First of all I need to thank Walker Books YA for sending me a proof. Concrete Rose was one of my anticipated reads for 2021 and when I saw proofs flying around Twitter, I had to have one!
* CONTAINS SPOILERS*
Themes: Family, fatherhood, identity, love
With his King Lord dad in prison and his mom working two jobs, seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter helps the only way he knows how—slinging drugs. He thinks life is good until he gets Iesha pregnant and suddenly his a father to his first born child, Seven. But when his girlfriend Lisa gets pregnant with his second child, Maverick wants to go on the straight path but leaving the King Lord's isn't that straight forward.
Anyone that knows me knows that I LOVE The Hate U Give, ever since I first saw the book in Waterstones and picked it up because there was a Black girl on the cover. I read the blurb and was like no way! I read a quarter of the book then and there and had to buy it. So I was very excited to return to Garden Heights and learn more about Maverick.
I kind of knew how the book would go based on what we learnt about Maverick in The Hate U Give and I was pretty spot on. I loved seeing the transformation of Maverick being this dope slinger to stepping up to father Seven and learning how to be a man. The way he treats Lisa when she's pregnant, such as picking her up from school and buying her her cravings is really nice to see, especially with the inaccurate narrative than Black fathers don't stick around. Also his relationship with women in general is pretty respectable even with Iesha disappearing on him, he still shows her grace and is understanding of her emotions.
Maverick isn't as into gang violence as I thought he was. He has a lot of compassions and thinks his actions through unlike King. I definitely thought he would avenge his cousin and was surprised when he didn't. I really liked seeing Khalil's parents and learning more about who they are because in The Hate U Give we don't know much expect his mum is a junkie.
The only thing I was a bit disappointed about was the ending. I really wanted to see how Maverick left the King Lord's and I assumed the book would end with him in jail with his dad, which was mentioned in The Hate U Give. Either way I give props to Angie Thomas because I can only imagine the pressure of writing this book with the popularity of The Hate U Give. Fans of The Hate U Give will love this book! And the actual book cover has a black man on it which I love!
4/5
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