💫 We Are Not Like Them 💫
By Christine Pride and Jo Piazza
Publisher: Atria Books (Oct 5, 2021)

I’m not even sure how I’m going to describe this properly as it both helped me learn and gave the old heartstrings a tug.

It’s a novel about a 14 yr old unarmed Black teen who is shot by 2 White police officers. One of the officers’ wife is best friend is a Black journalist who feels a visceral reaction to yet another statistic.

The relationship between the friends… the things they’ve left unsaid over the years starts to splinter the sister bond they always had.
Jenny (Officer Kevin’s wife) and Riley (best friend and rising reporter) both feel like they are put in a position that may tear them apart.

There’s not I didn’t love about this book. Truly. I thought it was fascinating that both authors had equal parts of getting their voices into both characters. I fell in love with Riley’s Gigi for her unwavering support to both Jenny and Riley. And giving Jenny the only family she never knew.

Anyways, I don’t have enough characters to adequately describe this book to you. I’ll say that if you love Jodi Picoult’s novels, you will love this. It is definitely going to be in one of my top ten lists of the year.

Thank you @atria for the gifted copy. I now need to go to a store and get a physical copy 😂 for my forever shelf.

This was a very relevant read with such a unique twist. I really enjoyed that there are two co-authors and they wrote from both a black and white woman's perspectives. This issue of state violence against black people is so complicated and I applaud the authors for really leaning into that complexity. It felt like Riley's romantic subplot was kind of weirdly stuck in there, would be my main criticism.

A really thought-provoking story. It takes a long hard look into a lot of subjects surrounding race that are uncomfortable for many people. The story itself was fast paced and sucked me in with the heartbreaking prologue. Really well written! I think everyone should read this.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC for my opinion.