A great teen read that shows a lot of incite into issues we may not know our teens have. Very compelling.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I absolutely loved this book! It was such a captivating read! I couldn’t stop reading! I loved the characters and the story! Highly recommend!

I really expected more from this book. I really appreciated the romance here, the two of them were so cute together and felt like a real couple that teens will be able to relate to. Though i saw that many reviewers were not a fan of the slang in this book, like the use of "bacon", I had no issues there and thought it accurately portrayed teens using slang. I think he really nailed the ways that teens act and interact with each other, adults, and the world around them.

However, if the author was looking to have a conversation on race that teens will understand, i feel the way that was done here was too superficial to be beneficial for anyone. Then the book ends extremely abruptly, and i feel the ending was a huge disservice to the book as a w whole. I'll give it a 2.5 but round up to 3.

Based on the cover, the title, and the premise, I was completely hooked and sold!

However, the delivery of these elements left a lot to be desired.

On the surface, you have an interracial relationship that is complicated once the sisters of the two teens begin actively campaigning against each other.

Suddenly, racial elements that had not previously been an issue for the couple are center stage.

Basically, I think this novel had a great deal of promise, but I feel ultimately let down by the delivery and execution of the premise. Maybe I will re-read it and update my review, but for now, I can't say this is one I would recommend for students to explore such a complicated issue.

Synopsis:
A searing YA debut that follows the joys, complexities, and heartbreaks of an interracial romance between high school sophomores that blossoms during a volatile school election

Uly would rather watch old Westerns with his new girlfriend, Sallie, than get involved in his school's politics—why focus on the “bad” and “ugly” when his days with Sallie are so good? His older sister Regina feels differently. She is fed up with the way white school-body presidential candidate Leona Walls talks about Black students. Regina decides to run against Leona . . . and convinces Uly to be her campaign manager.

Sallie has no interest in managing her sister's campaign, but how could she say no? After their parents' death, Leona is practically her only family. Even after Leona is accused of running a racist campaign that targets the school's students of color—including Sallie's boyfriend, Uly—Sallie wants to give her sister the benefit of the doubt. But how long can she ignore the ugly truth behind Leona's actions?


Together and apart, Uly and Sallie must navigate sibling loyalty and romantic love as the campaign spirals toward a devastating conclusion.

CW: Acts of racism and bigotry, racist language, and gun violence are portrayed in this novel.

3.5 stars rounded up. The beginning was a little slow but once it got to the meat of the story I thought it was really good. I absolutely loved how no character was portrayed as 100% good or 100% bad. Definitely one side was on the right side of history but all characters were humans and no human is 100% good or evil. I do wonder where the hell Lady M was during her daughter’s campaign. It could have been really powerful to introduce her as voice (on either side) rather than a background character who doesn’t seem to know or care what’s going on. Also, the slang was actually physically painful. I hated it SO MUCH. But as a resident of Real City I’ll keep it 100 and admit that I’m a millennial so maybe I’m just old. Truthanasia. At least the story itself was supremely bacon. (I’m cringing as I write this.)

I was provided an ebook copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.


Sallie and Uly are just two teens who fall in love, but when their sisters start opposing campaigns in a bid for their school’s presidency, suddenly their relationship gets a lot more complicated. Suddenly the fact that Sallie is white and Uly is black becomes an issue that it wasn’t before.


That’s so bacon!
That’s so corduroy!
Swipe right!

This book was as awful as the made up slang used in it. My god. This book made me so extremely uncomfortable and only part of the time was it in the way the author intended.

A book with a romance, while addressing issues such as racism, transphobia, and more is definitely a book that I would normally be all about. But this one failed majorly.

The first and obvious complaint is that the author made up so much slang that it was impossible to look past. Every page was some reference to slang that doesn’t exist. It was so annoying and over-the-top. Second, all of the characters were extremely unlikable. I know that was probably in part the author’s intention, but I can’t stand a book where there’s no one to root for. The only one I kind of liked was Uly, but even then he kept dating a girl who kept denying her sister was racist when her sister was extremely racist and bigoted. Maybe it’s just me but if you stand up and defend racism, you’re just as much a part of the problem. So I’m shocked and in disbelief that he would keep dating her. Third, the book is about a school presidential election that escalates to hate crimes essentially. No school I’ve ever attended, as messed up as some of those people in charge are, would ever allow a school-hosted thing to lead to that level of chaos. I spent the entire time just questioning why the faculty didn’t shut it down. Not to mention no school would dedicate this amount of time and energy to a flipping school election. It was so unrealistic. Fourth, none of the characters are fleshed out. I had no attachment to any of these characters. What was happening in the story was horrifying and disgusting, but I still couldn’t feel any emotions about the characters. Fifth, any trope that you can find is thrown in, and not in a way that makes sense or seems plausible. All of these things happen and are very real, important issues but the author just haphazardly threw them all together without making it all make sense and forming a coherent story. Finally, I have to address the ending. I won’t give spoilers but my god it was out of nowhere and felt so sudden. If just didn’t fit in right.

