In May 2020, the murder of George Floyd (an unarmed black man) by a US law enforcement officer shook us all. Non-fiction reading lists about race sprung up everywhere and we were all buying copies of those books for ourselves, friends and family. While non-fiction can equip us with the facts to reassess our thoughts, I believe fiction has a way of changing our hearts. For this reason, We Are Not Like Them holds an equally important place alongside the non-fiction titles on racism we added to our to-be-read lists last year.

In this novel, we follow best friends Riley and Jen - one black, one white - whose lives are changed when Jen's white police officer husband Kevin shoots and kills an unarmed black child. Riley, a black journalist whose career is on the rise, is asked to cover the story. Over the subsequent weeks and months, Riley struggles to reconcile the anger and pain she feels at seeing another unarmed black boy killed by police with the love she has for her friend who she wants to support. This impossible situation is the premise through which authors Christine Pride and Jo Piazza explore important ideas around race, bias and the conversations we avoid but so desperately need to have.

The co-authorship of this novel gives it a real sense of authenticity and insight. The story is told from Riley and Jen's point of view in alternating chapters with Riley's chapters written by Christine and Jen's chapters written by Jo. I could tell Riley was written by a black woman because the issues and concerns she grapples with felt so real to me. Reading from Jo's perspective was interesting too as it gave me insight into why white people may feel defensive when discussions about race come up.

Jen is a good person, she feels she hasn't done anything wrong and can't understand why it is so difficult for Riley to be around her when the black community is going through so much pain, pain caused in part by Jen's own husband. Reading Jen's chapters, though, I could see why being labelled a racist or having her husband labelled as a racist felt like an undeserved attack. Jen is confused, she can't understand why Riley has abandoned her at a time when she could really do with a friend. But Riley has never really given Jen the chance to understand the issues that black people face on a day to day basis, she avoids sharing these parts of her life with Jen and in doing so leaves Jen completely unequipped for the impact Kevin's actions have on the black community.

This is absolutely, a must-read book club book and will no doubt spark interesting and confronting discussions. Through the dual perspective of Riley and Jen, readers get to see the two sides of the racism discussion each treated with sensitivity and care and with no one side being painted solely as the aggressor or solely as the victim. It doesn't provide any easy answers (because there aren't any) but it could be the first step towards finding a solution. Press this book into the hands of friends and family, I don't think there is anyone who wouldn't benefit in some way from reading this important, compulsively readable story.

Thanks to the publishers and Net Galley for my free e-copy.

This is a story set in America that follows two childhood best friends, who until recently have been living in different states but have moved back and reconnected again.

This book is different to usual as there are two authors which I thought was a great idea, especially as the main characters in the story are a white female Jen and Riley is mixed. I thought this book really bought out a balanced and well thought out and at times sometimes very different - views and sides to the story.

In this book we are bought in as racial tension reaches a high when two white cops shoot an unarmed black teenager. I was gripped as we find out if Jen will need to choose between her best friend and husband. Love, family, friendship and betrayal were other themes in the book,

I also thought other characters we meet such as the pastor, mayor and DA brings out balanced and powerful perspectives with amazing points.

I will be recommending this book to others for sure

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

There seems to be a lot of hype surrounding this book and I can safely say it lives up to it. Pride and Piazza have done an amazing job exploring issues of interracial friendships and relationships in the face of police violence against black people and social injustice. There's a danger this book might have felt patronising or preachy - it is neither. Riley and Jen are both fully developed, identifiable characters, and the narrative is timely and powerful. A must-read for this year.

Jen and Riley have been best friends since kindergarten. As adults, they remain as close as sisters, though their lives have taken different directions. But the deep bond they share is severely tested when Jen’s husband, a city police officer, is involved in the shooting of an unarmed Black teenager. Six months pregnant, Jen is in freefall as her future, her husband’s freedom, and her friendship with Riley are thrown into uncertainty.

This book is so timely and important, that I just adored it, This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

This is about endemic racism in the USA. It concerns two women friends, one white and one black,who think they are equal, but when tragedy strikes thir differences begin to show. It is a very moving and profound story - whether it will be as "important" as the publishers claim only time will tell.

We Are Not Like Them is a work of fiction written by two friends that tells the story of two childhood best friends, Riley and Jenny, and what happens to them (and their relationship) after Jenny's police officer husband shoots of a young black boy.

This book discusses friendship, race, prejudice and history and does so with patience, honesty and the right amount of rage. Having a pair of real friends write this added a level of authenticity to the book and the friendship, whilst deteriorating, felt genuine the whole way through.

This has left me very conflicted. It’s good that it’s dealing with issues and emotions that need to be aired and there are a number of thought provoking points made. However the actual storyline is weak and predictable. I struggled with the final section – how, when so much has been said, they could go back to the relationship they had?

