Reviews tagging 'Violence'

We Are Not Like Them by Jo Piazza, Christine Pride

11 reviews

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

storyreader45's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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

5.0

This book gets more than a perfect 5 star rating,I would give it 6 stars if I could.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Pregnancy

Race is discussed heavily in this book. Black lives matter and Blue Lives matter is heavily discussed.

greenlivingaudioworm's review

challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Grief, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

i really disliked this. i can see what the authors were trying to do, but this just feels like a cheap caricature of police brutality. in the end, it feels like they are supporting it and trying to have us agree.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

cdoubet's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Body horror, Drug use, Infertility, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

chrisandbooks's review

reflective medium-paced

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

2.75

This book feels a bit gimmicky to me.. It just seems so forced. The plot, the scenes, the characters, and the  monologues all seem carefully curated.  Because of that, it’s hard to get connected with the characters or the storyline.

The conclusions of Riley’s, Jen’s,  and Tamara’s storylines really emphasize that “curated” feeling. Honestly, the endings wrapped up too seamlessly given the circumstances. And the book just didn’t feel authentic. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality

Moderate: Death and Violence

colls's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

There are several things I liked about this book; the setting (Philly!), the alternating POV, the courage to tackle such a powerful topic.
There are several things I didn't like so much; the characters, the lack of any real resolution.

I think there are several good points made in this book about white privilege and the institutional racism present in our society. The center of the story is a tragedy, and yet I sense that the book wanted the center of the story to be the friendship between these two women. With competing priorities, I think it failed to live up to either. 

Rating "Liked it" because I did generally like it and appreciated the point it was attempting to make. The writing was well done and the pacing was good. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, and Violence

briana7's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, and Pregnancy

martachbc's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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

4.0

We Are Not Like Them tells the story of Jen and Riley, lifelong BFFs from Philadelphia. Riley is a Black, up-and-coming TV journalist.  Jen is white, married to police officer Kevin, and after years of struggling, finally pregnant with their first child. Lacking a present mom, Jen grew up around Riley’s close-knit family. When Kevin kills an innocent 14-year-old Black kid on the job, Jen’s life falls apart - but Riley has a chance to cover a story that could make her career.

I was drawn in by the timely concept of this book when it came out last year (and I love Jo Piazza’s books) - although now, doesn’t it feel beyond ”timely”? Aside from the fact that IRL I’d be pretty critical of Riley’s decision to cover the story in spite of being directly connected to it, I appreciated how this book didn’t shy away from exploring the uncomfortable, gritty and devastating nuances of its subject matter. 

The writing overall was excellent. But some elements of the friendship rang a little hollow to me - exacerbated by Jen having just a few redeeming qualities - and other elements of the story (Riley’s brother Shaun’s own experience in the criminal justice system, and her interracial relationship) could have been fleshed out more earlier. 

I would describe this as entry-level to the exploration of social justice - I am always happy to support books that get more people reading about important topics. But I’ll note, it was fairly easy for me, a white woman, to find some comfort with the outcome of this book, though no one was let off the hook. While things tie up somewhat neatly, the readers exist in a world where that’s not always the case - and we know that’s likely to be true for Jen and Riley eventually, even if we don’t see it. 

This would be a great book club read because there’s a lot to discuss. I find I enjoy books more when they really give me something to chew on - and this certainly did. I guess in some ways I still am thinking on it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality

Moderate: Bullying, Infertility, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Miscarriage and Grief

desertmountainreads's review

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Murder, and Pregnancy