I was provided with the Advance Reader Copy of this book. It's the story of two families-- De’Andrea Whitman’s family who are Black and Rebecca Myland 's who are white. D'Andre and her family are uprooted from a comfortable life and a circle of close friends in Atlanta and move to an upscale, white, gated community in VA. Her daughter, Nina begins kindergarten in the new community where she meets Rebecca's daughter Isabella. The two girls instantly become "best friends." Rebecca is head of the school’s Diversity Committee—in an all white school. Rebecca is determined to make friends with De’Andrea and De’Andrea has been given task by her therapist to make a white friend. In the midst of all this, both families are dealing with beloved family members with dementia. Of course, there are ups and downs. The book tackles overt racism, as well not so obvious racism—(perhaps out of ignorance?) We know this exists and what better way to show it than through work of fiction? I was wishing the two women would learn from the example of their daughters and become friends without expectations.

Thank you Netgalley and Amistad for an arc of Rebecca Not Becky by Christine Platt and Catherine Wigginton Greene. This book is about two suburban housewives, one Black and one white, and how they navigate racial issues in a mostly white town. Alternating between both women’s points of view, provides an interesting way to look at race.

I enjoyed this book! I think it tackled race and racism in a modern way, and the characters were fun to read about. I found Rebecca's family drama really exciting, like a reality show, and I could easily picture her and the other white women in Rolling Hills. De'Andrea and her family were very cute to read about, and I felt that she's probably someone many people can relate to (though not so much me because I'm white and childless). Thank you to NetGalley and Amistad for this ARC!

The title of this book is what grabbed me first, and then the synopsis made me want to pick it up as soon as possible! The story moved at a good pace but once I was 50% in, I began to wonder where the story was going and it was unclear.. The two main characters, one a Black woman and the other white woman, were written as caricatures of themselves. Unfortunately, the dialed up nature of both characters appealed to me less and less and I kept reading. For me, it was a large element of the story that proved to be more of a distraction than an addition. I wish the characters had more of a realistic portrayal. The one element of the book that felt like it connected and was real was the relationship both women had with their mother-in-laws who were living in an Alzheimer's facility. Overall, this book just didn't work for me.

This is the book I needed 7 years ago when my son first entered a PWI, to learn how to navigate these white spaces. Meet De'Andrea and Rebecca, 1 Black mother and 1 White mother navigating the world of Magnolia Country Day School. Expectations are set too high about this diversity committee and true colors are shown when they petition to take down a confederate statue. It reminded me a little of The Hate U Give, but with PA parents. Oppression Olympics are brought up with the character of Jenny Q. The question of whether all white women are Beckys or Karens is raised and whether or not it is on Black people to educate them. I found the ending to be a bit unrealistic though- I would've never went back! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the questions it raises. If our Black children have to learn about race at an early age, so should White kids.

I DNFed this (twice!) so I won't be rating on other sites. I picked this up shortly after being approved for it, couldn't get past the first or second chapter. Picked it back up again recently, and - try as I may - couldn't finish it again. The characters were unlikable and such flat stereotypes. It felt like it was trying too hard to make a point, reinforcing a lot of telling not showing and using those stereotypes and other things that just felt really topically trendy and that will age poorly. :(

This book taught me a lot about the growing I still need to do to become anti-racist.

The novel is told from two viewpoints: DeAndrea and Rebecca. DeAndrea and her family are moving from Atlanta to Rolling Hills, from a vibrant urban city filled with successful black people to a very white town. They are drawn here by the wonderful dementia facility, which will house DeAndrea's mother-in-law. Her early onset dementia is hard to watch, but there's no question that they want to be close enough to visit her a few times a week.

Rebecca is the president of the diversity committee at her children's school. When she learns DeAndrea's family is moving into their neighborhood and attending school with her kids, she can't wait to meet her and finally have a black face on the diversity committee (not to mention a black friend).

At first, this book really irritated me. DeAndrea expects the worst when she moves to Rolling Hills. Rebecca is clueless and naive. They seemed more caricature than real people. But the more I read, the more I understood them. The more I realized I'm not that different than Rebecca (or Becky), and I had something to learn from this book.

You won't be surprised what happens to DeAndrea's family, but hopefully you also will be moved to do your part to make things better in your own world. I'm going to continue to do my reading and learning about racism, and examine my life to find the micro aggressions I'm sure I'm committing.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book.

The summary of this book felt right up my alley, but I couldn't finish, mostly because the main characters ended up feeling a bit more like caricatures than fully fleshed out characters. The set up does feel as though it's full of great conflict. I just don't think I'm the reader for this.

