From the Publisher
Editorial Reviews
Review
A Publishers Weekly Top 10 Most Anticipated Mystery/Thriller of the Spring
A Crime Reads’ Best Psychological Thriller of the Month
One of Parade‘s Best New Books of the Week
Named an “It Book” of June by Book Riot
“One of Our Kind [has]…a freight-train feel. It fits in with a recent wave of Black social horror that includes novels like The Other Black Girl and movies like Get Out….The warmth in Yoon’s writing, though, sets this book apart. The affection and care she has for all her characters and the reasons that have taken them to Liberty deepen the novel’s stakes and heighten its terror. Yoon also reminds us, through Jasmyn’s friendships and her relationship with her husband, King, of the richness and intimacy of Black culture, and underlines how much more we are than our trauma.”
—Kashana Cauley, The New York Times
“[An] intense, politically charged thriller set at a gated Black community in Los Angeles, where Jasmyn Williams and her husband, King, learn that the wounds of police brutality and racism affect different people in very different ways. Some just want to wrap themselves in luxury and spa treatments—if that’s what’s really going on at the community’s cultish wellness palace. Truly chilling.”
—Marion Winik, Oprah Daily
“An unsettling social thriller that is Get Out meets Rosemary’s Baby. One of Our Kind…is set in Liberty, Calif., a fictional idyllic all-Black gated community outside of Los Angeles. Jasmyn, a public defender expecting her second child, moves there with her venture capitalist husband and their young son looking for a place where they can feel safe and supported. What she finds isn’t the Black utopia she dreamed of, but a town more interested in self-care than social justice issues. When Jasmyn starts digging into the community’s history, she uncovers a shocking secret about Liberty’s founders that threatens to tear her family apart.”
—Shannon Carlin, Time
“A slow-burn thriller that crosses the cinematic vectors of Get Out and Stepford Wives in a story about a young family that moves to a prosperous Black community, only to find that all is not as utopian as it seems.”
—The New York Times
“Yoon’s characters talk honestly about race and the various strategies of speaking out or fitting in….Artful writing and pacing sustain the tension to the very end. And this is a story you’ll want to talk about afterward.”
—Suzanne Perez, KMUW
“File best-selling author Nicola Yoon’s latest under thriller or literary fiction or dystopian fiction, but make sure you read One Of Our Kind, a story of the “perfect” gated community for people of color where all–inevitably–is not as it seems.”
—Michael Giltz, Parade
“Many have ventured into the ‘neighborhood that is not what it seems’ category of suspense, but no one has done it better than Nicola Yoon….Absolutely jaw-dropping.”
—Molly Odintz, Crime Reads
“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
“Brilliant, provocative, seminal — there aren’t enough adjectives to describe how much food for thought Yoon’s novel provided. When cultural identity is shaped by trauma, can you even imagine who you are when that trauma is excised? What is the difference between equality and equity? And how deep into the magma of racism does implicit bias go? Your book club will be discussing this one for DAYS.”
—Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Wish You Were Here
“Nicola Yoon can write about any subject beautifully, but what she’s done in One of Our Kind is as thrilling as it is lusciously written. I can’t remember the last time a book kept me turning the pages so quickly, or kept me up so late. One of Our Kind is 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
“Provocative…Sure to spark book club conversations for years to come. Who says you can’t tackle big, important contemporary ideas in a page-turning thriller?”
—The Seattle Times
“[One of Our Kind] is set in a newly planned utopian community for Black Americans in California….As with all utopias, usually, things aren’t exactly as they seem….For fans of dystopian fiction, this is a great fast-paced read.”
—Jordan Lauf, WNYC
“Masterful. . . . Yoon maintains taut, nerve-shattering suspense throughout as she delves into societal fault lines and cultural anxieties, crafting a brutally effective examination of how generational trauma roots itself in the body. The dialogue in particular shines as the characters argue, sympathize, and search for connection with one another, even in the face of the terror that surrounds them. Yoon’s latest will linger in readers’ minds long after its horrifying conclusion.”
—Publishers Weekly, STARRED
“Yoon is skilled at sustaining the tension throughout Jasmyn’s investigations, exposing the ways that Black communities are undermined both internally and externally. It’s an artful page-turning thriller, but constantly mindful that decisions about community and identity can put lives at stake. A bracing tale of the perils of groupthink and willful ignorance.”
—Kirkus Reviews, STARRED
“Yoon steadily builds suspense and provocation in this chilling, subtly speculative tale via perfectly selected details and unnerving conversations…In the mode of Percival Everett, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, and Rion Amilcar Scott, Yoon presents a riveting tale spiked with surprises, laced with compassion, and designed for discussion as it raises unsettling questions about class, Blackness, parenthood, social responsibility, justice, and the hidden repercussions of deep, centuries-spanning trauma.”
—Booklist, STARRED
“The paradoxes and discontents of the upwardly mobile Black bourgeoisie are territory the Jamaican-born, wildly successful Yoon knows intimately and draws with precision. Like Kiley Reid (Such a Fun Age and Come and Get It), Yoon vividly captures the racial and political zeitgeist… [A] potent illustration of the effects of racial trauma…Bold and razor sharp.”
