Coming-of-age story that weaves race and relationships into a complex tale. Great for patrons that enjoy multi-family sagas!

In Piedmont, North Carolina, in the 1990s, two women are faced with raising young children on their own. Jade and her son Gee are Black while Lacey May and her three daughters are White. Both are living on the same edge of desperation, but in What’s Mine and Yours each responds to her circumstances in very different ways. Ways that come to clash a decade later, when despite it being 2002, school integration is still a divisive issue in the South.

There are three timelines in What’s Mine and Yours. In the earliest Jade and Gee suffer a tremendous loss when Ray, Jade’s boyfriend and the only father Gee knows, is killed in an altercation. This is deeply unfortunate for the novel as well, because within the single chapter he inhabits, Ray is one of the strongest characters in the book. Which may be why he was killed—even as a reader I felt his loss and knew the impact it would have. Still, not a choice I liked.

In the same period, Lacey May and her daughters are living without the basic necessities while Robbie, her husband and the girls’ father is in prison. Unable to find work, Lacey May agrees to move in with a kindly, but hapless man who loves her and is willing to accept whatever crumbs of affection she shows him. This transactional union on her part continues through the novel as Lacey never divorces Robbie or cuts ties with him. He’s an addict and despite his love, his poor choices impact the family throughout What’s Mine and Yours.

In the present day, Noelle, Lacey’s oldest daughter, is contemplating the state of her marriage. Her husband, a photographer, is in France on a project, but the distance between them is becoming more than just miles. Margarita, the middle daughter, is in L.A. pretending to be a star, but with no real success, while Diane, the youngest is still in North Carolina and the only one of the three who has any contact with their mother.

The present and the past converge in 2002 when the local high school arrives at a plan to bus in predominantly Black students from the opposite side of town to increase diversity and opportunity for the county as a whole. Lacey May and Jade stand on opposite sides of the issue—with Lacey asserting her conviction that her daughters deserved to be in the school and their opportunities would be diminished due to the influx of new students. Noelle and Gee manage to forge a much-needed friendship for both, but are ultimately caught in the crossfire.

In creating Lacey May, author Naima Coster writes a character sure to evoke a response. For me, it was antipathy, as this woman who had done nothing more than dupe the right man into supporting her, asserts her rights to benefits she wants to deny others. Others like Jade, who has put herself through school, working multiple jobs, to earn a degree in the medical field. All great novels need a counterpoint character, but Lacey, with her entitled hypocrisy, rang so true to much of the racism going on in America today, that I tuned her out.

Oddly, despite my reaction to Lacey, the rest of the novel left me indifferent. Whatever pull was needed to exert itself and hook me never materialized. Instead, I skated on the novel’s surface and quickly forgot it after I finished. What’s Mine and Yours is a good book, but great books stay with me and make me think and it missed the mark.

𝗪𝐇𝐀𝐓’𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 by Naima Costeris just the sort of deep dive that I most like in a book. For nearly forty years, this compelling story follows two families in a small North Carolina community. One family is white, the other Black, neither is from money, and both have been rocked by tragedy. Around that, Coster built an incredible story with so much to like, including:⁣
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✅ Dual timelines, slowly bringing forward the full picture.⁣
✅ The back and forth telling of each families' story.⁣
✅ Parallels between two hardened mothers who really couldn’t have been more different.⁣
✅ A community divided by school integration.⁣
✅ Women supporting women!⁣
✅ Strained sibling relationships.⁣
✅ Evolution of the characters.⁣
✅ The full circle of life.⁣
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If I were to offer a single downside it would be that there were times the book slowed for me, though it always picked back up again. If you’ve yet to read 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴, I highly recommend changing that!

Two smart, mercurial, and unconventional Southern women,- Jade, who is Black, and Lacey May, who is white-are leading disparate lives, until their fate becomes thinly connected by a transformative tragedy that directly and indirectly impact the men in their lives, whom unbeknownst to them are casual friends. This calamity, which overtly impacts Jade's life and covertly impacts Lacey May's lifewill go on to shape Jade and Lacey May's subsequent relationships, how they raise their children, and heavily influence the trajectory of their lives. If you want to know more about how Jade and Lacey May's worlds collide, then I strongly suggest picking up Naima Coster's enthralling multicultural family saga What Is Mine and Yours.

Naima Coster's What Is Mine and Yours is simply excellent modern literature replete with unembellished yet delicate prose; multiple povs and myriad timelines which deftly draws the reader in and captures one's attention; offers refreshing, nuanced and relevant social commentary on race, class and culture in America today; tackles complex themes such as how life's tragedies can impact families individually vs collectively at the micro and macro level; as well as treats readers to skillfully written yet relatable characters whom realistically mirror our flawed humanity. I thoroughly enjoyed, this book, and if you like literature I think you will too, I suggest reading this book as a buddy read or with your local or virtual book club, trust me there will be much to discuss.

