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bookishmillennial's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I think this one could have stayed in the drafts or made for a short story, albeit with a different ending?
I struggle with anyone gatekeeping activism, and that’s what the main character -Jasmyn- of this book does. However, that does not mean I co-sign her deserving the ending.
I fully recognize this is meant to be darker satire, but I do think this reads as trying to teach white people or even non-Black people. I agree with the sentiments, I just struggle with the execution of this particular novel.
I struggle with anyone gatekeeping activism, and that’s what the main character -Jasmyn- of this book does. However, that does not mean I co-sign her deserving the ending.
I fully recognize this is meant to be darker satire, but I do think this reads as trying to teach white people or even non-Black people. I agree with the sentiments, I just struggle with the execution of this particular novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Racism, Police brutality, Confinement, and Toxic relationship
the_cover_contessa's review
challenging
dark
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for providing me with a copy of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I am a big Nicola Yoon fan. I've read all her YA and I was super excited to see what her dive into adult fiction would be like. So much so, I didn't even read the blurb for this one but just requested it because I was sure I would love it.
Unfortunately, this book left me confused and unsatisfied.
When I started reading it, I saw it's intent of the book: show the fear of what it's like to be a Black person in the United States; show that racism still exists; show that Black people feel as though they are being erased in one form or another. I was very interested to watch the book blossom. To learn things from the book that would help me understand what it's like to be Black in our country. And, at some points, it did. I felt the fear, I felt the uncertainty, I felt the injustice. But, I also felt lost. Even at 50% into the book, I really had no idea where it was going. Yes, I knew there was mystery and thrill to be had, but I had zero inkling of what that could even possibly be.
I definitely got the Stepford Wives vibes that I'm sure the author was going for. There's a sense of dread from the very beginning. You just know things are not going to end well.
I wasn't a fan of the FMC, Jasmyn. She didn't have much depth to her. I really wanted to be on her side and see where she was coming from but overall I just felt like her character missed the mark with helping me feel empathy and really understanding her plight. She comes across as very shallow. Her dedication to helping eradicate racism and help her community is commendable. At the same time, she is very judgemental and revolves her entire life around this change, so much so she judges others if they do not do what she does. As if her way of being Black was better than anyone who might choose a different path.
As for the other characters, I didn't understand, connect, or even really get to know them. They seemed very surface to me.
The pacing was quite slow though Yoon's writing is good. I'm not sure I agree with the third person point of view she provided. Perhaps a first person point of view would have helped me connect more with the main character as she told the story. There is a lot of guessing how others are feeling, what they are doing, etc. and I just found it annoying.
Yoon makes a statement with the theme of this book when it comes to being a POC in the United States and how that feels. I was hoping to learn and grow and see how I could find something that would help me better understand this point of view. But, in the end, I was just left feeling unsatisfied. Does it provide commentary on race and and class, sure. But it was really hard for me to connect with the characters.
I am a big Nicola Yoon fan. I've read all her YA and I was super excited to see what her dive into adult fiction would be like. So much so, I didn't even read the blurb for this one but just requested it because I was sure I would love it.
Unfortunately, this book left me confused and unsatisfied.
When I started reading it, I saw it's intent of the book: show the fear of what it's like to be a Black person in the United States; show that racism still exists; show that Black people feel as though they are being erased in one form or another. I was very interested to watch the book blossom. To learn things from the book that would help me understand what it's like to be Black in our country. And, at some points, it did. I felt the fear, I felt the uncertainty, I felt the injustice. But, I also felt lost. Even at 50% into the book, I really had no idea where it was going. Yes, I knew there was mystery and thrill to be had, but I had zero inkling of what that could even possibly be.
I definitely got the Stepford Wives vibes that I'm sure the author was going for. There's a sense of dread from the very beginning. You just know things are not going to end well.
I wasn't a fan of the FMC, Jasmyn. She didn't have much depth to her. I really wanted to be on her side and see where she was coming from but overall I just felt like her character missed the mark with helping me feel empathy and really understanding her plight. She comes across as very shallow. Her dedication to helping eradicate racism and help her community is commendable. At the same time, she is very judgemental and revolves her entire life around this change, so much so she judges others if they do not do what she does. As if her way of being Black was better than anyone who might choose a different path.
As for the other characters, I didn't understand, connect, or even really get to know them. They seemed very surface to me.
The pacing was quite slow though Yoon's writing is good. I'm not sure I agree with the third person point of view she provided. Perhaps a first person point of view would have helped me connect more with the main character as she told the story. There is a lot of guessing how others are feeling, what they are doing, etc. and I just found it annoying.
Yoon makes a statement with the theme of this book when it comes to being a POC in the United States and how that feels. I was hoping to learn and grow and see how I could find something that would help me better understand this point of view. But, in the end, I was just left feeling unsatisfied. Does it provide commentary on race and and class, sure. But it was really hard for me to connect with the characters.
me_alley's review against another edition
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC! I get what the author was trying to do with this book- a fear that blackness is being erased. That black people in America would save themselves from harm if they had the chance to. I am reminded of Dave chappelle stand up saying, "Blue Lives Matter? What? That is a uniform. You can take that off! If I could take my black skin off, I'd be out the game." This story is about Jasmyn and her family moving to Liberty, a 'black utopia" suburb of LA. All black population, very wealthy, with all black teachers, police, black mayor, black Santa Claus. There is some foreshadowing but I don't think I could have predicted the ending. I feel like this really missed the mark- qualities seen as white are better and there is a lack of "black joy" and culture. I will give it two stars because it isn't poorly written, good dialogue. In the acknowledgements she calls it a "Tragedy" but I didn't get that. It made me uncomfortable. Not in a good way. I like books like "Skin and Bones" and "Such a Fun Age" and "Rebecca not Becky"these are contemporary fiction novels that share racist themes and make me uncomfortable in a GOOD way, that challenges me.
dyannareads's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
savannahheil's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
windywife's review
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
As a white woman, I found the perspective of a black woman fighting racial inequalities informative. She was trying, against the odds, to hold on to her past and fight for those don’t always have equal treatment due to skin color. On top of that, this story felt like a retelling of “Stepford Wives” with the all too perfect community.
