Concrete Rose. If you have read Angie Thomas’ previous books you will notice links and little easter eggs to her other characters from her other books. Not only that but there are links to other authors books and characters too. There are a couple of Nic Stone and Becky Albertalli easter eggs which really brought a smile to my face.

Maverick is such an excellent character. If you have read The Hate U Give you will have met Maverick but he is really given his time to shine in Concrete Rose. We get to see a lot more of Maverick and how much of an interesting and complex character that he is. The most important thing that I feel we see is how much of a fantastic father he is. Right from the beginning of the book we see that he has a deep love for this children, despite everything that he is going through.

Every single other characters in this book is equally as wonderful, however minor of a character they are. Angie Thomas has a way of putting so much personality and life into every character interaction meaning you feel like you know them all on some form of personal level. I felt as though I could very easily imagine the characters and the world continuing on outside of the story of Concrete Rose.

Concrete Rose shows all the good and bad that exists in the real world. It shows the readers the tragedies, the issues and the triumphs that people face especially those of people whose stories are very rarely told. Angie manages to do by showing it all as it is and not exaggerating unnecessarily, which gives the book a grounded feel. All the problems that the characters face throughout the book don’t all get solved in the end. We continue to see that bad things exist even after our characters are triumphant. Therefore, this book is a spectacular read that is true to real-life.

Overall, I throughly enjoyed and would highly recommend this book. Angie Thomas can do no wrong and every book she writes becomes a favourite of mine and this is no different! I urge you to read this and her other books if you haven’t already and I wait in anticipation for whatever she writes next!