The award-winning author of The Hate U Give returns with a powerful story about hip hop, freedom of speech - and fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you.
Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri's got massive shoes to fill. But when her first song goes viral for all the wrong reasons, Bri finds herself at the centre of controversy and portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. And with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri no longer just wants to make it - she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be.
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[I might have to kill somebody tonight]***
(Balzer + Bray, 5 February 2019, 452 pages, ebook, A Year of @EpicReads 2019, a book with a diverse character on the cover, borrowed from @GlasgowLib via @OverDriveLibs)
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I thought The Hate U Give was an amazing book so I had high expectations for this one. I really, really wanted to love it. Unfortunately, this one falls a little short for me. On the Come Up never gets beyond just okay in places. I just couldn't really connect to events of what was happening. One of the main issues is that I don't particularly like rap so the extract from rap songs scattered throughout the book grated a little. I felt emotionally distance from the main character, Bri. I really couldn't warm to her at all. She made terrible choices and spoke to people around her like they were dirt. Not cool. I just couldn't get behind her. She irritated me. She wrote a song that had clear references to gang activities then got all bitchy and defensive when she was called on it, denying the song was about what it was so obviously about. Whatever! She's not a good person. I really disliked her when she rats her Aunt out to a rival gang when she knows it could lead to her murder. Unfortunately, if I can't get behind the main character, even a little, the book dies for me.
