One of Our Kind
For fans of The Sellout and The Other Black Girl, a propulsive, daring satire of race and privilege set in an all-Black gated community from #1 New York Times best-selling author Nicola Yoon
"Brilliant, provocative, seminal....Your book club will be discussing this one for DAYS.”—Jodi Picoult
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?
A gripping thriller with wry, razor-sharp social commentary, One of Our Kind explores the ways in which freedom is complicated by the presumptions we make about ourselves and each other.
Praise for One of Our Kind
“Brilliant, provocative, seminal — there aren’t enough adjectives to describe how much food for thought Yoon’s novel provided..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
“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
“an artful page-turning thriller…constantly mindful that decisions about community and identity can put lives at stake.”
“[A] masterful psychological horror novel…Yoon’s latest will linger in readers’ minds long after its horrifying conclusion.”
“One of Our Kind” is a slim book with short chapters and a freight-train feel...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, 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
"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
"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
“…Yoon presents a riveting tale spiked with surprises, laced with compassion, and designed for discussion…”