Damn. This felt too short but it was almost a third of the book I think. I just, sped through it. Really really good. I cannot wait to read the entire book.
Angie Thomas's writing is as amazing as ever, she totally brought me to 1998 Garden Heights. It was funny, I couldn't help but chuckle at loud at times but it was also very serious and I'm really really looking froward to finding out what happens next.
I was excited before and I'm even more so now.

I CANNOT wait for the full story to be released!!

The Hate U Give was such a moving and inspiring book and I have a strong feeling that it will be no different for Concrete Rose.

In this novel we get to learn more about Maverick. This was a character that I was desperate to know more about and I definitely got my wish.

Roll on January.

This was just a sampler but I couldn't finish it because if got too sexual for me. I know that there are lots of teens who can relate to Maverick and his story but that person just isn't me. Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this sample it my first time reading through this site and hopefully the first of many books to come!

I can't wait tor ead the rest of this book! It was just enough to leave me wanting more. Set years before The Hate U Give, Maverick is 17, a gang member and just wants to take care of his family. Then he finds out he's a father and his world is turned upside down.

I am so incredibly excited for this book, everything Angie writes is gold! I can't wait to hear Maverick's story!

Just everything I wanted after reading The Hate U Give. I am so excited for when the full book will be out. Exploring Maverick's life is everything the fans wanted.

So excited after reading this sampler to get to read the full version as soon as it releases.
I can already tell that I'll enjoy Angie Thomas' relatable and raw writing style, as in her two previous books.
Can't wait to get to know these characters and their stories more.
Will definitely be reading and recommending as soon as I have it in my hands.

I really enjoyed the sample of this book. It’s easy to read, the story’s quick and the characters are believable. I can’t wait to read the whole thing.
I don’t think I’ve read any books about a single dad before, let alone a single teenage dad, definitely not a Black single teenage dad. It was really interesting. And, as a Young Adult book, so important.
I was rooting for Maverick and the relationships he forms. He deserves more than the lot he’s handed by chance, but I can’t wait to see how his story concludes and whether some of his bad luck improves.

A prequel of The Hate U Give, we're following Starr's father Maverick, a teenager still in school but dealing on the side as part of the gang he's in. When something big changes his life, he has a chance to turn it around and be clean, if he can step into his new responsibility. But will the lure of the easy money from deal be too much and more importantly, will the gang forgive someone for trying to leave?

This 100 page sampler was enough to get me hyped for the full story. You get to know the characters, see some changing points in the story but also there's enough tension of what is yet to come, which makes me want to pick up this book ASAP! I'm invested in the story and can't wait to get the full book

I was gripped by this sampler and really want to read the rest of the story and find out what happens to Maverick and how he manages to make the right choices and turn his life around. The story feels like a real insight into the life of a teenage boy caught up in gang culture but makes it entirely understandable.

If you haven’t already jumped on the Angie Thomas train then here’s why you need too; her characters.
Thomas writes characters that are hopeful against all the odds, realistic, passionate and utterly engaging.

They are ambitious about finding themselves and making something of themselves despite the institutional and systematic obstacles that they have to battle through and learn to navigate.

I have previously utterly fallen in love with Starr (The Hate U Give) and Bri (On the Come Up) to the point that I was verging on resentful that her next book wouldn’t follow either character, but instead travel back to meet Starr’s father – Maverick Carter. It was only the lure of Thomas’s writing that made me “forgive her” and think “I spose I’ll give it a chance”. Of course by the end of the first chapter Maverick had completely won me over and I was as invested in his story as I was in his daughters. Angie Thomas simply cannot write a bad character.

Her writing too – Thomas writes in AAVE which is so rhythmic and lyrical that it’s like reading poetry. I haven’t read much AAVE yet, so I’m unsure if this is a fixture of the language or the skill with which Thomas wields it. Until I know more I’m giving all the kudos to Thomas. The story sweeps you along with such beautiful compelling, optimistic prose which contrasts starkly with the reality of the characters’ everyday struggles to work out of the poverty they have been boxed into. But as with her previous Young Adult Novels, Concrete Rose demonstrates Thomas's other signifier - strong family and community ties that help the characters to strive and thrive.

