Nicola Yoon's adult debut is powerful, breathtaking, haunting, and spectacular in a way that I knew she would be capable of. I was blown away by this book.

I'm not quite sure what to say about this book, except it's more than influenced by The Stepford Wives, it's a direct copy of the concept, albeit framed in race and not 'wifely behavior'. And while I think I know the point that the author is trying to make, I walked away from this book feeling that it was extremely racist. Just suggesting that 'whiteness' was superior to being Black was insulting - again, I know this was being used to make a point, but I found it offensive that an entire community is built around feeling 'less than'. I am not a Black woman and I'm not going to pretend to fully understand the POV of someone who has to live with constant fear due to race, but I think it's legitimate to say that Jasmyn was a shallow character, that I would have liked to see deeper into her personality than just her strong activism. This was an entertaining story but maybe that wasn't enough in this case.

This ARC was provided by the publisher and NetGalley, the opinions expressed herein are strictly my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf for an eARC of this novel.

1 Star

I have quite a few thoughts about this novel. I understand the passion behind it, but I don't quite get the message. Spoilers ahead, but essentially, the novel ends with the black main character being turned white. Like what?? What is meant by that?

This whole book reminded me of a discussion I had in one of my literature classes. It boils down to the idea that tragedy can affect someone, but it is not all they are. I realize that there have been terrible things that have happened to black people in the US, and they are still happening. I also understand the history and the subtle racism that is quite literally everywhere. I will never fully grasp it since I have not been affected from it, but I know it exists, and I want it to change. But this main character surrounds her whole life around it. It is mentioned on just about every page, and there are a lot of heavy handed quotes that are joked about that I felt seemed like a lot.

The main character also casts a lot of judgments around her new community. While they were for a reason in the end, at first, the wellness center felt like a very petty thing. She would get on her husband for taking a break and not volunteering all the time because he wanted to take time to relax. I feel like that sends the message that if you are not trying to make a change 24/7 you are not a good person. That rubs me the wrong way for multiple reasons. There are also comments about women using relaxers in their hair a lot, and it just read as if the author felt that there was a correct and incorrect way to be black in America which seemed very strange to want in a published book.

Also, just book plot-wise, it is very slow, the stakes aren't very prominent until we understand the dark secrets literally within the last ten pages. I did not love the main character. A lot of the characters felt very one-dimensional, and what comments that her friends had not about racism, the state of their country, their town, etc. were all about sex. It felt very random and out of place. I felt as if this book just touched the surface of what critiques and emotions many have on this topic, but I was just left wondering what the purpose was.

Jasmyn and King Williams are excited to move their small family to the planned Black community of Liberty. While King and their young son adjust quickly, Jasmyn is struggling to feel settled and is also finding it difficult to connect with the most of the residents. Even in this community utopia where everyone is black, she keeps hearing and getting frustrated by the news about injustices still happening across the county and feels like she's the only one in her new environment who cares.

Jasmyn does end up making a few like-minded friends who are still activists for social justice, and they all connect over their spouses who seem to be embracing the 'laissez faire' attitude of the entire Liberty community. But as Jasmyn starts learning more about the community founders, she learns what everyone is trying to keep from her and she fears for what this could mean for her family.

Overally, I enjoyed the book and I do think it will be one that sticks with me for a while. I was intrigues by the description of "The Stepford Wives meets Get Out" but did find that being familiar with both of the movies did take me out of THIS story sometimes because of similar plot points.

For me, as a reader, this was incisive, fascinating, heartbreaking, and well written. However, I think readers and recommenders should seek out and consider the reviews being written by Black women who have concerns and take issue with the content as their interpretations are significantly different than my own.

I loved the premise of One of Our Kind and I enjoyed the author's exploration of social justice and related issues. The concept of the wellness community was also very interesting to me. Generally, it was a decent story but the trauma was a bit heavy handed for me. Thank you Net Galley for the e-arc.

I was so excited to read this book! The Stepford Wives meets Get Out? Sign me up! However, I was disappointed. The main character is often hard to root for and, while I liked her passion and sense of self, she often came across as very judgey. I also felt like not enough happened until around 70% through. I wanted more groundwork laid to increase the creepy factor with the big reveal. Many scenes felt repetitive and those scenes could have been replaced with ones that really drove home the idea that something was wrong. I've read multiple reviews that also commented on how uncomfortable it felt to basically be told there is only one way to be Black and I agree with that. I will say, I loved the ending. I loved that it was eerie and unsettling, and that there wasn't a happily ever after. I think this is because I get where Yoon was trying to go with this novel. I just don't think she was 100% successful. I wanted more to support the ending. 2.5 stars.

