One of Our Kind
A novel
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4.0 • 23 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
#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, Jodi Picoult calls it "Brilliant, provocative, seminal....Your book club will be discussing this one for DAYS.”
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This masterful psychological horror novel from bestselling YA author Yoon (Everything, Everything) brings to bear all the claustrophobia of Rosemary's Baby and The Stepford Wives against the backdrop of systemic racism and police brutality. When pregnant lawyer Jasmyn Williams, her husband, King, and their son, Kamau, move to Liberty, an upscale, all-Black enclave outside of Los Angeles, Jasmyn is excited to join a community that seems to have it all—safety, stability, and a wellness culture centered on a spa that Liberty's residents organize their lives around. Then Jasmyn realizes how cloistered the community is from ongoing racial injustices, including the recent police shooting of a Black man and his daughter. As she digs deeper into the workings of Liberty's leadership and the nature of the treatments offered at the wellness center, she uncovers a horrifying secret that, once revealed, threatens both her life and her sense of self as a Black woman in America. 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.