Without giving anything away, I will have to say I was surprised and frustrated with the ending. I was also disappointed that one of the side couples was homosexual. Both of those things bring my rating down a star.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Police brutality, Racism, Death, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Sexual content
bahareads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I have been a fan of Yoon but this book was a disappointment.
One of Our Kind lacked depth. Yoon wrote this book for White readers. If you want to be hit over the head with racial discourse the book could be for you. The book gets a star simply because it was a finished product. I would have put this book down but saw it through to the end because my friend had vented to me about it. I thought 'surely not Yoon!' I was wrong.
One of Our Kind follows the Williams, a Black family, moving into the wealthy Black neighbourhood, Liberty. The wife, Jasmyn, is pro-Black. PRO-BLACK. By the end of the book, the rhetoric is almost Black-Israelite Black. She's so pro-black, she is anti-Black. Jasmyn is searching for like-minded people inside the neighbourhood and finds a small community (which was slowly chipped away at in the book). She has a bad feeling about Liberty which cannot be shaken though her husband, King LOVES it.
Jasmyn and King argue back and forth about their neighbours and living in the neighbourhood. They also argue about how Black or not-Black they are being. Jasmyn believes Black people should only have natural hair, be of darker skin colour, talk about racism and racial trauma constantly, and give unhealthy portions of time to giving back to the community. If you do not fall into (and all) of these categories you're a coon! Hair is the thing Jasmyn comments on the most when she meets someone. She can tell if you're One of Her Kind or not by it. Nicola Yoon has Jasmyn focus on the hardest aspects of the Black experience, it is pounded time and time again into the reader. There is no Black joy or love in this book. It is probably shocking to the White reader, but tiring for a Black one.
Yoon brings in details about the Williams family once for the plot and never mentions them again. I honestly forgot Jasmyn was pregnant because it was NEVER mentioned again. Side characters are not fleshed out. They are only there for the plot. King - THE FREAKIN HUSBAND - is not developed as a character at all.
A Black woman writing this type of novel is sad. What makes it worse is all the people who read this book before publication and let it happen. No one stopped to think critically about the message, the narration, or the characterization. Let me say, White people it is okay to say "Hey this doesn't seem right to me," even when talking about Black characters. At least it will bring some discussion, and one or both conversation parties can be enlightened.
Do not just read my review about it. Other Black women say the same thing.
One of Our Kind lacked depth. Yoon wrote this book for White readers. If you want to be hit over the head with racial discourse the book could be for you. The book gets a star simply because it was a finished product. I would have put this book down but saw it through to the end because my friend had vented to me about it. I thought 'surely not Yoon!' I was wrong.
One of Our Kind follows the Williams, a Black family, moving into the wealthy Black neighbourhood, Liberty. The wife, Jasmyn, is pro-Black. PRO-BLACK. By the end of the book, the rhetoric is almost Black-Israelite Black. She's so pro-black, she is anti-Black. Jasmyn is searching for like-minded people inside the neighbourhood and finds a small community (which was slowly chipped away at in the book). She has a bad feeling about Liberty which cannot be shaken though her husband, King LOVES it.
Jasmyn and King argue back and forth about their neighbours and living in the neighbourhood. They also argue about how Black or not-Black they are being. Jasmyn believes Black people should only have natural hair, be of darker skin colour, talk about racism and racial trauma constantly, and give unhealthy portions of time to giving back to the community. If you do not fall into (and all) of these categories you're a coon! Hair is the thing Jasmyn comments on the most when she meets someone. She can tell if you're One of Her Kind or not by it. Nicola Yoon has Jasmyn focus on the hardest aspects of the Black experience, it is pounded time and time again into the reader. There is no Black joy or love in this book. It is probably shocking to the White reader, but tiring for a Black one.
Yoon brings in details about the Williams family once for the plot and never mentions them again. I honestly forgot Jasmyn was pregnant because it was NEVER mentioned again. Side characters are not fleshed out. They are only there for the plot. King - THE FREAKIN HUSBAND - is not developed as a character at all.
A Black woman writing this type of novel is sad. What makes it worse is all the people who read this book before publication and let it happen. No one stopped to think critically about the message, the narration, or the characterization. Let me say, White people it is okay to say "Hey this doesn't seem right to me," even when talking about Black characters. At least it will bring some discussion, and one or both conversation parties can be enlightened.
Do not just read my review about it. Other Black women say the same thing.
shellysbookcorner's review
I was so excited to read this book because I love Yoon’s young adult novels, but this story was a mess. The anti blackness was running wild and rampant in the story. The main character Jasmyn was so judgmental over the other Black women who wore their hair a certain way. Then she got upset when one of the characters didn’t want to watch a video of a Black man getting killed by a police officer. As a Black woman I can no longer watch those videos either. After watching Eric Garner being killed here on Staten Island where I live that was final straw for me. Surprise, surprise the cop was found not guilty. 🙃
Spoiler Alert:
Since the anti blackness in this book was upsetting me I skipped to the end and I was not a fan of this ending at all! The Black people in the book got tired of all the struggles that come with being Black so they started doing experiments to make themselves white……they also erased their prior experiences of being Black as well. Ain’t no way. Nope. I wouldn’t change being Black for anything and this book is such a slap in the face to Black people. I will not recommend this book to anyone. Period.