To summarize, I did not enjoy this book at all. It made me extremely disgusted for sure, but there was nothing and no one to root for. I only finished it because it was an arc.

Kwame Ivery's novel "The Problem with the Other Side" tells the story of an interracial high school couple and tackles many hot-button, controversial issues and does so quite well. Sally is white and Uly is black. They seem as different as the color of their skin but as they connect, they realize that these differences may be just as skin-deep. They connect and have a special bond that is tested when their older sisters run against each other for school government.

Past that, the story felt stilted. As a teacher, the school environment felt very unrealistic; students are committing crimes on the campus and pretty much running the school. If this had been more realistic, I think I could've bought in more.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The voice rang true for a 16 year old kid. The setting was realistic. It was fast paced. Getting to see Uly and Sallie’s relationship unfold while their sibling relationships struggled was enjoyable (in a weird way). I found all of the characters to be realistic, with Wilks being the only flat/stereotypical character (but I’m okay with that!). I found reading from Uly’s perspective way more interesting than Sallie’s perspective, but both were needed to fully tell the story.

Sallie and Uly noticed each other while they were in a high school production together. Not that they had never seen each other before, but they noticed each other. Neither thought the other would be interested, in that high school sense of insecurity. They are so different yet so much the same. As their interracial romance begins to grow, their sisters become opposing candidates for student body president, each appointing her younger sibling to be campaign manager. Can they survive the spring election season with their budding romance in tact? Will their sisters end up killing each other? Will their school still be standing after the racially fueled escapades?
This story is great for those who enjoy young romance overcoming obstacles. And shocking, unforeseen twists at the end. Looking forward to more from this debut author.

CW: acts of racism and bigotry, racist language, gun violence, death

Sallie is white. Uly is Black. After acting in a terrible play together, they start talking and notice a spark. As the two get closer, it seems as though their sisters want to tear them apart. Sallie's sister Leona has made some racist comments in her attempt to make a speech for becoming School President, and Uly's sister Regina is running in opposition because honestly, she's angry, and she doesn't want to let the racist white girl win. Sallie and Uly love their sisters, but they also love each other... now what?

Honestly, from the start, something about this book felt off. The author is Black, but the way some of the Black characters were described, it didn't feel that way. There were also far too many characters that were okay with racism, and I know that was the point of the story, but it was gross. The author really gave a character a "woe is me" voice, when in reality, the character needed to check themselves. To be clear: if you're not actively opposing the racist, you're cheering them on. There is no middle ground. Yes, this is fiction, but it didn't feel like a "learn from this" story. It felt like the author was going for that, while also struggling with some internalized racism. That isn't my call to make, as I am not Black and cannot speak to those experiences, but there were too many annoying, racist white people in this book. One of the main characters didn't have a realization about the obviousness of the racism around her until 87% into the book, and that is way too late. The ending also felt more painful than I thought it needed to be, but there was a brief touching moment that at least tied things up.

Thanks to Soho Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Uly and Sallie are both high school sophomores. They both love old westerns. They both have older sisters who are running for school president. Sallie is white and Uly is Black. Sallie's sister is running a fear-based, racist campaign. As if that weren't bad enough, Sallie and Uly are dating and both have been asked to manage their respective sisters' campaigns.

I thought the concept of the book was good, but the execution could have been better. There were a lot of unrealistic extremes - a year-long election, school staff who allowed racism to run rampant, actual crimes being committed on school grounds during school hours with little to no consequences. And then an absolutely-out-of-nowhere bombshell thrown in after you thought the book was over. There was also a LOT of wording/phrasing that got very annoying - Uly and his sister constantly making rhymes out of everything, "corduroy" to mean lame and "bacon" to mean cool.