I have previously, and thoroughly enjoyed co authored books, but this one blew me away! The viewpoints were poignant and thought provoking which made this a brilliant read

We Are Not Like Them is a powerful novel about race, police brutality, and the complex relationship between two best friends. After Jen's husband, a police officer, shoots an unarmed black teenage boy, her world falls apart. Meanwhile, for Riley (Jen's best friend), Justin's murder is yet another horrific example of the trauma and fear black people have to endure every day, and it hits close to home. Written from a dual-perspective, this novel teaches us just how important it is to have difficult conversations about race, to educate and support one another, and to always do what is right. This novel is particularly poignant in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder, and the murder of countless other black people in America and across the world.

I think this is the first novel I have read that has been co-authored. Initially I was concerned that the book wouldn't flow right, but I appreciated that it allowed the protagonists to have distinct voices, and it ultimately made the novel far more poignant.

Riley and Jen have been friends since they were children. Through thick and thin and made even more special as they were of different cultures and one black and one white. Although that was never a problem for them..
Then Jen's husband, a police officer, is involved in the shooting dead of a young black boy and their friendship begins to waver. Their community takes sides and soon Jen and Riley's relationship begins to fall apart.
Can they save it and will they ever feel the same about each other again?

Thank you to @Netgalley and HQ for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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This book follows the lives of childhood best friend’s Riley - a successful African-American TV journalist - and Jen - a working-class, pregnant, white woman married to a cop. Their friendship is already stretched to the limit, busy lives and barely seeing one another makes it feel like they’re losing their connection. When Jen’s husband fatally shoots a fourteen year old black boy, their friendship is torn even further apart as they struggle individually and together, as the fight for justice rages on.

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This book is a powerful one and that was clear from the outset. It is beautifully written in a way which draws you in from the start and doesn’t let you go until the end. Not only is the social commentary powerful - and important - the drama of the friendship is one which you’re waiting on the edge of your seat to find out what happens. Those highlights on that friendship, and all of the characters in this book, are what bring this book to life.

This is a must read for everyone!

Wow! I don’t even know where to start with this book. Before I start there’s a short trigger warning/potential spoiler - check at the end for more information.

Never truer have the words “Not every story is black and white” been said. The is a rather insightful and unique book in that it gives you first person perspective from both “sides” (lifelong best friends Jen and Riley, who also happen to be white and black) following the shooting of another black person. Except this time, the victim is an unarmed teenager and one of the officers involved in the shooting is Jen’s husband and Riley is one of the news reporters covering the shooting. This is all a bit too close to home for the friends, and given many years of skirting around the issue of race (Jen is oblivious to it and Riley endures it) it drives a massive wedge between the pair.

This is so gripping you follow each friend’s viewpoint, seeing life from their perspective - the ups, the downs and the struggles, and you can totally empathises with each of them. And totally see how the other friend is wrong. Life isn’t always clear cut - there are grey bits. So much grey.

This book will start conversations and educate; as a white person I’m becoming more and more aware of the privilege I’m afforded by the system and society - simply because of the colour of my skin. It’s horrifying how people of colour have to be educated on how to behave when pulled over by the police and other authority types - just to keep safe!

This is an important read - you should read this book.

Thanks to NetGalley, HQ Stories and the authors for the opportunity to read this advance copy!





⚠️Trigger warning/potential spoiler: besides the obvious racism there’s also reference to stillbirth, fertility and IVF struggles. ⚠️

Do you ever pick up a book and know just from the first few chapters that you are going to love it? I don't think I've ever read a co-authored book before, so I wasn't entirely sure how it would work but wow these two authors worked SO well together. I was absolutely hooked from the beginning.

Although it' is fiction, the story is so relevant and it's such a thought-provoking read that I know I'll be thinking about it for a long time. Despite having some sensitive social themes, We Are Not Like Them is incredibly engaging and as the reader you can't help but keenly follow each plot twist and empathise with the characters. The story is told from two perspectives and I really enjoyed this element of the book, I felt like I could really get into the mind of each character.

I loved this book so much that I'll be buying my own physical copy and I urge everyone to pick up this beautifully written book. Huge thanks to NetGalley and HQ Stories for letting me read this ARC!

We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza is a powerful and heartbreaking contemporary story. If you only read one book this year – make sure it is We Are Not Like Them.
This is a book about friendship. This is a book about lives. This is a book about racial injustice. It is racial injustice that African Americans face every day of their lives. It is heartbreaking and it needs to change.
The book is about a friendship between two girls who grew up together – one black and one white. They were inseparable. “Sometimes you just need to be around someone who loved you before you were a fully formed person.” Their friendship is strong – until the day it is tested to the limits.
Being a young black man in America is dangerous. The novel explores the horrors that are faced daily.
The opening of the novel is shocking and heartbreaking. It sets the tone for what is to come.
It is awful to see people still being judged by the colour of their skin. “My good grades don’t matter… how faithful I was, how kind, none of it could ever erase the fact that people were going to hate me.” This is wrong. This has always been wrong. When will we learn to love people for who they are?
The authors reinforce the message that racial prejudice has never gone away as we hear of a terrible lynching fifty years earlier. “They just keep killing us” is a heartbreaking cry of a grandmother.
“White folks… telling us they can feel our pain… They have no idea what ‘our pain’ feels like and they never will.” Until we have walked a mile in the shoes of another we cannot know how they feel.
Another telling sentence was: “You gotta work twice as hard to get half as far as them.” Why? In 2021 the world should show equality to all people.
The action is told from the alternating points of view of Riley and Jen. We become intimately acquainted with both as we share their individual struggles and pain.
We Are Not Like Them will break your heart. It should make you angry that the world is so unequally balanced and that racial prejudice and intolerance still exists in 2021. We must learn to love each other and see the content of our character rather than the colour of our skin.
Make sure you read We Are Not Like Them today.
I received a free copy from Harper Collins via Net Galley. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

