bahareads's Reviews (1.09k)

I finally read the classic. Not impressed, did not get it.

A childhood classic that I listened to on audiobook. Anne of the Island used to be my favorite book in the series as a kind, but after this listen it's changed! I still adore the romance but the folly of Anne's decisions in the book was annoying.

I love all the Stormlight Archive novellas. They are so compelling. I love the diversity in characterization, this is the first 'disabled' character (that I can recall) in the Stormlight Archive series. The plot was fun. 

I do think the book was a bit of a set-up for the main series. It was sometimes obvious what was going on to happen. 

I had to skim through for class - a series of essays that span a wide range of topics all centered on the main topic. It is very interesting.

Reading this as an e-book took TIME. I read this off and on from August to April. The first section of the book was a bit slow but the latter half was quick and engaging. The series keeps on giving. I cannot wait to see what else happens

skimmed over for a graduate class

A childhood classic that I listened to on audiobook. I'm falling in love with Anne and the other characters all over again. It is so interesting listening to this book as an adult. It is a different perspective.

Piero Gleijeses argues that Castro’s foreign policy in Africa was driven by revolutionary zeal and self-preservation and that by helping spark revolutions in Africa that the United States and other Western powers had to deal with it took the pressure off of Cuba during the fraught time of the Cold War.

Gleijeses uses Zaire and Angola as case studies to show Cold War crises in Africa up to 1976, and the United States' foreign policy in Africa. He proves throughout the book that the United States did not see Cuba as a threat in Africa. He shows readers using US officials’ own words they were surprised at Cuban intervention in Africa. Gleijeses states that Cuban intervention in Africa was a continuum of Cuba's relations with Africa, the Soviet Union, and the United States. He emphasises that African intervention was easier than Latin American intervention for Cuba because it had fewer risks and there was no head-to-head collision with the United States, though Cuba had more similarities to countries in Latin America than in Africa.

One of Gleijeses’ methods is to use a semi-biographical narrative approach for the book. He traces the various African leaders, Fidel Castro, and Che Guevara actions and uses their personal documents to show how the various leaders shaped the historical events throughout the book. Gleijeses intervenes in Cold War historiography by telling a story from below. He shows the perspective of a 'third-world' country helping and intervening in another 'third-world' country. Gleijeses tells the voice of the ‘defeated’ of the Cold War years.

A childhood classic that I listened to on audiobook. I adore LMM's writing style and characters. I felt like a child again listening to this book. All of the characters are so loveable, and I do love them.

I have been a fan of Yoon but this book was a disappointment.

One of Our Kind lacked depth. Yoon wrote this book for White readers. If you want to be hit over the head with racial discourse the book could be for you. The book gets a star simply because it was a finished product. I would have put this book down but saw it through to the end because my friend had vented to me about it. I thought 'surely not Yoon!' I was wrong.

One of Our Kind follows the Williams, a Black family, moving into the wealthy Black neighbourhood, Liberty. The wife, Jasmyn, is pro-Black. PRO-BLACK. By the end of the book, the rhetoric is almost Black-Israelite Black. She's so pro-black, she is anti-Black. Jasmyn is searching for like-minded people inside the neighbourhood and finds a small community (which was slowly chipped away at in the book). She has a bad feeling about Liberty which cannot be shaken though her husband, King LOVES it.

Jasmyn and King argue back and forth about their neighbours and living in the neighbourhood. They also argue about how Black or not-Black they are being. Jasmyn believes Black people should only have natural hair, be of darker skin colour, talk about racism and racial trauma constantly, and give unhealthy portions of time to giving back to the community. If you do not fall into (and all) of these categories you're a coon! Hair is the thing Jasmyn comments on the most when she meets someone. She can tell if you're One of Her Kind or not by it. Nicola Yoon has Jasmyn focus on the hardest aspects of the Black experience, it is pounded time and time again into the reader. There is no Black joy or love in this book. It is probably shocking to the White reader, but tiring for a Black one.

Yoon brings in details about the Williams family once for the plot and never mentions them again. I honestly forgot Jasmyn was pregnant because it was NEVER mentioned again. Side characters are not fleshed out. They are only there for the plot. King - THE FREAKIN HUSBAND - is not developed as a character at all.

A Black woman writing this type of novel is sad. What makes it worse is all the people who read this book before publication and let it happen. No one stopped to think critically about the message, the narration, or the characterization. Let me say, White people it is okay to say "Hey this doesn't seem right to me," even when talking about Black characters. At least it will bring some discussion, and one or both conversation parties can be enlightened.

Do not just read my review about it. Other Black women say the same thing.