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A review by the_cover_contessa
One Of Our Kind by Nicola Yoon
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.