An important novel in terms of its subject and written in a manner designed to appeal to as many readers as possible - also important in terms of getting this message out. So what if narratively it's a little by numbers? That's easily forgivable if it means getting this subject out there and landing as widely as it can to open up discussion and debate. Five for intention, 3.5 for execution – a very solid 4 .

Every once in a while I read a book and think “Wow, this this going to be big” – well this is one of those books.

It wasn’t an easy book to read – it was emotional and harrowing but even though it’s a work of fiction – THIS STORY IS REAL. Even the title itself packs a punch and reminds us that sadly we do live in a society where the underlying prejudices of “we” and “them” exist.

The storyline was gripping, and the characters strong and well developed.

The dual writing skills of Pride and Piazza was excellent and I do hope there are more from them in the future.

I highly recommend this book and am certain its going to be one of the most important books I read this year.

Many thanks to HQ and NetGalley for the review copy.

We Are Not Like Them offers an original take on a depressingly familiar topic. The story is centred around the wrongful shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer in Philadelphia and the aftermath of this event, as experienced by Jen, the wife of the police officer, and her best friend, Riley, a black journalist reporting on this story for the local news station.

Other novels, such as Jodi Picoult's Small Great Things and Kathryn Stockett's The Help, have explored racism from white and black perspectives, but what makes this book unusual is its dual authorship: Riley's chapters are written by black author Christine Pride and Jen's chapters are written by white author Jo Piazza. Pride and Piazza are friends in real life (a friendship which the book's introduction acknowledges is unusual - nearly 90% of Americans say they do not have a close friend of another race or ethnicity) - and this novel reflects their conversations about race.

For the most part, I found this a very powerful and successful exercise, as Pride and Piazza put their characters in a situation which tests their loyalties and our sympathies. For a novel like this to work, we need to be able to empathise to some degree with both characters, and before reading, I wondered how the authors would manage to maintain this balance given that our allegiances are far more likely to lie with those closest to the black victim rather than the white perpetrator. The novel never seeks to excuse or justify the actions of Jen's husband, but the authors do introduce a number of factors to complicate our view of the two main characters. For instance, Jen benefits from white privilege but it is Riley who comes from a secure, loving family and is college-educated while Jen's home-life as a child is much more chaotic, and as an adult she works in a low-wage job with spiralling debts, so the prospect of her husband's imprisonment is devastating for her and the child she is expecting. Meanwhile Riley is deeply affected by the shooting that she is reporting on, which resonates with her own family's experiences, but is also aware that reporting on this case will be advantageous to her career. This allows for a more nuanced consideration of the complex issues the novel explores, without ever seeking to 'explain away' racism.

It's also an incredibly gripping read with a number of plot twists and cliffhangers which maintain our interest throughout. For the most part I found the characterisation and dialogue convincing, but I did find some elements a little contrived, particularly towards the end, and in a few places the novel becomes a bit didactic as it seeks to hammer home its message. Overall, however, I found this a powerful and effective novel which I would definitely recommend to anyone interested in reading more about racism in America today, or just looking for a page-turning thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC to review.

Riley and Jen have been best friends since childhood: Riley is black, Jen is white and - from a tough home - becomes part of Riley’s family..
Now their friendship is about to be tested as the shooting of a black child tears their lives and their friendship apart.
Other readers have found the tone of the novel a little didactic and the messages a little clunky, but - although I can see this - I still found the characters and the story utterly believable.
In fact this is a generous insight into what it means to be black in a racist society. It’s made all the more devastating because you care about Riley and her family, and the family of the murdered child.
This is a little sentimental but none the worse for it. It’s dealing with huge and sensitive issues.
I would thoroughly recommend it. I was left really caring about the protagonists, and that’s the mark of a good novel.

I absolutely loved this book and felt like I resonated with it in some way as a mixed raced woman. It’s been a long time coming for someone to write a book highlight what black people suffer with on a daily basis and really showing that black lives do matter.

Although it may seem controversial to some, the book highlights what’s going on in the world and how justice may not always be served but that there are police officers out there that do feel sorry for the mistakes they’ve made.

This book was raw, eye opening, honest, real, hard hitting, sad but educational at the same time.

I would highly recommend this.

We Are Not Like Them is a compelling, thought-provoking read. I found it interesting and wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen next. Unfortunately at the same time it suffers from being heavy-handed with its underlying messages; characters felt more like tools for the authors to introduce and explore moral issues accompanying the plot, and I felt that the friendship of the two main characters (Riley and Jen) felt less than believable at times.