I would still recommend this book to teen readers but with a few caveats.

#TheProblemwiththeOtherSide #NetGalley

3/5

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!**

I have some mixed feelings about this. While I feel like I can understand what the author was attempting to do here, I found the execution was not it. This book felt like it was trying too hard to get its point across. I also felt like i had a hard time really connecting to the characters. Everything just felt very over-exaggerated and over the top. Overall the writing just wasn't my favorite and this just wasn't the book for me.

Kwame Ivery takes on the difficult task of showing how characters may have blind spots where racism is concerned - and for both white and Black characters. I thought he captured the nuances of Sallie, who doesn't necessarily understand whether something is racist or not, and can't always encapsulate why it would be. She wants to see the best in her family members, and believes her sister when she says she has good intentions. On the other hand, Uly is dealing with the pressure his family places on him to keep his guard up around white people, and Sallie especially.

The ending of this novel caught me completely off guard, despite hints at the beginning. It absolutely devastated me, and without going further, I wish it had ended differently. However, that doesn't mean I disliked the ending - it was earned and felt all too possible.

Uly and Sallie are both asked to be the campaign managers for their sister’s school President campaigns as they run against each other. But they also love each other. And to add more icing to the crap cake - they’re an interracial couple. This follows the events of the school election and the consequences of racial hatred in high pressure situations.

This broke my heart. The issues in this book are so real and true still. We have so much to learn and to make right when it comes to race.

This book really hits me on so many levels. I grew up in the south but interracial relationships really weren’t a big deal. However, I know that isn’t the reality for everyone and that’s why this book is so important. Very well executed.

CW: acts of racism and bigotry, racist language, gun violence, death

Sallie is white. Uly is Black. After acting in a terrible play together, they start talking and notice a spark. As the two get closer, it seems as though their sisters want to tear them apart. Sallie's sister Leona has made some racist comments in her attempt to make a speech for becoming School President, and Uly's sister Regina is running in opposition because honestly, she's angry, and she doesn't want to let the racist white girl win. Sallie and Uly love their sisters, but they also love each other... now what?

Honestly, from the start, something about this book felt off. The author is Black, but the way some of the Black characters were described, it didn't feel that way. There were also far too many characters that were okay with racism, and I know that was the point of the story, but it was gross. The author really gave a character a "woe is me" voice, when in reality, the character needed to check themselves. To be clear: if you're not actively opposing the racist, you're cheering them on. There is no middle ground. Yes, this is fiction, but it didn't feel like a "learn from this" story. It felt like the author was going for that, while also struggling with some internalized racism. That isn't my call to make, as I am not Black and cannot speak to those experiences, but there were too many annoying, racist white people in this book. One of the main characters didn't have a realization about the obviousness of the racism around her until 87% into the book, and that is way too late. The ending also felt more painful than I thought it needed to be, but there was a brief touching moment that at least tied things up.

*Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book for review, all opinions are my own*


For me, this is definitely one of the hardest books to review so excuse me if this review doesn't make much sense.
This was a very difficult book to read because I don't know if you can like this story, it is a very heavy book.
I thought the author took the themes he wanted to talk about and made them be incredibly bad, that is, all the themes worked here that revolve most around racism are done in a way too heavy, the author shows us the ugly side of the thing, so be careful with triggers.
Until I get to the last 100 pages or so I was finding this book too much choose a side that you think is right, because for me the author made the sides opposite to each other in every way, which worried me, but in my opinion, he managed to work things out in a nice way, that in the end, these opposing sides didn't turn out so bad.
This is a book that throws in our face several truths, that shows us a reality that exists, the author throws open everything that exists in our society without any fear.
So much so that I was shocked by the ending he decided to give the story, I don't know if I liked it, but at the same time, it makes sense with the kind of story this book is, a story that shows the bad things that exist in the world that we ignore or pretend not to see or make excuses for not doing anything about it.
I won't give his book a high ranting because of the last chapter (and other things I didn't like so much) I understand the end of the book but I don't like it and it left me feeling that some of the wrong things and criticisms that the book addresses were for nothing because, in the end, it was right, white stays white and black with black, and maybe it's actually like that but I didn't like it, my romantic heart wanted a different happy ending.
This is a book that you have to read critically, it's a book to read and think about everything it talks about, if you like books like that read it if you want something to spend time or have fun while reading, his is not the book for you!

