Review: On the Come Up

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Here we have the way Angie Thomas retains her YA queenship: another big bestseller primed to dominate the charts for months on end. :D Especially with that ass-kicking cover, so much in the style of The Hate U Give and poised to be just as iconic. :D :D


For sure, Thomas has absolutely not lost her touch - in fact, given that this book wound up being released about eight months after it was originally intended, it's for the best because Thomas really got to hone her craft that much better. Once again, Thomas takes the reader to Garden Heights and puts us in the point of view of a girl whose parents - or, in this case, parent, since Bri's dad is long dead - sent her to a better school for better opportunities. Except there's still a lot of cost to those opportunities, but more on that later. There's for sure a stronger social-justice undercurrent in the community in this book - because while the events of THUG aren't explicitly mentioned, the repeated references to "the riots" indicate that On the Come Up takes place sometime after that book. (That, plus Black Panther and Wakanda get numerous shout-outs which didn't appear in THUG as that book predated BP's soaring cinematic success by a full year.) I think it's a good thing that Thomas uses the same setting but only implies the continued impact of THUG, because it leaves this book pretty standalone for those who haven't read THUG yet - though considering how much of a juggernaut that book's been, I'm still surprised when I meet people who haven't.

I have to say, I think this book is stronger than its predecessor in all the ways, but especially in characters. And especially in our protagonist, Bri, who's a certifiable genius and artist. She's so good at freestyling that she even peppers her narrative with it quite liberally, hearing people say certain words and then start applying the great running dictionary that is her brain. The daughter of a celebrated rapper herself, she has a lot to prove, and yet - as Captain Marvel would say - "nothing to prove to you." Anyone who dares to shit on her artistry, her family, her gender, her race, or any other core aspect of her identity will be gloriously cut down as they deserve. And naturally, there are plenty, from the security guards and teachers at her arts-oriented school who crack down extra-hard on her to the misogynistic men who populate the local hip-hop industry. And those are just the most obvious gross ones.

Just like THUG, this book features tons of great characters of magnificent complexity too. Bri's got a loving family - though they struggle to make ends meet, something of a legacy of her mother Jay's past struggles with drug addiction. Her Aunt Pooh is a really memorable character of the highest order, but I'd be lying if I said you'd love her all throughout the whole book. Her best friends, Sonny and Malik, have their own troubles too - usually involving romance; Bri likes Malik but he likes another girl, and Sonny is gay and has a Simon/Blue-esque online relationship with a boy he likes, but at one point has a panic attack that drives him to ghost on Rapid. (They do eventually meet, though, and when they do, I laughed out loud with sheer joy - not only because I called who Rapid was about a hundred pages earlier, but also because, my God, the sheer subversion of that character's first impression is super incredible.)

Continuing in its predecessor's tradition, On the Come Up explores, in no uncertain terms, themes of race and social justice - part of the inspiration behind Bri's viral hit song being the brutality she herself faces. And of course feminism, and especially a focus on, and challenge to, the misogyny that so often pervades the hip-hop community. And - this theme resonates with me the most - the assertion that independent artistry is better because once the record companies and the corporations get their hands on you, they want to control your image even at the cost of your authenticity. Part of why I'm thinking more and more that when I eventually get my own books published, they'll likely be indie.

I'll close this review with a brief mention of that ending. It's got to be one of the best endings I've read in quite a while, and that's all you're getting without spoilers.

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