Reviews with content warning for Police brutality - We Are Not Like Them

This story provided me with a perspective I’ve never had before. Having always been on the side of the victim, I’ve never considered the humanity, the families, the complexity of an officer shooting an unarmed Black person. In so many cases, there is little room for debate about the officer’s actions but this book showed that in some situations there can be nuance. Mistakes happen. People fuck up. And while there still have to be consequences for those errors, do they need to be as harsh as the consequences for officers that mow down Black and brown people with little impunity, because they see themselves as the arbiter of the law, rather than someone who is supposed to make arrests and let the courts determine guilt? I don’t have the answers after having read this book. But I can see the complexity of these situations in ways I never could before, and I can see the humanity in everyone involved, and I can feel empathy for all of the people impacted. This book was so powerful. It’s beautifully written and it encapsulates all the sides of such a situation with a directness and depth that hasn’t been done before.

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crazytourists_books's review against another edition

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sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I can't say I liked it that much. It was telling us things more than showing us, if it makes sense. I felt I was lectured throughout the book. Tamara, the mother of the murdered boy, was the most realistic character. The rest were like playing specific roles to educate us.

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ashgoddess2009's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

1.5

We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza follows two friends, Jen and Riley, who have been friends ever since Riley’s grandmother, Gigi, began to watch Jen when Jen’s hot mess of a mother couldn’t find anyone else to do so. Because of this, the two grow up as close as sisters even when Riley goes off to college and Jen stays home to work because college is not something she can afford. When Jen’s husband, Kevin, ends up shooting an unarmed 14 year old Black boy, their friendship is tested immensely.

I really wanted to like this book as it covers a topic that is seen over and over again in today’s media with the shooting of an unarmed Black teenager. However, I was personally not a fan. I sincerely wish that the book could have been solely from Riley’s point-of-view or even jumped around to more characters.

I did not like Jen’s character. I found her to be very whiny, selfish, and childish. Throughout the book, she does believe that what happened to Justin (the teen whose shooting is the catalyst of the story) is an unfortunate occurrence, but she goes on and on about how unfair the backlash against her, her husband, and the Philadelphia Police Department is. Every five seconds in the book, she keeps saying that she wishes her life could go back to normal so she can raise her unborn child in anonymity. Never mind the fact that Justin’s mother will never get to hold her child or raise her child. She and her husband are only sorry in a very surface level way. When it comes to Riley’s involvement in the media storm unleashed upon them, she complains that Riley isn’t on her side and is annoyed with her. When she and Riley finally have the conversation that they should have had long before this occurs, she expects Riley to educate her on what being a Black woman in America is like.

Side Note: Let me say now, it is not up to Black people to educate others about what it means to be Black in America. Google is free.

Jen’s family isn’t better. Her husband completely blames the shooting on his partner because his partner shot first. While this may have been the case, he definitely still shot the poor kid also. He is equally to blame, especially because he says that as soon as he sees Justin that he was NOT the suspect they were chasing. I completely LOATHED Jen’s mother-in-law and brother-in-law. Whenever they said something out of pocket, Jen didn’t even try to correct them or stick up for herself. In one scene, her brother-in-law, Matt, calls Riley “that Black b****” when he learns they cannot use her for a positive interview as she’s interviewing Justin’s mother instead. Jen halfheartedly tells him not to call her that and that’s it. Everything with him is “those people” and Jen never gives him so much as a side-eye. That is not what a true best friend/ally would do.

I truly enjoyed Riley’s chapters and her family relationships, especially her relationship with her mother. The only problem I had with her is how much she hinged her career on the tragedy: the interview with Justin’s mother, the interview with the DA, etc. It seemed a bit weird to be so excited to have an interview with a mother of a child in the hospital because he’s been shot.

I also enjoyed reading a book set in Philadelphia. I live about an hour away so it was refreshing to read about locations where I’ve actually been. It’s not everyday you read a book set so close to where you live, especially being from a small town in NJ. There’s a lot of negativity in the news when it comes to Philadelphia and I liked that (other than the shooting) it focused on some positives of living there.

The ending was underwhelming and did not go in the direction that I thought it would. It was a copout. I believe the authors played it safe and wrapped the ending up in a big red bow.

While I did not particularly enjoy We Are Not Like Them, I would recommend this book to those who like dual-narratives, hot button topics, and contemporary fiction.

Content Warnings

alison_marie's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.75

The authors really kept the training wheels on for this, which was disappointing.

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biblio_simp's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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moriahleigh's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.25

Content Warnings

thissagreads's review against another edition

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challenging tense slow-paced

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

1.5

I appreciate what the authors were trying to do. Shining a light on police violence, and what both sides would feel like, was a fresh perspective. But ultimately, I felt like the authors

at some point almost tried to make the reader feel bad or empathetic for the cop who killed the boy, and I’m not here for that. I didn’t care how sorry the cop was, he deserved PRISON and got a plea deal and probation! That shit pissed me off so badly, and I hate that his white wife Jen was still so oblivious to her black friend Riley’s PAIN and constant trauma of just existing as a black woman. UGH I was so upset at slap-on-the-wrist consequences and that Jen and her kid killing husband just moved to Florida to start a new life with their baby, while Riley earned a top anchor spot, but still had to deal with existing and feeling unsafe as a black woman, AND while visiting the black mother who will never get her son back.

Overall, I was unsatisfied by the lack of understanding Jen -the white friend- had, and annoyed with Riley -the black friend- who hardly ever communicated how she ACTUALLY felt to Jen, about her black experiences. The ending left me feeling disappointed, angry, and annoyed with the direction and choices that the authors made.

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