kaelizaco's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, Gun violence, Bullying, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
dblue236's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
qace90's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I knew this would be an emotional ride, which is a large part of why I’ve waited to read it. But it was totally worth it! The first three quarters were so sweet and soft, even as Moss is dealing with the grief of his father’s murder six years prior and the anger of his school getting a police presence that keeps harming his friends. When he decides to do a peaceful protest by doing a school-wide walk-out, things took a turn for devastation. I loved so much about the friendships, the family, the community, and Moss’s romance with Javier. That ending lines, especially, packed such a punch. I’m so glad I finally read this, and I’m looking forward to reading Mark Oshiro’s other books!
manjirbag's review against another edition
5.0
My review for "Anger is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro was originally published at BookBrowse: https://www.bookbrowse.com/mag/reviews/index.cfm/ref/pr241664
nanceoir's review
5.0
This book is sweet, scary, uplifting, upsetting, empowering, uncomfortable, and generally fantastic. There are no easy answers, but that's no reason not to fight. I love Moss and Wanda and their chosen family. I love basically everything about this book, even the parts that are uncomfortable because it's about listening and not making everything about you.
wombat_88's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
thatbookishwriter's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
marcopoloreads's review against another edition
5.0
This book was sent to me as a part of the teenreads.com Teen Board for review.
As this is my most anticipated read of the year, I am happy to say it didn’t disappoint. ANGER IS A GIFT is Mark Oshiro’s debut novel follows our main character Moss, who, with a group of his friends, start protesting at their school. The reason for these protests is because there have been many choices the school has made to “protect” its students when it has only made them more furious. These choices include things such as adding metal detectors into school and placing police officers in these schools as well. ANGER IS A GIFT is a story of police brutality, racism, and protesting. It is an extremely detailed, violent, and necessary novel that shows the way people react when forced into hard situations.
First of all, I would like to point out that this novel is filled and filled with diversity, which made this book more enjoyable for me. It had black characters, latinx characters, Muslim characters, ace characters, bi characters, trans characters, etc. There was even a disabled side character that played a big role in the story, which surprised me. What I loved about the diversity though was that it felt very natural the entire novel. Even with this gigantic cast, Mark Oshiro was able to flesh out all of these characters enough to make them feel like real people.
This book has a romance male-male between Moss and another boy, and it’s the cutest thing ever! The two were such a sweet and likable pair that I didn’t mind the romance one bit. In fact, I loved all of the relationships between the characters in this book in general! The friendships, the romances, and family relationships were all things I just adored.
I just loved the entire idea of ANGER IS A GIFT in general. Specifically, I love the how the quote “Anger is a gift” is used throughout the story. It plays on that idea (at least, in my opinion) that in order for change to truly happen we need to be angry about things to the point when we have to do something. ANGER IS A GIFT reminds me a lot of the music video "This Is America" by Childish Gambino, where it follows that theme of ignoring what is truly going on behind the scenes.
As for the writing, I did find that Mark Oshiro tended to write more detail than necessary; there were tons of moments where the writing felt like it needed to shorten a bit more. This was the same for the length of the book in general; it an extremely long contemporary that had a longer plotline than needed. I know there are people who will not end up enjoying this book as much because of the writing, so if you’re someone who cares about writing a lot, know that before going into the story. Also, this book is written in third person, which almost never happens in contemporary novels. I don’t like third person point of view most of the time, but I somehow was able to enjoy it here.
I could go on and on about why I loved ANGER IS A GIFT, but I won’t because that would make this review too long. Once again, I would recommend this to people who are fans of the "This Is America" music video and fans of Jason Reynolds.
As this is my most anticipated read of the year, I am happy to say it didn’t disappoint. ANGER IS A GIFT is Mark Oshiro’s debut novel follows our main character Moss, who, with a group of his friends, start protesting at their school. The reason for these protests is because there have been many choices the school has made to “protect” its students when it has only made them more furious. These choices include things such as adding metal detectors into school and placing police officers in these schools as well. ANGER IS A GIFT is a story of police brutality, racism, and protesting. It is an extremely detailed, violent, and necessary novel that shows the way people react when forced into hard situations.
First of all, I would like to point out that this novel is filled and filled with diversity, which made this book more enjoyable for me. It had black characters, latinx characters, Muslim characters, ace characters, bi characters, trans characters, etc. There was even a disabled side character that played a big role in the story, which surprised me. What I loved about the diversity though was that it felt very natural the entire novel. Even with this gigantic cast, Mark Oshiro was able to flesh out all of these characters enough to make them feel like real people.
This book has a romance male-male between Moss and another boy, and it’s the cutest thing ever! The two were such a sweet and likable pair that I didn’t mind the romance one bit. In fact, I loved all of the relationships between the characters in this book in general! The friendships, the romances, and family relationships were all things I just adored.
I just loved the entire idea of ANGER IS A GIFT in general. Specifically, I love the how the quote “Anger is a gift” is used throughout the story. It plays on that idea (at least, in my opinion) that in order for change to truly happen we need to be angry about things to the point when we have to do something. ANGER IS A GIFT reminds me a lot of the music video "This Is America" by Childish Gambino, where it follows that theme of ignoring what is truly going on behind the scenes.
As for the writing, I did find that Mark Oshiro tended to write more detail than necessary; there were tons of moments where the writing felt like it needed to shorten a bit more. This was the same for the length of the book in general; it an extremely long contemporary that had a longer plotline than needed. I know there are people who will not end up enjoying this book as much because of the writing, so if you’re someone who cares about writing a lot, know that before going into the story. Also, this book is written in third person, which almost never happens in contemporary novels. I don’t like third person point of view most of the time, but I somehow was able to enjoy it here.
I could go on and on about why I loved ANGER IS A GIFT, but I won’t because that would make this review too long. Once again, I would recommend this to people who are fans of the "This Is America" music video and fans of Jason Reynolds.
girlreading's review against another edition
4.0
Reading this book was like a punch to the gut. It was painful, terrifying and incredibly powerful. The events featured felt like they should have belonged in a dystopian, not a book that’s tragically realistic and inspired by current events. The fact that there were similarities between the way the kids and people in the book were treated paralleled with the treatment of characters in books like The Darkest Minds is messed up in itself but made even more so because how true to life they were.
Although I had a few issues with the structure and pacing, the wonderfully inclusive cast of characters, Moss’s openness about his mental health and sexuality with family and friends and the loving, supportive relationship he had with his mother more than made up for it.
All in all, this was a brilliantly inclusive, heart-pounding and moving read I’d highly recommend.
TW: panic attacks, ableism, racism, gun violence, misgendering, police brutality, internalised fatphobia
Although I had a few issues with the structure and pacing, the wonderfully inclusive cast of characters, Moss’s openness about his mental health and sexuality with family and friends and the loving, supportive relationship he had with his mother more than made up for it.
All in all, this was a brilliantly inclusive, heart-pounding and moving read I’d highly recommend.
TW: panic attacks, ableism, racism, gun violence, misgendering, police brutality, internalised fatphobia