A Love Hate Thing by Whitney D. Grandison

I read the reviews before deciding to craft my own, which is something I normally don’t do. And I could see why some of the reviews were negative. All the points they made were valid. However, I don’t like bashing a book just because it’s not perfect. This book still had many good qualities that shouldn’t be ignored and didn’t deserve to be bashed. 

The things that did work: 

Trice. I did like him. Although at times he felt unrealistic, I could see his complexity. He had one foot in his old neighborhood and one foot in his new neighborhood and he felt torn. When someone you love dies, living can feel like a betrayal and I definitely felt for Trice. 

Not only that, he was a poor, black foster kid from the hood living in a rich, white neighborhood with a well off black family. I felt him when he kept counting down the moments until he turned 18 and he could leave. But Trice did begin to open up to his new life and make some real genuine friends. Most importantly, I liked that he stood up for himself and what he believed. Even though he came off hard and cold, he never changed who he was, he just changed how he was going to move forward in life. Trice definitely had some character growth that isn’t shown a lot in black men. But I especially liked that he put Nandy in her place. And I liked that he got to reconcile the trauma of his past. Even though I felt the ending was a little campy, it inspired hope and that made this book so endearing. 

The things that didn’t work:

Nandy. I didn’t like her. She was an entitled, spoiled brat who wasn’t redeemable to me. I could see how Trice’s character found that endearing because when they were seven, it was cute. But at seventeen, it’s not cute. It’s childish and immature and how he put up with her was beyond me. Plus, I felt like the book kind of shoved him and Nandy together and they lacked development. 

Despite that, I couldn’t put this book down. I was excited to see Trice’s story and how he would change. And although I was disappointed in Nandy, I wanted to see her change as well. And I liked Nandy and Trice together, she did bring out his softer side and he made her think more consciously about her character. There definitely was a lot of good stuff here, it just could have been executed better. Still, A Love Hate Thing was worth the read and I think you’ll like it too, if you give it a chance.