Reviews with content warning for Child death - We Are Not Like Them

It’s always interesting to read a novel that was written as a true collaboration but when I stumbled across the premise of Christine Pride and Jo Piazza’s We Are Not Like Them, it sounded like a natural and logical approach to a such a difficult and highly emotional subject. We Are Not Like Them manages to capture the difficulties and awkwardness that arise when the role of race is ignored in interpersonal relationships. They’re able to convey the subtle ways it affects our interactions with our loved ones – the things we say or don’t say, the tension between acting and holding back, when to give in to anger or frustration and when to let something go. In the end, ignoring and avoiding lead to the same unavoidable place of confrontation and they may make that confrontation all the more explosive for the misunderstandings and resentments that accumulate along the way.

Riley Wilson and Jen Murphy have been best friends since they were in grade school and while their friendship has raised a few eyebrows over the years, they’re in the same city again and each within grasp of what they’ve always wanted. For Riley, it’s a promotion to replace her retiring idol as the only Black woman anchor for their major local news station. For Jen, it’s to finally become a mother after years of trying and several devastating miscarriages. But in one night both their lives change forever – an unarmed Black teenager is gunned down by police. Riley’s assigned to cover the story and Jen’s husband is one of the police officers involved in the shooting. The assignment will almost certainly make Riley’s career and the tragedy strikes particularly close to home as she learns more of her own family’s history from her terminally ill grandmother. But Jen feels like Riley is turning on her in her hour of need, her loyalty torn between her husband and her best friend. As the world around them erupts, could their friendship become another casualty or will they find a way to finally open up to each other and address the issues they’ve carefully avoided all their lives?

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Content Warnings

mmarlborough's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I’m a big fan of Jo Piazza’s podcasts, so this has been on my radar for awhile. The racial complexities brought up in this book will have me thinking for a long time.

Jen and Riley have been best friends their whole lives, despite their differences. Jen is finally pregnant after years of infertility and Riley is climbing her way to be a top news anchor. Their friendship is put to the test when Jen’s police officer husband shoots an unarmed Black teenager. As a Black woman in the media, Riley has to cover this story and bring her critical eye to the issues present. The pair’s friendship begins to fracture under decades of unaddressed issues.

Pride and Piazza bring so much to this story, making it three dimensional and not just a light book club chat about race in America. While the issues here are staggering, these writers have flushed out a real and raw friendship between two flawed women. I empathized with both characters and their plights while also wanting to shake them to their core and make them communicate better- with each other and themselves.

You’re probably seeing this book everywhere and it’s for good reason. This is an important but accessible book not to be missed.

⚠️Trigger Warning: Gun Violence, Police Brutality, Infertility, Racism, Suicide, Death, Lynching, Miscarriage

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katiej's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Amazing read, incredible difficult but powerful topic. An important read, superbly written.

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ramenfuneral's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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desertmountainreads's review against another edition

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3.5

This book started out really strong and the narration was excellent. The last third of the book struggled a bit. There were parts that felt unrealistic and parts that just felt unnecessary to the story. The potential to be a really powerful read was there… it just wasn’t quite the 5 star stunner I expected.

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kelly_e's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Title: We Are Not Like Them
Author: Christine Pride & Jo Piazza
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4.5
Pub Date: October 5, 2021

T H R E E • W O R D S

Timely • Intuitive • Authentic

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Jen, a white pregnant wife of a police officer, and Riley, a Black female reporter, have been best friends since childhood. However, one event is about to test their lifelong bond: Jen's husband, Kevin, is involved in a shooting of an unarmed Black teenager. Each woman's life is about to change forever. When Riley is asked to cover the story, she knows this could be here big break. Meanwhile, Jen is devastated and contemplating a future where Kevin goes to jail. A story of friendship, love, race, forgiveness, justice, hope, and redemption.

💭 T H O U G H T S

This book wasn't on my radar until I received it in my Fall It's A Good Day Book Box, which is surprising given it was chosen as a GMA book club selection. When I first saw the cover I gasped, and what this book holds within its pages is a timely, tender, and immersive story told in alternating perspectives. It opens up so many questions in the debate on policing and justice, race and having hard conversations, and the changing dynamics of friendship. I've read various fiction books about racial injustice, but never one like this.

One of the things I found so compulsive is how based in reality it felt, and as a white woman, it most definitely made me feel uncomfortable, which it should. It raised so many questions that made me think and hypothesize, as well as, opened up so much discussion - all signs of a great book!

It's hard to believe We Are Not Like Them is written by a duo, as the writing is provocative and engaging. The alternating perspectives was the perfect fit. And for me this story really went beyond just the topic of race, but the power of speaking up and truly listening in all aspects of life. There were times when I felt grief echoed in a lot of the prose.

We Are Not Like Them covers a lot of ground, and it's a journey worth taking as you attempt to put yourself into another person's shoes and contemplate what you would do in the same situation. It's a story I won't soon forget. This book is designed to make you think, make you uncomfortable, and spark conversations, and it does all of that and more. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where they go next, as I know they're working on their next novel.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of Small Great Things
• readers who want something reflective
• book clubs

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"It kills me how some people want so badly to believe racism is buried beneath layers of history, "ancient history," they say. But it's not. It's like an umpire brushing the thinnest layer of dirt off home plate: it's right there. Only too often the trauma, the toll of it, remains unknown generation after generation."

"There are no easy choices, no safe choices, you can't plan your way to happiness."

"It comes in waves, moments like these, a sense of hopelessness so strong it steals her breath. The sense that no one will understand and nothing will ever change."

"It's the one thing she appreciates about this letter. He doesn't try to justify himself. Some things can't be justified. Still, the letter won't bring peace or closure. Nothing will. But on a good day, when the sun is shining and when her memories of her son are the strongest, when she feels him in the room with her, on those days, she lets herself believe that maybe, just maybe, there's a world in which another mother won't have to go through this pain."

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