This was a great book on looking at racism from two different view points. All things equal except one friend was white and other person was black. To see even within your own family you can have different view points on racisms. I loved how the two friends worked to gain a better understanding of each others view point and how to navigate life to allow their kids to become friends.

Received this as an e-book ARC from NetGalley.

De’Andrea Whitman is being uprooted from her comfortable home and network of close friends in Atlanta to move to a predominantly white, gated community that is hours away from everything she knows and values. Her only child is starting kindergarten, prompting De’Andrea, who left off practising law to be a stay-at-home mom, to question what she should do with the next stage of her life.

Her daughter’s new best friend is the only child of Rebecca, the painfully earnest white chair of the school’s diversity committee, who launches herself at De’Andrea like a heat-seeking missile. At last, a Black family has arrived!

Sounds like the setup for a great read, but I felt like the story never really got there. Strong parallels are drawn between De’Andrea and Rebecca, but both characters are written as superficial and unlikeable. I didn’t see any growth over the course of the novel from either woman.

The pacing is a bit uneven - it moves very slowly at first, but about a quarter of the way in the story picks up considerably. There are some really good scenes that explore racism and internalized racism, but I kept waiting for some character development that never happened.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing me with an ARC.

Rebecca Myland's daughter Isabella announces after 1 day of kindergarten that she has a new best friend named Nina. Nina Whitman and her parents DeAndrea and Malik have just moved to the very affluent suburb of Rolling Hills in Virginia. DeAndrea, especially, is having a hard time with the move from Atlanta. Their social group there was the "family that you choose" ,and she is missing her friends immensely. DeAndrea is fairly sure they are the only black family in the entire community, leaving her feeling even more isolated. Her therapist challenges her to make a white friend, and when Rebecca invites her to join the school's diversity committee, the unlikely pair find they have more in common than either of them expected.

Thanks to NetGalley, the authors and the publishe rAmistad for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the characters, writing, and the many different perspectives. This book captures many important issues that occur all too much in the US. Great read. Thank you, NetGalley.

Good story. Real enough and current enough to sometimes be difficult to read, but a good, balanced story of people trying to figure out how to do interracial friendships well.

Rebecca, Not Becky is the story of two women in Northern Virginia. Both are financially quite comfortable and one is Black and one is white. I enjoyed the early part of DeAndrea's story but felt it got bogged down. Rebecca just wasn't an appealing character for me and so the story dragged for me. DeAndrea's character did feel better defined to me and her dialogue especially with her friends rang more authentic.
All in all just not my favorite read.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

I really liked this book, it was different than anything else I've read which was a breath of fresh air. I will be recommending this to my friends, and auto buy this author!

This book is not an ordinary book—it’s not your run-of-the-mill women’s fiction piece about friendship and adversity. No, no. This piece is deeper. It requires thought and encourages action. It is emotional, vulnerable, and complicated. I suppose that’s no surprise.

I would almost venture to say that this is a non-fiction piece clothed in a narrative. It reads almost like a series of essays, except the book is character-driven. Unfortunately, it is not plot driven, and there is more telling than showing. Those are the biggest reason for my rating.

Other reasons for my rating are:
- unlikeable main characters
- shallow interactions between characters
- on-page conflict with off-page resolution

Really, I guess I had higher expectations for this book. But that’s not to say the book doesn’t have real world value. It poses questions and prompts conversations that we need to consider. And naturally, we shouldn’t stop at consideration.

If you want to read this book, please walk into it with your eyes open. It will leave you with more questions than answers, and I believe this is on purpose. This book is meant to challenge you. Additionally, be aware that there is no HEA in this story—because it is a reflection of the real world. Again, I believe this is intentional. We are meant to feel the discomfort of this book. And THAT is where the genius of this book lies.

Thank you to the authors, NetGalley, and Amistad for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. It was a pleasure.

I had to DNF this one because it just wasn’t very enjoyable. I’m all for unlikable main characters but these ladies just felt really stereotypical and obvious. I wanted to love it because the concept was there. The execution just wasn’t.

I don't quite know how to describe the way I feel about this book...

The writing of some of the characters irked me. Also "zaddy" was used unironically, which made me wince.

I absolutely LOVED Rebecca, Not Becky, and it will be among my favorites of 2023. This book deals with so many topics—racism, friendship, aging parents—and does so in a very relatable way. I liked the characters, faults and all, and felt like the main characters were very well developed. It made me think, and it would be a great book club choice! Thank you, NetGalley and Amistad, for the advance reader copy of this five star read!

This book was just okay, for me. It felt like everything was just glossed over and nothing was fully fleshed out or explored, be it characters or plot lines.