First off, I've read another book by Nicola Yoon and loved it. However, I was a little nervous going into this book because of some of the reviews that I read, but I absolutely loved this story. Not being Black, it really opened my eyes to being a Black American in America. Being Jewish, I could relate to some of the situations throughout the book - especially with what's going on in the world. And though the ending wasn't what I expected, it left me uneasy and really thinking about this book well into the night.

Thank you to NetGalley for this free preview copy in exchange for an honest review. I have read two other books by Nicola Yoon and thoroughly enjoyed them. I admit that I simply saw the authors name and was anticipating another book in the similar genre. This was not that book. This book is heartbreaking and horrifying and while I understand the story and the need for it to be written, I find it terribly sad.

This novel (pitched as Get. Out meets Stepford Wives) was utterly chilling, heartbreaking, and deeply uncomfortable on so many levels.

ehh- this one wasn't for me. I just couldn't get into the book or follow the characters. The writing style was lacking, and detail could have been much better. I usually dont put a book down, but I didnt finish this one,
DNF

I want to start by saying that I love Nicola Yoon’s novels. I was so intrigued by the synopsis of this one, and was excited to read it. However, this book just was not for me. That being said, strangely, I could not put it down because I absolutely had to find out what was happening in Liberty.

Beyond powerful and chilling

Jasmyn Williams and her family move to Liberty, an all Black suburb that will finally free them from racism that they face. But something is happening to the Black folks who live there. They’re changing and Jasmyn can’t put her finger on why it makes her so uncomfortable - and scared.

I was hooked to the last word

When I first read the synopsis for this novel, I knew I had to find out what it was about. My fans know how much of a horror fan I am and especially when it comes to the classic horror stories, which I find are the absolute best, so I had to try this. And I’m so happy I did.

Immediately I began thinking about The Stepford Wives, which is one of my all-time favorite books and Yoon had me from the first paragraph. King and Jasmyn Williams are a typical black family trying to better themselves and get out of the ghetto. They were all too familiar with the struggle and the senseless killing of black people at the hands of white police officers. At some point, they almost became immune to the police brutality, but not so much that they decided enough was enough.

As luck would have it, King was promoted and began making a huge bank roll and decided to remove his wife and son, Kamau, from the ghetto and move to a beautiful black oasis known as Liberty. Dare I say it, but is there a such of thing? Hmm? Jasmyn certainly had her misgivings about Liberty. When she first got there, everyone and everything was on the up and up. Her son flourished in school, and they settled in well. Jasmyn worked as an attorney in the public defender’s office trying to help the young black youths and the legal troubles, they found themselves in. King used to volunteer in the hood to be a role model for the young black males and give them hope. But little by little, King stopped doing those things and Jasmyn became more worried about his outreach.

It appeared that the more they obtained within this solely black community, the more things seemed off. For instance, everyone enjoyed going to the Wellness Center. King spent a great deal of his time there. He often asked his wife to accompany him, but Jasmyn felt something was terribly wrong with the popular spa. Even though she knew in her gut something wasn’t quite right, she managed to make a couple of friends, Keisha, and Charles. They were the only three that still got upset over seeing the horror of what was happening to their people daily. Until one day, Charles and his wife went away on a vacation, that Charles’ wife insisted, and when he returned, not only were Charles’ dread locks gone from his head, but his whole vibe had changed. Jasmyn was convinced there was “something in the water” perhaps or in the air that was changing her friend.

The more Jasmyn protested to her husband that they needed to leave, Liberty clutched its teeth deeper in Jasmyn’s soul forever binding her and her family where they were. Wow! I must say this story was a lot to take in. It was very exhausting because I could identify with every point that was made among the characters. One major point this story will undoubtedly do is make for conversation. You will be discussing this story through and through. It wasn’t hard to figure out what was happening to the black community, but to witness and feel it along with the characters, was spine tingling. Much like The Stepford Wives, I was left with that same terrifying reality.

Jasmyn was easily likeable, but at times I felt she was very judgmental towards her own race. I did like how King at times pointed this out, because I was thinking it as well. I could see at times with the side characters how off putting Jasmyn could come off being a social justice warrior. Jasmyn made valid points, and at times I felt like I was watching a tennis match with the back and forth with her and some of the characters. I also identified and related to alot of the racial commentary in this one.