The themes of race, classism, bigotry, love, single-parenthood and immigration are important, and there are some interesting scenes, but I wasn't captivated. I found this multigenerational story a bit too hard to follow. It skips around over a 20-year period and I got a lost even while listening to the audiobook and reading along with the book. Sorry to say as it's generated a ton of great buzz.

I do very much appreciate the advanced reader copy from Grand Central Publishing, via NetGalley.

What’s Mine and Yours by Naima Coster is an emotional read about motherhood, race and class.

Today Show’s Jenna Bush Hager tends to pick more literary fiction style stories for her book club, especially compared to some of the other celebrity ones out there. Whenever I read one of Jenna’s picks, I expect it to be more serious and sometimes intense. And they’re always thought-provoking.

What’s Mine and Yours by Naima Coster is Jenna’s March pick and it fits the bill: literary fiction and definitely more heavy.

While the integration sections are few and far between, I was quite struck at the scene in which the school brings together all the parents to discuss the changes. Many of the white parents in the story are cruel and believe this will somehow derail their own kids’ success. And these same people try to proclaim that they’re not racist—like Lacey May—when clearly they are.

I would say this book is fine and give it 3 1/2 stars. There are some emotional scenes— the beginning and end are both very strong. But I do believe the synopsis was misleading and would have liked more about the integration part. However, there is plenty to discuss with book clubs.

With so much buzz, I expected to love this. But I found it hard to get into and even harder to finish. I usually like Jenna's book club picks but not this one.

Race relations, personal struggles, class warfare, familial drama; these are all cleverly represented with complex  and heartfelt characters and insightful writing in the second novel from the talented Naima Coster. Constantly moving forward through time, we are privy to formative and pivotal moments in these characters' lives, which ultimately causes us to consider the very real nature of our own existence, the decisions we make or don't make and how those effects haunt us and future generations to come.

This book was compared to Ask Again Yes and I loved that book and I am happy to say that I liked this one even more! This book follows two families over 20 years who are bound in loss and heartbreak in ways they will never understand. This book was sad and happy and frustrating and revealing and just was so interesting to follow all these different character me get a feel for how the relationships evolved and what made them all the way they are. Noelle was strong and fought against her mother to test and up for others even when she was going through something extremely difficult. Gee witnessed what no kid should ever witness and then had to go to a school that people were actively trying to keep him out of. I loved how the author made the characters so dynamic. Like I hated them at times, but was also felt for them and want them to succeed which I really appreciated seeing both sides to all the characters. I thought the twist in the story was a bit predictable, but I still loved it and the ending. If you love family stories, this is a good one!

This is a multigenerational story that shows how family shapes us. Gee is a young black child being raised by his mother when his father dies suddenly. His mother Jade is going to nursing school and doing her best to take care of her son her way. On the other side of town Lacey May, a white women, is raising her three daughters no matter the sacrifices she has to make. Their father, Robbie, is from Columbia and has been in jail and struggles with addiction throughout their lives. The high school starts to integrate the students from the predominantly black high school on the east side with the predominantly white school on the west. This causes an uproar and tensions are high. The parents want what they feel is “best” for their child. Noelle, Lacey May’s oldest daughter, and Gee develop a relationship during a school play that ties their families together in many ways over the course of 30 years.
The writing is great and the characters are well developed. However, I didn’t love this one. I found myself bored in the middle and confused by the back and forth in timelines in the different stories. It is literary fiction so it is slow paced and focused on the characters. The ending was abrupt and I wasn’t completely satisfied.

Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc for an honest review.

One of my favorite sub-genres is intricately weaved multigenerational family stories. This one has it all...coming of age, flawed and sometimes unpredictable characters, and circumstances that help us sort out our own feelings and bias.

Author Naima Coster's ability to tackle so many important topics while also writing a totally engrossing storyline made this a book that I had a hard time putting down, but also completely thought-provoking at the same time. This story is heavy on family drama and also speaks to how our childhoods shape us into who we are today.

I will say that the book summary led me to think that this book would be more about school integration and while it was a part of the book, it didn't come about until much later on and also was just a small part of the overall storyline.

There are quite a few characters to keep track of and sometimes I wished for them to be more fleshed out, but I also think that is what made this book so interesting. The subtleties and nuances speak to the moments of gray we all experience in daily life. This would make for a fascinating book club discussion because of the different interpretations we all might take away from it. 4.5/5 stars.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for my gifted copy.