This is only a sampler as the full story is not out until January 2021, but it's enough to show that this is going to be another success for Thomas and another must read.

This is an absolute must-have for fans of The Hate U Give as Angie Thomas returns us to Garden Heights and explores the teenage years of Maverick, Starr's Dad, and his story is no less compelling. Although I only read the first four chapters here I was hooked from the opening few pages and will be very keen to read the full novel once it's out in January (I know I will have a list of reservations for it as long as my arm).

This extract screams Angie Thomas perfection - in just a few pages I am so deep into her characters and their lives, and the way she subtly drops hints into their dialogue and thoughts to give us insight into their problems and the issues they face is so brilliant. Her characters are vibrant and so real and I cannot wait to read the full thing!

Angie Thomas is a real pro at injecting life into her writing with some of the snappiest, punchiest dialogue I’ve read. This 100 page extract was great and I’m looking forward to the full book next month!

This was another case of Netgalley adding the note that this is a sampler AFTER I requested a book, and I am not one to read samplers, BUT I did read this and I really enjoyed it. I love the writing so far, Angie Thomas always delivers on this front and I think this book is going to be amazing based on this first 100 pages!

I wish this sampler was the full book because the first few chapters are so good. Angie Thomas knows how to write in a scintillating, emotionally evocative manner that captivates you immediately. Reading from Maverick's perspective as a teenager, having read The Hate U Give and seen him as an adult, was so intriguing that I can't wait to read the rest of the novel when it releases.

Like a lot of people I read and loved The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas and so was intrigued by this prequel focusing on the father featured in The Hate You Give.
This sampler of 100 pages was, in my opinion, perhaps even better than its best selling predecessor. The dialogue flows easily and you can imagine this really is how children of that time would have spoken to each other.
The pull of getting 'fast' money selling drugs is made simple to understand when you see how few alternatives are available to the young black men in this story who are often supporting their mothers and any children of their own.
When our protagonist, Maverick, realises he is a teenage father and has quite literally been left holding the baby, the gravity of his reality is addressed but is not over dramatised. Maverick accepts what has happened and takes the steps necessary to provide for his family.
Something tells me that in subsequent chapters he will make some mistakes but I liked the fact that him having a baby was treated as something he could get through with the help of his family, friends and people in the neighbourhood who offer him a job and help with childcare. Far from the media image of the dog-eat-dog world of the ghetto, there is a real sense of kinship here and of a community working together to give the younger generation an alternative to a life of crime. This has definitely piqued my interest to dive into the full novel once it's published.

Maverick is living with his mum, and loves basketball, family, and hanging out with his girlfriend, Lisa. However, a DNA test for his best friend’s baby comes back and it’s actually his! Now he has to take care of his new son, whilst also finding a job to make some money, and on top of that he needs to graduate college. Can he do it? Find out soon...
From the start, I loved the style of writing, and the development of the characters was enthralling: I literally cried out “No!!” when I finished the sample! I could not put it down, and just wanted to keep reading. I found Maverick to be a very enjoyable character to read about, and I started to really sympathise with him. This is a very good start to the novel, and I cannot wait to read more

In less than 100 pages, I'm already totally and completely hooked. Concrete Rose is one of my most anticipated reads of the new year, and I was way to thrilled to get the opportunity to visit Garden Heights again.
Thomas captures Maverick's voice brilliantly, his personality is already consistent with the man we know from The Hate U Give. The same goes for the atmosphere of Garden Heights, the atmosphere from The Hate U Give and On the Come Up is just as familiar in Concrete Rose.

I'm already so intrigued by Maverick's story, and I think it will make this complex and layered character even more of a favourite. In just a few chapters I was completely gripped, and now I can't wait to get my hands on the full copy. Bring on 2021!

Hugely excited by this excerpt and the start of Concrete Rose. The story has Angie Thomas' signature style and an introduction to characters that promise to tell an amazing story. I can't wait to read the full book.