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A review by iamcaseyrkelley
One Of Our Kind by Nicola Yoon
1.0
I received an advance copy of this book for an honest review.
This was probably the most anti-black book I have ever read but the fact that it was written by a Black woman made it heartbreakingly painful. Within the book, Blackness is defined and shaped around tragedies - as if Black people experience no joy or have lives beyond the nation’s racism, biases and social injustices. Every conversation centers around the pain and fears of being Black and raising Black children in a world that doesn’t love them. While yes Black people as a community experience unspeakable hardships against us, it is not our entire personality. The Black boys mentioned in the story are all troubled and in the constant loop of the criminal justice system. The Black women are either a step from hotep with conversations only about protests, police brutality and their natural hair or they are doing all they can to assimilate into the European standard of beauty. The Black men are either unsupportive or a step away from being a podcast bro wanting Black women to lean more into whiteness. Sending the message to readers that life is better being white disgusted me more than I could ever imagine.
In the last eight years of giving ratings, this is only the third time I have given a one star review to a Black author. I now realize that comparatively, the other two books need another star added to them because this was not only the worst thing I have ever read. It is by far the most insulting to Black people.
To the readers that hate reading about Black people experiencing or discussing racism:
I initially thought you would hate the acknowledgement of Black pain in this book. I thought fans of this author, who has consistently shown in her writings that Black girls cannot experience or find happiness without the erasure of Blackness, would question and frown at her sudden desire to write about the atrocities that Black people face consistently at the hands of white America. I thought you would be the ones giving this book a one star review. However, stick to the end, this book takes her erasure of Blackness to another level. It’s clear the author believes the world is better without Black people in it. It is the textbook definition of anti-blackness.
This was probably the most anti-black book I have ever read but the fact that it was written by a Black woman made it heartbreakingly painful. Within the book, Blackness is defined and shaped around tragedies - as if Black people experience no joy or have lives beyond the nation’s racism, biases and social injustices. Every conversation centers around the pain and fears of being Black and raising Black children in a world that doesn’t love them. While yes Black people as a community experience unspeakable hardships against us, it is not our entire personality. The Black boys mentioned in the story are all troubled and in the constant loop of the criminal justice system. The Black women are either a step from hotep with conversations only about protests, police brutality and their natural hair or they are doing all they can to assimilate into the European standard of beauty. The Black men are either unsupportive or a step away from being a podcast bro wanting Black women to lean more into whiteness. Sending the message to readers that life is better being white disgusted me more than I could ever imagine.
In the last eight years of giving ratings, this is only the third time I have given a one star review to a Black author. I now realize that comparatively, the other two books need another star added to them because this was not only the worst thing I have ever read. It is by far the most insulting to Black people.
To the readers that hate reading about Black people experiencing or discussing racism:
I initially thought you would hate the acknowledgement of Black pain in this book. I thought fans of this author, who has consistently shown in her writings that Black girls cannot experience or find happiness without the erasure of Blackness, would question and frown at her sudden desire to write about the atrocities that Black people face consistently at the hands of white America. I thought you would be the ones giving this book a one star review. However, stick to the end, this book takes her erasure of Blackness to another level. It’s clear the author believes the world is better without Black people in it. It is the textbook definition of anti-blackness.