What's Mine and Yours

I'm going to preface this review by stating that literary fiction is not my cuppa tea, and I didn't realize this book was within that genre when I began reading. I had hoped to have enjoyed this latest book in the Jenna Bush book club a lot more than I did. 

What's Mine and Yours is a character-driven, multi-generational story that started off strong in its first couple of chapters. But about one-quarter of the way in, things get overly complicated and disjointed with three timelines and a large cast of characters who was largely unlikable - except for Ray. Him I liked.

There are a few societal issues addressed: class, race, loss, and dysfunctional family, but this story lacked emotion and as the book progressed, I got more and more irritated with its shallow look at the issues and characters. The book's blurb is also misleading because the integration of non-white students into a predominantly white high school is very much in the background. There is a bit of an a-ha moment but by the time it happened close to the end, I had had enough, and the reveal wasn't received with the surprise I think the author was going for. 

This is the second book that I've read from Jenna Bush's book club and it's safe to say that she and I have very different tastes in books. Jenna and I will not be bookish besties and that's okay. Different book preferences make the world go round, right? Unfortunately, What's Mine and Yours was an underwhelming read for me that felt superficial in its character development and its handling of the issues it addressed. And while many other readers loved this book, it was a big miss for me and a book that I struggled to get through.

My Rating: 2 stars

Author: Naima Coster

Genre: Literary Fiction

Type and Source: Hardcover from public library

Pages: 341

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

First Published: March 2, 2021

Opening Line: The street was dark when Ray pulled up behind the bakery.

Book Description from GoodReads: From the author of Halsey Street, a sweeping novel of legacy, identity, the American family-and the ways that race affects even our most intimate relationships.

A community in the Piedmont of North Carolina rises in outrage as a county initiative draws students from the largely Black east side of town into predominantly white high schools on the west. For two students, Gee and Noelle, the integration sets off a chain of events that will tie their two families together in unexpected ways over the span of the next twenty years.

On one side of the integration debate is Jade, Gee's steely, ambitious mother. In the aftermath of a harrowing loss, she is determined to give her son the tools he'll need to survive in America as a sensitive, anxious, young Black man. On the other side is Noelle's headstrong mother, Lacey May, a white woman who refuses to see her half-Latina daughters as anything but white. She strives to protect them as she couldn't protect herself from the influence of their charming but unreliable father, Robbie.

When Gee and Noelle join the school play meant to bridge the divide between new and old students, their paths collide, and their two seemingly disconnected families begin to form deeply knotted, messy ties that will shape the trajectory of their adult lives. And their mothers-each determined to see her child inherit a better life-will make choices that will haunt them for decades to come.

As love is built and lost, and the past never too far behind, What's Mine and Yours is an expansive, vibrant tapestry that moves between the years, from the foothills of North Carolina, to Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Paris. It explores the unique organism that is every family: what breaks them apart and how they come back  together.