I could not put this one down until I knew exactly what was going on in Liberty. I knew something sinister was going on, but I couldn’t figure out what. I thought I knew the direction this book was taking me, but Nicola Yoon pleasantly surprised me with the reveal and the ending. This book had all the Get Out and Stepford Wives vibes and I was here for it.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the advanced reader's copy of "One of Our Kind" by Nicola Yoon for my honest thoughts and opinions.

I have been a long reader of Nicola Yoon's grin inducing and heartwarming YA romances so when I found out that she would be making her adult debut with a thriller, I was very intrigued. I really liked the premise of this debut in making the reader uncomfortable in facing the ugly truths about racism in America, police brutality, and the effects of trauma. Yoon does a great job in ratcheting up the tension and the "there's something seriously wrong but I'm not sure what" vibes throughout the book. The chapters are short and it reads very quickly.

Unfortunately, the story lacks nuance in trying to define what "Blackness" entails. It focuses so much on what it physically looks like (i.e. skin tone, hairstyle) that it misses its biggest opportunity to discuss the myriad of ways of what it means to be Black. As noted in the author's acknowledgement that this book is written out of despair and anger, which shows thousand folds with its relentless images and references to Black trauma- the killing of innocent people due to racial profiling, police brutality, and the every day microagressions that Black people face. While all of this is unfortunately true in our society, Black resistance and Black joy are also true but never shown in the book which makes all of the necessary social commentary to be extremely heavy handed. It may even misinform readers that to be Black is to be in pain.

As a reader we are suppose to empathize with Jasymn, a mother who is trying everything to keep her family safe. While I do empathize with her in that aspect, I also felt that she is extremely judgmental. I would have loved to dig into her character a bit more than just the surface level of what we got the in the book. It would've been also great if we got a foil to her character too to bounce ideas off of.

Marketing this book as Stepford Wives meets Get Out, though comparable, distracts the main purpose of the book. Readers will be more focus on finding the book's "twist" than trying to understand the messages of what Yoon is trying to say.

2.5 rounded up - Firstly, I appreciate what Nicola was trying to do with this, and as a white person, I have not experienced these things in the same way people of color/these characters do. But to get the rage and despair account here of what it’s like to be black in America is an important story to be told and heard/read. Sadly, the execution of this one unfortunately didn’t work for me. It felt like it had so much promise to be a really fun, creepy book with poignant social commentary. The comp to Stepford Wives and Get Out had me buzzing, but where Get Out is subtle and lets the watcher get there themselves, this felt heavy handed and in your face. The characters have almost no personalities, and the FMC is unlikeable in her approach to wanting to people to care and do something to help usher change. I’ve seen others say this but this is so negative and I would’ve loved to see some celebration of Black people and their accomplishments too. And then the actual creepy, extraordinary bits didn’t really show up until the last like 10% of the book. All in all, I kept reading because I wanted to know where things would really go but they barely got there and then when they did it felt a bit anticlimactic.

Dnf-ing at 19% when she says some black people call themselves Republican (and other red flags) bc not everyone of a certain race has to vote the same way. I didn’t know what this was about going in but I loved all her previous books but this is a big no from me. seems like a post 2020 trauma response

One of Our Kind is Nicola Yoon’s adult debut and it follows Jasmyn and her family as they move to the idyllic Black neighborhood. Once they arrive there, strange things start to happen. Pitched as Get Out meets The Stepford Wives, this book shows that even the most perfect places have their cracks.

I finished this book last night and I have been sitting on my thoughts. I think this book would have been a lot better if Jasmyn was a different kind of character. I don’t think she is particularly likeable and she has a weird purist perception of Black identity. I fully believe that a character can be unlikeable but still fun to read about but I don’t think Jasmyn was that.

I think this book has a lot of interesting conversations that are absolutely horrific. I wish there would have been more of a focus on those aspects. I can tell this book came from a very personal place for the author and there is a lot in this book that is very impactful.

I think in the end, this book is a three star was for me. There were some things that I really enjoyed and I think would lend themselves well to a book club discussion but then there were also things that felt counterproductive to the message of the book. I’m excited to read more reviews of this book to see how others, in particular reviewers of color, feel about this story.

While this is something I rarely do, I wish I had looked at the reviews prior to agreeing to read and consequentially review this book. I am definitely not the demographic (66 yo, white woman), I do strive to learn about others and their situations to show more compassion and understanding. The writing style was stilted. My impression was that the author wanted to erase her identity as a black woman. This makes me sad as all of us should embrace who we are regardless of our color, heritage, etc.