Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“Don’t you think it’s possible that this could be good? That maybe this won’t lead to disaster after all? What if we find out that we fit together, like your grandparents and their hands?” (Bingo #8)

Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Nicola Yoon

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Blackout is a novel comprised of several short stories covering five hours in the course of one night in New York as it experiences a blackout. Tiffany D. Jackson writes The Long Walk which is broken up into five acts, Nic Stone contributes Mask Off (perhaps my favorite of the bunch), Ashley Woodfolk’s Made to Fit, Dhonielle Clayton provides All the Great Love Stories… and Dust, as well as being the person who sparked the project into existence, Angie Thomas’s No Sleep Till Brooklyn, and […]

You Can’t Spell Brilliant Without Bri

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

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Alright, Angie Thomas, you got me; I’ll read anything you write. On the Come Up is the second book by the author of The Hate U Give (which I also loved, if that wasn’t clear from the first sentence of this review). This one takes place in the same universe as THUG, and makes some reference to the events that occurred in that story. Like in THUG, Thomas uses a ripped-from-the-headlines hook to write her characters around; in this case, the harassment and racism of school […]

Very late to a very important book

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

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For me, books are usually entertainment, a way to pass the time, best enjoyed with a large glass of red wine. I do sometimes push my boundaries, read stories about people who have very little in common with me and that does make my world just a little bit bigger, but I forget just how much and how well books can teach us. I find this especially important in books aimed at teenagers because their brains are still forming and if they can hardwire themselves […]

A rose in concrete

Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas

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When I heard that Angie Thomas was publishing a third novel, I cheered. The Hate U Give is one of the best young adult novels out there, and I greatly enjoyed On the Come Up, even though it is VERY different. I paused when she announced it would be a prequel…about Maverick. I was not so sure I wanted to read a whole book about Maverick. And then I promptly devoured the whole thing last weekend and soaked up every word. As it turns out, […]

Proof that prequels can absolutely work if you have the right story.

Concrete Rose (The Hate U Give, #0) by Angie Thomas

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To be quite honest with you, not only do I feel this is an excellent prequel (a rare beast in and of itself), I may actually have liked this one better than it’s predecessor, The Hate U Give. I will hold off on stating that for certain as I haven’t read that book since it was first published, so my memories of it aren’t the freshest. But this book was great! Prequels CAN be done, if you have an author that isn’t scrambling to justify […]

Turn This Into Another Movie Stat

Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas

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CW: pregnancy, abortion (my speaking about it, not an indication of what is in the book!) This is decidedly not a spoiler-y because everyone and their mother has read The Hate U Give by now. If you haven’t, I’m very confused as to why you are reading a review for the Lucas-esque prequel-that-was-written after. Again, it is no spoiler that Maverick is going to have two kids. The story begins VERY much in media res with him finding out that Iesha is pregnant with Seven, so much so that […]



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