Hello, book lovers! 💕
It’s been a while since I did one of these posts, but I figured it’d be fun to do.
Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme that was started by Lauren’s Page Turners. The meme is pretty easy to follow; to participate simply choose a random book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it! I originally saw this post on A Little Haze Book Blog, who is amazing and you should definitely check their blog out.
I use a random number generator to pick the book from my Goodreads TBR. This way, I have no idea what book I’m going to end up talking about.
So without further ado, let’s get onto the book I’m going to talk about today!
The book that I ended up picking was Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas, which I actually forgot to mention in my Most Anticipated Book Releases in 2021. It actually comes out tomorrow, and I definitely plan on picking it up as soon as I can.
The following is from Goodreads:
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.
Suddenly he has a baby, Seven, who depends on him for everything. But it’s not so easy to sling dope, finish school, and raise a child. So when he’s offered the chance to go straight, he takes it. In a world where he’s expected to amount to nothing, maybe Mav can prove he’s different.
When King Lord blood runs through your veins, though, you can’t just walk away. Loyalty, revenge, and responsibility threaten to tear Mav apart, especially after the brutal murder of a loved one. He’ll have to figure out for himself what it really means to be a man.
It’s no surprise that I have this book on my TBR because I have loved all of Angie Thomas’s books that she has published. All of them are poignant and raw. So I know I’m going to really enjoy this one too.
I feel like to fully understand why I want to read Concrete Rose, I need to talk about why I loved Angie Thomas’s previous books. I know they’re pretty popular books that a lot of people have read, but if you haven’t then I’d highly recommend doing so.
The Hate U Give came out four years ago, and it still sticks with me. I remember it hitting me in all the feels as I read it (or well, listened to it since I had the audiobook for it). It was such a hard-hitting book that was so powerful. And so relevant to what’s been going on in the world today.
This is a book that I feel like everyone should read. It’s extremely important since it’s inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. Not only that but it’s “a powerful and gripping YA novel about one girl’s struggle for justice.”
On the Come Up is a 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.” Similar to The Hate U Give, it’s a powerful story about a girl trying to find her place in the world and overcome the obstacles of reaching for her dreams.
It delves into the hardships that Black people face in our country, and it’s such a compelling and emotional story that, again, I feel like everyone should read.
All that being said, I’m really looking forward to Concrete Rose when it comes out. If these previous books that Angie Thomas has published is any indication, then this is going to be an emotional but impactful story that I’m going to really enjoy.
So there you have it. That’s the book that I chose for Goodreads Monday and why I want to read it. Have you read any of Angie Thomas’s books? Are you excited to read Concrete Rose when it comes out? I’d love to chat in the comments below!
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