The Problem with the Other Side by Kwame Ivery

Thank you to NetGalley and Soho Press for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.


On the first glance “The Problem with the Other Side” is your typical love story about a teenage boy named Uly and his girlfriend Sally, troubled with typical first love insecurities they both navigate through their first relationship.
But on the second glance not everything is as perfect as it seems, being an interracial couple creates tension in their lives they did not see coming.
Leona (Sally’s sister) starts her campaign for school president with the aim to create a school without black students, which motivates Regina (Uly’s sister) to run for school president as a counterpart to Leona’s racist electoral goals.
Both Sally and Uly are nominated to be the campaign managers for their sisters, but they realize, that being in a relationship and supporting their sisters drives a wedge between them.
Things start to escalate throughout the campaign, more and more racially motivated incidents happen and Sally and Uly are faced with a crucial test of their relationship.

Disclaimer : to keep this review spoiler free some events happening in this book are not mentioned and reviewed by me

What I liked about the story:

- This was one of the first books I read where the protagonists (Sally and Uly) are teenagers and talk and behave like teenagers. They are confronted with real world problems, but they react to them like I imagine 16-year-old me would have reacted. They don’t try to solve the world all at once, it feels very real to me.

- The writing was easy to follow, I liked the small jokes used and the way the story is told, feels like reading Sally’s and Uly’s diary, I felt close to the story and their feelings

- The rhetoric used by Leona (the coded language and plain racist language) hit me hard, it’s the exact same thing said by politicians and bigots alike, she escalated more and more after gaining a following, like real racists, their opinions radicalize when they think they have a lot of supporters

- Yes, Leona is blond and popular, other reviewers thought a stereotype of an “angry white woman” a “Karen” is perpetuated in the story, but it just shows that racism is deeply ingrained in our society. Sally thought -only bearded old white man are racists- but that’s not true, racism is a system and not a problem in a small group of people, therefore found everywhere and popular white girls are not excluded.

- I don’t know if the letter from the author in the beginning of the arc is included in the printed version of this book, but I liked it a lot, it helped me understand the reasoning behind the story, why it was told this way. The author tried to use the events of the 2016 presidential campaign as a blueprint for a fictional election at a high school. I agree with other reviewers, an election like this isn’t realistic at a school, but the most important thing isn’t if it’s realistic but if the behavior and opinions of the participants is realistic and that’s the case in my opinion.

What I didn’t liked:

- Even though I liked the way the protagonists talked and behaved, I think the use of teenage slang was too much

- I think this story could have profited from more adults who do something. They shouldn’t have solved the problems for the students but there should have been an adult voice of reason (or more than one), someone Sally or Uly or Regina could confide in, a parent or teacher or something.

- There were some adults in this story, but they didn’t do anything, they behaved like ghosts and all the teenagers were left to handle the situation alone. I don’t know if this is a metaphor to compare the missing adults in the story with the general public, like every time a black person gets killed in our real world everybody just looks away. Or regarding the election, the teachers in the story didn’t intervene, they let everything happen, in the end they supported the racist behavior. This reminds me of people who don’t vote or support racist politicians, they don’t care about the people who are suffering.

I recommend this book to everyone, but I think this could be a great read for students who are 15-18 due to the age of the protagonists in the story. I think this book should be read AND discussed, I had a lot of opinions and feelings while and after reading and I think younger readers would profit from a discussion with their parents, peers or teachers about the things happening in the book.

Sallie and Uly are falling in love as they sit in the midst of brewing conflict. Both of their older sisters are running for student body president and racial discord is increasing tension at the school, flamed by the words of Sallie's sister. The Problem with the Other Side has a set up for a great YA novel, but it doesn't deliver.

Much of the story is unrealistic. The school is devoting a large amount of time toward this student election, which is unrealistic in its fervor. The characters aren't likeable or well-developed. Uly depends on stereotypes while Sallie is a the epitome of a privileged white person ignorant of her privilege. She really doesn't have anything going for her. The book relies a lot of stereotypes, repetition, and an oddly excessive use of slang.

Certainly, Sallie's sister shows how to work up an audience, tell them who is to blame for their problems, and then use that fear against others to place herself in a position of power. However, the book could have been a strong, amazing novel addressing the rise of alt-right extremism and racism/white privilege in society. Instead, the story line lags while addressing issues seems forced and pushed over rather than fulling addressing them and letting the reader sit with them.