A review by sakisreads
We Are Not Like Them by Jo Piazza, Christine Pride

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

Firstly, I commend Christine Pride and Jo Piazza for writing what about must be one of the most challenging conversational topics ever: police brutality and race. As an Asian POC who has had many awkward conversations about race, I can’t imagine this was a quick project 😳
The authors answer questions at the end as well, and there’s obviously SO much appreciation and love in this friendship, that you can really appreciate the nuance this book had to have. 

In saying that, however, there were times when I felt that the ‘nuance’ didn’t cut it.
Yes, Kevin went through some tough times having to essentially throw Tyler Cameron under the bus and yes, all of the police force including members of his family stopped talking to him which would have been immensely painful, but this still felt like a bit of a ‘🤷🏻‍♀️’ moment. I also wish Riley would have gone in harder on Jen, but maybe that’s just me feeling a bit spoiled 🙈


A lot to think about with this book. Hard to read at times, due to its difficult nature, but also sometimes not as well written as I had hoped it would be 🥲 
I’m also still mad that Riley tried to make things work with Corey. I was rooting for Wes 🫠

I am going king to recommend it to my best friends so we can have more of this kind of conversation 👏🏼
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