The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Piazza, Jo and Christine Pride. We Are Not Like Them. Atria Books, 2021.

An innocent black teenager Justin Dwyer gets shot by two white police offers named Kevin and Cameron, who mistook him for their suspect. Kevin’s pregnant wife Jen is getting lunch with her best friend Riley. Riley paid for the IVF that got Jen pregnant. Jen flees the restaurant when she receives the news about Justin’s shooting. Riley, who is a reporter, gets summoned to work to cover the case. Riley and Jen speak on the phone that night. Each says, “I love you” (33).

The next morning, Jen remembers how Riley’s grandmother Gigi essentially raised her. Jen’s own mother Lou was never around. Reporters show up to her home. She meets Kevin at a garden. He tells her there is an investigation going on about the shooting. He has been put on leave.

Riley goes to church. She feels pressured by her black friends and family to represent their community. After, she gets lunch with her brother Shaun. Jen shows up accidentally. Before leaving, Shaun tells her that Kevin messed up. Jen asks Riley why she is ignoring her calls. She asks Riley to interview Kevin. Riley declines.

Jen and Kevin move in with Kevin’s parents. Jen butts heads with Matt, his brother, who is racist. Despite the advice he receives from a media consultant and a lawyer, Kevin feels pressured to be loyal to his partner Cameron.

Riley visits Gigi in the hospital. Gigi tells her about how her cousin Jimmy was lynched for loving a white woman. Riley feels oppressed by generational trauma. She heads to a funeral home to meet with Wes, Justin’s uncle. He agrees to let her interview Justin’s mother Tamara after the funeral. They have an emotional interview. Shortly after, Black Lives Matter protests spread across the country.

Lou shows up to an important appointment for Jen at the hospital. Lou inadvertently reveals the sex of the baby; Jen is having a boy. She decides to call it Chase.

Tamara hosts a public memorial for Justin. Jen attends, making Riley feel uncomfortable. Soon enough, District Attorney Sabrina Cowell issues an indictment against Kevin and Cameron. She asks for Riley’s help covering the case.

When Jen checks in on her home, she finds it vandalized. There is also a check for Kevin from a white supremacist group. She opens Instagram and learns that Gigi has passed away. She is heartbroken.

Riley attends Gigi’s funeral in Alabama. She makes a pitstop before the funeral to visit a memorial for black victims of lynch mobs. After the funeral, Riley’s mother advises her to make up with Jen.

Jen and Riley send emails back and forth but cannot seem to agree on anything. Jen feels that her husband is being wrongfully persecuted while Riley feels weighed down by collective trauma. Riley receives an email from her ex, Corey, who offers his condolences on Gigi’s death. They arrange to meet in a few weeks’ time.

Jen has an emergency C-section. Riley is there to hold her hand. After the birth, Jen must visit the hospital each day to see her Chase, he has a heart defect. One day, Riley meets her in the hospital parking lot. Jen asks Riley whether Kevin deserves to go to jail. Riley says that each shooting of a black person touches her personally. She tells Jenny to “wake up” before handing her the t-shirt she brought as a gift (225).

There is a press conference for the trial surrounding Justin’s case. Sabrina advises Kevin and Cameron to turn themselves in.

Jen manages to convince Kevin to do so. At the trial, Sabrina speaks privately with Kevin’s lawyer. If Kevin turns his partner in, he will go free. He will not be able to work as a cop anymore, though. Kevin has a week to consider the offer.

Riley meets with Corey for dinner. It is awkward at first, but they grow more comfortable once they head to Riley’s place for drinks. She explains why she broke up with him via text after a three-year-long relationship. She was ashamed because her brother Shaun got arrested. He was in a car that got pulled over. His friend had marijuana and an unregistered gun on him. Riley was afraid that because she is black and Corey is white that they could never work out. Corey apologizes for making her feel as though she could not open up to him. They have sex.

Riley visits Jen to give her a stroller for Chase. Kevin took the deal. He and Jen are moving to Florida. Riley tells Jen about Corey and how she got promoted to anchor. She gives Jen a bracelet that Gigi wanted her to have. They embrace.

Kevin writes Tamara a letter in which he apologizes for Justin’s death. He explains how he held Justin’s hand as he died. Tamara is thankful for the letter.