When good people make what they think are good decisions that will affect un unknown number of people, everyone should expect drama. And drama they will get. The story revolves around the decision to desegregate the schools, sending children from their local areas to schools where they are expected to be exposed to a better education through the mixtures of races and cultures. These mass transfers seldom have any positive outcomes and this story explores, through the fictional lives of two families, the after effects. They book has some good parts and even some great parts, but the overall effect is lost. On the plus side, it was interesting enough that I'm going to see what else Naima Coster has in her back library.

A great example of New Adult fiction which I enjoyed the process of reading. The characters were likeable and felt like they could really exist.

Really enjoyed this powerful book.

Tackles some strong issues and done really well.

Would definitely read more by this author.

As I got this galley a year after the publication date, I will not be reviewing this just now. Thank you.

A really great and fun read. I really enjoyed this authors style of writing and the premise was very enthralling.

A fantastic read by a new author for me. I am converted as a fan and absolutely cannot wait to read more. This is unique and original. I have been pulled in and unable to put this one down.
I cannot say anything negative about this gorgeous book. it has been a fantastic read.

Far too long winded and hard to follow. The blurb did not match the story as got lost within all the characters and storylines going back and forward.

What's Mine and Yours is ultimately a book about family, How the choices people make affect their family. It's about a family coming back together and learning and healing from their past. It's beautifully written and perfectly nuanced. Many will see glimpses of family dynamics they know well.

Synopsis: It’s difficult to pin down a cohesive synopsis of this book because it has a lot of characters and a lot of timelines. It’s essentially about two mothers and their children, how their lives become interlinked, the catalysts that got them there, the impact of race and integration and what it looks like for a mother to do the best she can for her children.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
I found this book a bit slow, with the chapters too on-the-long-side for me, and the five (I think) different time periods that the book skips between far too confusing. There are also a few too many characters to keep track of, which distracted me from the novel as I had to keep trying to remember who was who.

In general, I did enjoy the story and what it explored. I like Coster’s writing style and what I think she’s done really well in both this and her debut Halsey Street is write about characters who aren’t necessarily likeable - they might be morally grey or make bad choices or sometimes do mean things - but the way she writes them makes them complex, understandable, and makes you want to root for them. I really enjoyed the characters in this book and the way their lives interlinked.

I’m not sold on this cover, which is the UK version, as it makes it look a bit like an easy-read contemporary commercial fiction, and if people pick it up expecting that I think they’ll be surprised. It’s very deeply character-focused, takes some concentration to follow the different timelines - so if you like that sort of book, that has a really strong focus on family, I’d recommend!
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Publishes in the UK: 27th May 2021
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#WhatsMineAndYours
Free advance digital copy from #NetGalley

“Sometimes, people are your family because they’re your blood. But that doesn’t mean much on its own. The realest family are the people who stand by you.”

This novel starts out very strong and I expected it to blow me away. That never happened but I still enjoyed it. It includes many important themes and interesting relationships. Feels a bit messy at times. I'm not sure if that’s because of the structure or the lives of the characters. The big twist was already obvious but that could be the author’s intention.

3.5*

This disappeared from my shelf unexpectedly which was a shame as I had been looking forward to reading it. Looking at the other reviews, 3.5-4 stars seems average so I'll do that too!

I feel like I’ve read so many books like this over the past few years yet I never seem to tire of them: books set in lesser known parts of the US exploring themes like race, class, identity, sexuality, privilege, sisterhood, motherhood, marriage, gentrification. What’s Mine and Yours is another character-driven family drama touching on all of these themes told over a period of almost 30 years from 1992 to 2020.

It centres on two families, a Black couple Jade and Ray and their son Gee, and a white woman Lacey May, raising her three half-Latina daughters with her husband Hank and ex-husband Robbie. It’s set in Piedmont, North Carolina, and I think the less said about the plot, the better. This is one to go into cold.

It’s Naima Coster’s second novel (I haven’t read her first Halsey Street). So is it destined to be a classic of the genre?

The writing is lovely, and the story is solid, but the character development fell just a little short for me - perhaps just a few too many characters meant that there was insufficient time to really get to know them over the course of a novel of this scope.

Nonetheless, a very enjoyable read and if you like this style of book, I think you’ll like it. 3.5-4/5 ⭐️

*It will be published in May but is available now on Kindle. I read an advance digital copy of the book courtesy of the publishers @TrapezeBooks @OrionBooks @HachetteUK via @netgalley. As always, this is an honest review.*

This book was not about what I thought it was about!

The blurb talks about a white school inviting black students in and the impact this has on the community, but this is such a tiny part of the story, and isn’t introduced til over a third of the way through and isn’t really a key plot point. Though I would say there i don’t have an alternative way to describe the plot!

There are multiple narratives here, split between Gee, whose step-father is killed when he is 6, and the Ventura family - Lacey-May and her daughters Noelle, Margerita and Denise.

I both felt like this was too long and too short. I felt like it didn’t really have a point, which is fine because I love books with no point, but I think I expected there to be one here. I liked a lot about it, but I felt despite the length the characters all felt quite one-dimensional. I wanted a bit more from this book. I also guessed a “reveal” which comes in the last 20 or so pages pretty early on and I’m not sure if I was meant to or not!

Saying that there was a lot that I liked and I think it will be a popular summer read!

3.5 stars