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A review by midnightmarauder
One Of Our Kind by Nicola Yoon
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
4.0
One of Our Kind is the fourth book by Nicola Yoon, and her first book aimed at adult readers. It tells the story of an idyllic, all-black suburb in California called Liberty. The protagonist, Jasmyn Williams, moves into the town with her husband, Kingston, and their son, Kamau. Jasmyn works as a public defender for inner-city kids; most of whom are black. She cares deeply about this fact and it is one of the reasons that influenced her to become a public defender in the first place.
The book takes place sometime in 2020, where all eyes are on the Black Lives Matter movement and the countless police brutality stories that dominated news stations. Jasmyn is disturbed by the amount of hatred that the America (and the world as a whole) has for black people and does her best to change things.
Jasmyn's husband, King, has been newly promoted as a junior partner at the law firm he works at. But, he also works part-time with at-risk youth at a nonprofit. After being in Liberty for a while, he drifts further away from his job, instead choosing to spend time at the town's popular recreation center, aptly named the Wellness Center. Although she initially doesn't see these changes in King right away, Jasmyn does notice that everyone who returns from the Wellness Center seems off in some way. On top of that, the people that visit the Wellness Center also push those who haven't been there into going.
The book touches mainly on the topics on race, class, and the effect American slavery has had on the African-American psyche. Jasmyn seems to base her entire personality around the brutality that black people face. As a black person myself, I am not saying that it is unhealthy to care about what's happening to the group of people that look like you. However, obsessing over it to the point where it's all that you talk about is a bit much.
To add on, for someone who was vocal about how much she loved black people and being black, she was extremely critical about the black people in Liberty being "not black enough". Whether it was complaining about some of the women using relaxer, or being too light-skinned, Jasmyn came off as whiny for most of the book. I know that protagonists aren't supposed to always be likeable, but she was so easy to dislike.
Jasmyn initially has trouble making friends in Liberty because of the unsettling feeling the town gives her (alongside her own hypocrisy), but eventually finds two like-minded people to befriend: Charles and Keisha. Both Charles and Keisha are unapologetically pro-black and equally as curious as to why everyone in Liberty is acting so weird. Their respective spouses are also trying to push them into going to the Wellness Center, but they constantly refuse. Because the three of them are into social justice, they band together to form a BLM chapter in Liberty, and go around asking people to join. However, they're constantly turned away with each person saying something along the lines of, "I'd rather not think about police violence." The idea of a BLM chapter quickly fizzles out after Jasmyn finds out thatthere used to be a BLM chapter in Liberty a year or so before she moved there, but it didn't last very long. As it turns out, the BLM chapter was written out of Liberty history on purpose as a part of a larger plan by Liberty, which was to turn their residents white and erase any memory of ever being black .
Overall, this book was a slow burn. It took 99% of the book to actually reveal what was going on in Liberty. But, the reveal was definitely a surprising one. I've been reading some other reviews of the book on Goodreads, and I'm surprised that it's mostly negative. I feel like some of the negative reviewers misinterpreted the moral of the story. The book isn't saying that being white is better than being black or that the end goal of racism is to assimilate. The book is merely speculative. Fiction is fiction for a reason.
The book takes place sometime in 2020, where all eyes are on the Black Lives Matter movement and the countless police brutality stories that dominated news stations. Jasmyn is disturbed by the amount of hatred that the America (and the world as a whole) has for black people and does her best to change things.
Jasmyn's husband, King, has been newly promoted as a junior partner at the law firm he works at. But, he also works part-time with at-risk youth at a nonprofit. After being in Liberty for a while, he drifts further away from his job, instead choosing to spend time at the town's popular recreation center, aptly named the Wellness Center. Although she initially doesn't see these changes in King right away, Jasmyn does notice that everyone who returns from the Wellness Center seems off in some way. On top of that, the people that visit the Wellness Center also push those who haven't been there into going.
The book touches mainly on the topics on race, class, and the effect American slavery has had on the African-American psyche. Jasmyn seems to base her entire personality around the brutality that black people face. As a black person myself, I am not saying that it is unhealthy to care about what's happening to the group of people that look like you. However, obsessing over it to the point where it's all that you talk about is a bit much.
To add on, for someone who was vocal about how much she loved black people and being black, she was extremely critical about the black people in Liberty being "not black enough". Whether it was complaining about some of the women using relaxer, or being too light-skinned, Jasmyn came off as whiny for most of the book. I know that protagonists aren't supposed to always be likeable, but she was so easy to dislike.
Jasmyn initially has trouble making friends in Liberty because of the unsettling feeling the town gives her (alongside her own hypocrisy), but eventually finds two like-minded people to befriend: Charles and Keisha. Both Charles and Keisha are unapologetically pro-black and equally as curious as to why everyone in Liberty is acting so weird. Their respective spouses are also trying to push them into going to the Wellness Center, but they constantly refuse. Because the three of them are into social justice, they band together to form a BLM chapter in Liberty, and go around asking people to join. However, they're constantly turned away with each person saying something along the lines of, "I'd rather not think about police violence." The idea of a BLM chapter quickly fizzles out after Jasmyn finds out that
Overall, this book was a slow burn. It took 99% of the book to actually reveal what was going on in Liberty. But, the reveal was definitely a surprising one. I've been reading some other reviews of the book on Goodreads, and I'm surprised that it's mostly negative. I feel like some of the negative reviewers misinterpreted the moral of the story. The book isn't saying that being white is better than being black or that the end goal of racism is to assimilate. The book is merely speculative. Fiction is fiction for a reason.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Violence