We Are Not Like Them - Jo Piazza and Christine Pride

Genre: Fiction | Literary Fiction | Adult Fiction

Publisher: HQ

Release Date: Expected 7th October 2021

CW: Police violence, Death, Racism, Infertility, Pregnancy.

Not Every Story is Black and White.

Riley and Jen have always been opposites, but their differences never stopped them being friends.

Riley is a news reporter climbing the ladder, Jen is happy being a receptionist and trying for a baby with her husband.

Jen is agressively friendly and magnetic, Riley prefers her spotlight being on the screen only.

Jen doesn't know a loving family, Rileys family always has room for one more.

Riley is black, Jen is white.

When Jens husband, a police officer, shoots an unarmed young black man and Riley is assigned lead reporter on the case, they suddenly find themselves on opposite sides for the first time ever.

Lives have been taken, lives have been ruined - can their friendship survive the fallout?

We Are Not Like Them is a powerful, blazing statement about the world we live in and the need for us to stick together in trying times to overcome the forces that oppress us. Heartbreakingly realistic for too many people, this story explores the wider fallout of racism and police brutality - not just to the victims and their families but the communities that grieve for them and fear that they could be next.

This story is not a story about 'we' vs 'them' in sense of identity, but the 'we' vs 'them' of people versus injustice - each side of the story is heartfelt and honest, trying to show fully the impact that one moment can have and reach it can have. Jens husband, Kevin, has to try and understand the implications, the true consquences of his actions, Jen has to try and understand just why the death of a stranger would upset her best friend so much, and Riley has to try and figure out how to explain all of this to someone who has never had to think about the things she has.

With a different author writing each character, they both had stunning unique voices full of heartfelt honesty - encouraging readers to probe into the parts of society they might not usually think about and examine their own feelings.

This novel is a searing indictment of racism and prejudice, coupled with the powerful message that love can cross any boundary if you open yourself up to it.

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to the authors, HQ and Netgalley for this ARC in return for an honest review.

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