—BookPage
“Chilling….Yoon’s novel plants serious, relevant questions about what true safety and true freedom look like, about what it means when Black pride and Black joy are subsumed by racism, fear, and repeated trauma….A topical novel ripe for discussion and debate.”
—Norah Piehl, BookBrowse
“I’m a huge fan of Nicola Yoon. The Sun is Also A Star left me in tears. Yes, that is a good thing. But now the author is moving into new territory: adult fiction. And adult fiction that sounds SUPER SCARY. I’m in.”
—Emily Martin, BookRiot
Louise Glass –
This is one of the best books I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Nicola Yoon has crafted a book entitled “ One of Our Kind” that is sci fi horror psychological thriller and more. We get to look at the history of black people and how they cope with life in society now. A young family , King, his pregnant wife Jasmine and their young son Kamau become wealthy through his job and move to a black utopia overflowing with mansions and a huge health spa called the Wellness Center. I grew to like the family and watched the signs the author dropped all through the book that things were “ off” the people were strange in Liberty – their new town for the black and very wealthy . No spoilers- you learn much about black history and how much suffering they go through now. You are taken on a wild and frightening ride as Jasmine questions everything around her including her husbands actions. This book is unique- highly recommend!
JWJ –
Big time echoes of The Stepford Wives and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but a keen insight into Black lives in America. A page turner for sure but it’s the insights into a Black perspective of how we deal with race in 2024 is the real touchstone of this novel.
FryLady –
White reader here. This is a great “book group” book, as it is sure to spark thought and debate. It is less successful as a fully fleshed-out novel. Seeing that this is the author’s first novel for adults, the writing style makes a bit more sense.I felt like this story was told in a very simplistic way, with the focus on making a point, not on portraying believable characters. That said, Jasmyn, the main character, was likeable enough for me to keep going with her story, and I especially liked Keisha, the one friend she makes in the elite community of Liberty.The first 2/3 of this book was a bit slow to me as it’s clear that something creepy is going on; about 2/3 of the way in the pieces fall into place, and the epilogue of the book was great.A couple of moments really hit home to me. 1) Jasmyn and King takes their son to a public pool outside Liberty, and we see Jasmyn’s internal struggle to portray a positive “face” for the white people at the pool, and how she must manage her and her son’s behavior. This really brought home to me the relief and safety they felt at being in an all-Black community, and how difficult it must be to constantly police oneself. 2) The epilogue – the behavior of the “white woman” reminded me uncomfortably of my own when I am around Black people and become extremely conscious of trying NOT to be racist….to the point I’m sure my behavior is very unnatural.This is a great book for discussion as it is sure to create lots of passionate debate. Ideally, it would be a mixed-race group of people where all feel comfortable sharing their true feelings. However, based on other reviews here, I’m doubtful whether that can really ever be the case in current America.
Luka Ashley Carter –
Do yourself a favor- buy it, borrow it, rent it, listen to it….. just READ IT. It’s a thoroughly engrossing and incredibly well written story. So much so, that even as the abject horror builds to what you know will be the all but inevitable conclusion; it’s still unbelievably disturbing, painful and heartbreaking to read- let alone accept- even after you close the back cover. It’s far more than “just another horror story”; it’s a painfully honest, thought provoking work. One that has the ability to foster much needed conversations about our society at large, and the age old structures we’ve put in place that uphold it.In her acknowledgments, Ms. Yoon writes; “This is a story of tragedy. I wrote this book from a place of despair and anger and, also, from a place of hope. Authors are often asked what they want readers to take from their work. My dearest wish for this book is that Jasmyn’s profoundly tragic fate inspires you to have thoughtful conversations inside your circles and outside of them as well.”READ. THIS. BOOK.
Kindle Customer –
Unfortunately this book ends the only way it could. It’s a Black version of the Stepford Wives only it’s the husbands who get stepped on.There will have to be a sequel where white people are turned into Blacks as a form of MAGA punishment.Jasmyn should have escaped. It would have made a better story.
Jeannine L. –
This is the first book I have read from this author and after finishing it in 24 hours, I want to read all the other books Nicola has written. In Nicola’s skilled storytelling, the topics of racism and white privilege make up an entertaining novel while also making a powerful statement about our society. If there was a black version of Stepford Wives, this is it. I don’t want to give anything away so just read it. You will be thinking and hopefully talking about it tor a long time after you finish the book.
Kindle Customer –
This is a total copy of Step ford Wives with social commentary thrown in. The author makes good comments about being Black in America but that doesn’t justify plagiarism.
Sandra G –
There was a lot I liked about this book. It was well written, suspenseful, with strong characters. However the anger that the author constantly expresses was off-putting. You don’t need to hit someone over the head with ideas and opinions to make a point, let the characters and actions speak for themselves. This took away from what otherwise would have been an excellent and powerful social commentary. Best to let readers draw their own conclusions, no matter who they are.
Letitia –
Nicola Yoon’s novel is a dark tale of not only racism in general but also of the profound effects of trauma. The ending surprised and saddened me.
Christina –
Thought provoking. I kept wondering how it would end. Not at all what I expected!