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A review by katykelly
We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride, Jo Piazza
4.0
Taking sides, examining loyalties: how deep is a friendship?
My liking for this was strongest in the first half of the book. The drama and tension surrounding the shooting of a 14-year-old black student by two white police officers, and the story surrounding the wife of one and her lifelong friendship with a reporter covering the story - it did wrap itself around you.
Jen is pregnant, with Riley's help paying for the IVF, when her husband sends her that unforgettable text message. It's a child that's been shot... but it's her husband's career and life now being decided. Riley's own feelings and choices are pulling at her too - Jen is her best friend, but she's worked hard to try and become a news anchor and this story could be the break she needs to show what she's capable of.
Moving from one to the other, the two sides of this debate descend on two characters. Riley takes on the side of Justin, interviewing his mother, while Jen exemplifies the consequences on the shooter. Neither themselves are morally faultless.
Riley is more interesting than her best friend I felt, with secrets long hidden from Jen about her own experiences with race, it's no wonder Jen is oblivious to alternative narratives. Riley has changed her name, her hair, hidden racist incidents from Jen, not pulled her up on comments over the years. But Jen too seems naive in a way that seems unrealistic and selfish.
The powder keg of emotion that simmers following the shooting seems familiar after events of the last few years, and this book certainly reminds us of faults in the system, of prejudices and blindness and what's in need of debate and change.
The ending felt like a let-down, while there is resolution, I didn't feel the women got the finale they could have.
There are some minor characters I would have liked developed more - Riley's brother has his own backstory that could have been made much more of, and her grandmother is a wonderful creation as well. Jen's own mother is a horrorshow, and the men in their lives feel very much minor bit parts.
A good one for discussions. Worked well as an audiobook with the voices of each heard as one narrates, the two-handed story flows well and easily as you listen.
With thanks to Nudge Books for providing an Audible copy.
My liking for this was strongest in the first half of the book. The drama and tension surrounding the shooting of a 14-year-old black student by two white police officers, and the story surrounding the wife of one and her lifelong friendship with a reporter covering the story - it did wrap itself around you.
Jen is pregnant, with Riley's help paying for the IVF, when her husband sends her that unforgettable text message. It's a child that's been shot... but it's her husband's career and life now being decided. Riley's own feelings and choices are pulling at her too - Jen is her best friend, but she's worked hard to try and become a news anchor and this story could be the break she needs to show what she's capable of.
Moving from one to the other, the two sides of this debate descend on two characters. Riley takes on the side of Justin, interviewing his mother, while Jen exemplifies the consequences on the shooter. Neither themselves are morally faultless.
Riley is more interesting than her best friend I felt, with secrets long hidden from Jen about her own experiences with race, it's no wonder Jen is oblivious to alternative narratives. Riley has changed her name, her hair, hidden racist incidents from Jen, not pulled her up on comments over the years. But Jen too seems naive in a way that seems unrealistic and selfish.
The powder keg of emotion that simmers following the shooting seems familiar after events of the last few years, and this book certainly reminds us of faults in the system, of prejudices and blindness and what's in need of debate and change.
The ending felt like a let-down, while there is resolution, I didn't feel the women got the finale they could have.
There are some minor characters I would have liked developed more - Riley's brother has his own backstory that could have been made much more of, and her grandmother is a wonderful creation as well. Jen's own mother is a horrorshow, and the men in their lives feel very much minor bit parts.
A good one for discussions. Worked well as an audiobook with the voices of each heard as one narrates, the two-handed story flows well and easily as you listen.
With thanks to Nudge Books for providing an Audible copy.