This is a phenomenal novel that immediately lets you know you are in the hands of a masterful novelist. The character-building is peerless from page one, which makes the events of the first chapter all the more devastating (content warnings for murder, gun violence, and a host of other things). I appreciated the non-linear narrative structure, though I did wish that some of the sections were longer/combined, so that the timeline didn't jump around quite so much. For me, this made the reading experience choppier than I would have preferred, and it meant I wasn't as fully immersed as the world- and character-building would otherwise have allowed me to be, but I can see reasons why Coster might have wanted this choppiness. Overall, this is a truly excellent book.

"What's Mine and Yours" is a book about people searching for their identity, people creating a family legacy (for better or for worse), and the fragile and complicated relationships between children and parents, husbands and wives. Racism, trauma, addiction, depression, generational hurt, belonging, growing up, parenthood, infidelity; Naima Coster covers it all in a complex study of the American family.

I am glad I read this book, however it wasn't one of my favorites. It did address important issues, but I didn't really have anyone to root for. All the main character seemed unhappy and unsatisfied in their life. They all faced difficult things, but most of them did not overcome those to be happy. I also found the ending unsatisfying for my tastes. I know this will be the perfect read for many people, but it wasn't for me.

I requested this book based off a review I seen on Instagram and I was immediately intrigued. The first chapter hooked me into the story but as I got to 50% I was confused at what I read. This story has a lot of perspectives and at times I didn’t even know what was going on. Maybe it was me 🤷🏽‍♀️

A multigenerational family drama, interweaving the lives of two families with adjacent lives, the writing and character development of this novel was simply divine. 😇 Right away, the first chapter gripped me and had me sucked right in. The writing was so beautiful and immersive but without being pretentious or flowery. I ended up highlighting about 2 dozen lines on my kindle because I kept just reading a section and thinking “wow”.

Fans of Ask Again, Yes would love this new release as it definitely has similar vibes in the story and the prose. I highly recommend picking up this book if you like character driven family sagas. Loved it!!!

Absolutely beautiful story following flawed characters through until the ending that left me with a single tear. Amazing writing that stayed with me through every heartbreaking page. I found something uplifting and real about every character. They came off the page for me and I found it hard to stop reading. This book deserves to be a huge hit!!

A beautiful, moving multi-generational, multi family novel. This is quiet, character driven story but I can't stop thinking about them. Would definitely recommend.

Before I get into the review, I just want you all to know how long it took me to realize the cover art is alternating profiles. I thought it was just colored blobs. But if you look closely, those are upturned faces and hair, and a skyline at the bottom. What can I say, it’s been a year.

If you’ve read the synopsis of What’s Mine and Yours, you probably think it’s about two teenagers, one black and one white, who meet in a newly integrated high school, brought together by a play. And that is part of the story. But to say it’s the focus would be ignoring the rest of the story that takes place. Gee and Noelle, the teens, don’t even meet until close to halfway through the book.

The story starts with Gee as a young boy. He witnesses his stepfather’s murder, an event that will understandably influence the rest of his childhood and adolescence.

But What’s Mine and Yours has an ensemble cast, and we switch to Noelle’s mom, Lacey May, as she struggles to house and feed her 3 daughters while her husband is in prison, and then to Noelle and her sisters as adults who have been beckoned home when Lacey May is diagnosed with cancer. Each of the women has their own struggles in life and are not thrilled with returning to see the mother they separated themselves from as soon as possible.

What’s Mine and Yours deals with many themes – racism, poverty, sexuality, marriage and infidelity, teen pregnancy, drug use, social media, and so much more. There’s a lot packed into the pages. And I almost wish there was more focus on Gee and Noelle as teens and the progression of their relationship instead of spending so much time on other characters.

This review sounds like I didn’t like What’s Mine and Yours; I did enjoy it very much, once I realized the direction the story was going and how the different timelines all tied together. I have a feeling this book will be highly lauded for the characters, themes, and deservedly so. It is not a quick or easy read, but it’s definitely a good one.

This book is about two families: Jade, Ray, Gee and Lacey Mae, Noelle, Margarita, and Diane. I don't want to give away too much else because this is the type of book where it's better to go in not knowing anything else besides who the main characters are.

I had some trouble getting into the story in the beginning because the timelines were hard to follow. I was so close to DNFing this one, but I'm so glad I didn't! If you're having a hard time, wait until you're about 25% into the book. Things really pick up around that point, and I couldn't put it down after that. The end was wrapped up too quickly for me, but overall, it was a great read.

I thought the story was going to cover the school integration more and I thought the story would mainly be about Gee and Noelle based on what I read in the synopsis. We definitely see a lot of Lacey Mae and her three daughters as there are alternating chapters between the two families. We do see both families' stories intertwining with one another throughout the book.

I loved how this book covered so much. It covered everything from race, gentrification, class, love, addiction, family, and interracial relationships. I definitely think this book was worth the read and I recommend giving it a try!