One of Our Kind

One of Our Kind

Nicola Yoon

Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:

#1 New York Times bestselling author Nicola Yoon’s daring new work of dystopian horror is a propulsive satire set in an all-Black gated community. For fans of The Sellout and Erasure, with a shocking ending you’ll never see coming, One of Our Kind has been celebrated with rave reviews from The New York Times, Oprah Daily, Time, Seth Meyers, and more. “One of Our Kind [has]...a freight-train feel. Yoon reminds us...of the richness and intimacy of Black culture, and underlines how much more we are than our trauma." —Kashana Cauley, The New York Times "Brilliant...Your book club will be discussing this one for DAYS.” —Jodi Picoult “With haunting and powerful prose, Nicola Yoon brilliantly imagines a world with much to tell us about our own.” —John Green, New York Times best-selling author of Turtles All the Way Down "For readers who want to be taken to the edge of expectation, and solidly dropped into the middle of a new nightmare. I still have goosebumps.” —Ashley C. Ford, New York Times best-selling author of Somebody’s Daughter “Masterful. . . . Yoon maintains taut, nerve-shattering suspense throughout as she delves into societal fault lines and cultural anxieties" — Publishers Weekly, STARRED Jasmyn and King Williams move their family to the planned Black utopia of Liberty, California hoping to find a community of like-minded people, a place where their growing family can thrive. King settles in at once, embracing the Liberty ethos, including the luxe wellness center at the top of the hill, which proves to be the heart of the community. But Jasmyn struggles to find her place. She expected to find liberals and social justice activists striving for racial equality, but Liberty residents seem more focused on booking spa treatments and ignoring the world’s troubles. Jasmyn’s only friends in the community are equally perplexed and frustrated by most residents' outlook. Then Jasmyn discovers a terrible secret about Liberty and its founders. Frustration turns to dread as their loved ones start embracing the Liberty way of life. Will the truth destroy her world in ways she never could have imagined? Thrilling with insightful social commentary, One of Our Kind explores the ways in which freedom is complicated by the presumptions we make about ourselves and each other.


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  • svieira
    Sep 19, 2024
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  • MetaphorsBeWithYou
    Mar 06, 2025
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  • bookgang
    Mar 30, 2025
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    Thank you to Knopf Publishing for the advanced reader copy for our show. This novel hits store shelves on June 11th. Nicola Yoon has been invited to Book Gang to discuss writing her adult debut. 

    Yoon, best known for her commercial success with books like The Sun Is Also a Star & Everything, Everything, is now offering a provocative thriller debut for her adult readers that would yield a dynamic discussion for any summer book club. 

    A wealthy young family decides to relocate into a newly created utopian community designed specifically for the Black community, offering comfort and safety for its residents that they cannot achieve in the real world setting. 

    As Jasmyn worries for the safety of her children, especially her son, as he gets older, she is excited for the freedom from worry this will offer them. The problem is that their family’s newly earned wealth often clashes with Jasmyn feeling removed from the dialogue and conversations around social justice issues within her old stomping grounds.

    As she settles into her home, she discovers that the new neighbors seem removed from real-world issues and have a bizarre fixation on self-care and wellness. The truth about the intentions of this seemingly idyllic space starts becoming more troubling as she uncovers the origin story of the neighborhood and the people in it. 

    This thriller is a tense page-turning story reminiscent of Get Out but sometimes struggles with pacing. Yoon's background in YA may be why the plot sometimes plods to incorporate teaching moments. She wants to evoke a specific response from her readers but only sometimes allows the readers to come to their conclusions on pivotal plot moments. 

    The ending, however, does evoke a response, and much like The Other Black Girl, it is already polarizing among early readers. I don't know what more to say except that I had hoped this would end on a more empowering note than it did. But the simmering rage I felt when finishing this story was likely Yoon's intention all along. 

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