Editors Reads Verdict
Thomas's second novel is less structurally tight than The Hate U Give but equally committed to its world — a love letter to hip-hop and to the pressure that faces young Black women who try to claim a space in it.
What We Loved
- The hip-hop world is rendered with the specificity of a genuine fan — not background noise but central subject
- Bri's relationship with her community and its expectations is as complex as Starr's in The Hate U Give
- The treatment of how a Black teenager is read and misread by media is sharp and current
Minor Drawbacks
- Longer and less focused than The Hate U Give
- The viral controversy plot occasionally feels schematic
Key Takeaways
- → Artistic ambition and community loyalty can pull in opposite directions — and both pulls are real
- → A Black teenager going viral faces a specific set of projections that have nothing to do with her intent
- → Legacy — what your parent was before you knew them — is its own kind of inheritance
| Author | Angie Thomas |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Balzer + Bray |
| Pages | 473 |
| Published | February 5, 2019 |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Young Adult, Literary Fiction |
| Difficulty | Beginner |
| Best For | Readers of The Hate U Give and fans of hip-hop culture who want YA fiction that takes the artform seriously. |
The Daughter of a Legend
Brianna (Bri) Jackson’s father Lawless was one of the greatest battle rappers in Garden Heights before he was killed. Bri has his talent and his ambition — she wants to be the greatest rapper of all time — but she is also sixteen, going to a school that treats Black students as threats, living in a neighbourhood where the opportunities are constrained, and responsible to a family and community whose expectations of her are complicated and specific.
When a song she writes goes viral — not in the way she intended, stripped of context and used to justify a narrative about violent Black youth — Bri has to navigate the gap between what she meant and what the world has decided she meant.
Hip-Hop as Subject
What On the Come Up does that its predecessor does not is take hip-hop seriously as an art form. Thomas is not using rap as backdrop but as central subject — the specific craft of bars, the competitive tradition of the cypher, the economics of mixtapes and label deals, the history of the genre and the place of legacy in it. Bri’s father is not just a dead parent but a specific presence in the culture, and her relationship to his memory is inseparable from her relationship to the music.
Our rating: 4.0/5 — A love letter to hip-hop and to the young women who fight for space in it. Less focused than The Hate U Give but equally committed.
Reading Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "On the Come Up" about?
Bri, sixteen, is the daughter of a legendary rapper who died before he made it. She wants to be the greatest rapper of all time — and writes a song that goes viral for all the wrong reasons.
Who should read "On the Come Up"?
Readers of The Hate U Give and fans of hip-hop culture who want YA fiction that takes the artform seriously.
What are the key takeaways from "On the Come Up"?
Artistic ambition and community loyalty can pull in opposite directions — and both pulls are real A Black teenager going viral faces a specific set of projections that have nothing to do with her intent Legacy — what your parent was before you knew them — is its own kind of inheritance
Is "On the Come Up" worth reading?
Thomas's second novel is less structurally tight than The Hate U Give but equally committed to its world — a love letter to hip-hop and to the pressure that faces young Black women who try to claim a space in it.
Ready to Read On the Come Up?
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