The Problem with the Other Side

by Kwame Ivery

Uly would rather watch old Westerns with his new girlfriend, Sallie, than get involved in his school's messy politics—why focus on the “bad” and “ugly” when his days with Sallie are so good? His older sister Regina feels differently. She is fed up with the way white school-body presidential candidate Leona Walls talks about black students. Regina decides to run against Leona . . . and convinces Uly to be her campaign manager.

Sallie has no interest in managing her sister's campaign, but how could she say no? After their parents' death, Leona is practically her only family. Even after Leona is accused of running a racist campaign that targets the school's students of color—including Sallie's boyfriend, Uly—Sallie wants to give her sister the benefit of the doubt. But how long can she ignore the ugly truth behind Leona's actions?

Together and apart, Uly and Sallie must navigate sibling loyalty and romantic love as the campaign spirals toward a devastating conclusion.

CW: Acts of racism and bigotry, racist language, and gun violence are portrayed in this novel.

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Young Adult Contemporary

336 pages, Paperback

First published September 7, 2021

About the author

Kwame Ivery was born in the Bronx and raised in East Orange, New Jersey. He received a BA in psychology from Princeton University and an MFA in dramatic writing from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He's had a screenplay optioned by Hollywood storyboard artist Karl Shefelman (The Silence of the Lambs, Confessions of a Shopaholic) and a short story in the ezine Smashed Cat. He's a proud high school English teacher with 100-plus teenage students who, on a daily basis, teach him just as many things as he teaches them.

Reviews

[Kelly]

The concept of this book is excellent: Uly, who is Black, begins dating Sallie, who is white, and their older sisters are competing for the role of class president. The rivalry sounds like it'd be a solid premise, as well as offer a lot of interesting exploration of race, but ultimately, this book is messy. It takes on far too many things in outlandish fashion, has a lot of super cringe-y moments relating to gender and sexuality, and the slang the kids use is bizarre (we're just supposed to accent that they use "corduroy" for uncool, "bacon" for cool, and "Truthanasia" for being honest).

And a year-long class president battle? The explanation of it made little sense and given all of the vandalism and racism throughout the year-long election, it was wild no adult put an end to it. The adults in this book were not even really there.

The epilogue 9 years later was a weird, abrupt, and offered an explanation for the end of Sallie and Uly's relationship that was even MORE ridiculous. The real story was in there, not in the previous 350 pages.

Neither Sallie nor Uly were characters nor fully fleshed, which made it especially off-putting.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

CW: acts of racism and bigotry, racist language, gun violence, death

Sallie is white. Uly is Black. After acting in a terrible play together, they start talking and notice a spark. As the two get closer, it seems as though their sisters want to tear them apart. Sallie's sister Leona has made some racist comments in her attempt to make a speech for becoming School President, and Uly's sister Regina is running in opposition because honestly, she's angry, and she doesn't want to let the racist white girl win. Sallie and Uly love their sisters, but they also love each other... now what?

Honestly, from the start, something about this book felt off. The author is Black, but the way some of the Black characters were described, it didn't feel that way. There were also far too many characters that were okay with racism, and I know that was the point of the story, but it was gross. The author really gave a character a "woe is me" voice, when in reality, the character needed to check themselves. To be clear: if you're not actively opposing the racist, you're cheering them on. There is no middle ground. Yes, this is fiction, but it didn't feel like a "learn from this" story. It felt like the author was going for that, while also struggling with some internalized racism. That isn't my call to make, as I am not Black and cannot speak to those experiences, but there were too many annoying, racist white people in this book. One of the main characters didn't have a realization about the obviousness of the racism around her until 87% into the book, and that is way too late. The ending also felt more painful than I thought it needed to be, but there was a brief touching moment that at least tied things up.

[sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

YEAH I FINISHED THE BOOK BUT AT WHAT COST? MY EMOTIONS? MY SANITY? BECAUSE I JUST LOST THEM BRB GOING TO CRY MYSELF TO SLEEP TONIGHT AND EVERY NIGHT FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE

Thank you to Edelweiss and Soho Teen for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. The quote below is from the digital ARC and not part of the final print.

—

“In this day and age, if a racist speech can make just two people clap, we got a problem.”
Dad said, “I feel what you sayin’, honey, but maybe the girl wasn’t trying to be racist.”
With a bitter smile, Regina said, “I love when white people ‘try’ not to be racist. You ever notice they never try hard enough?”

My life will forever be defined by before I read this book and after I finished it because, wow. I liked the premise of The Problem with the Other Side , but I did not expect this book to change my life the way it did. It may just be about a high school election, but the inspiration behind this novel is clear. I loved Uly and Sallie’s relationship; it was the driving force of the book. The love they had for each other, even as sixteen-year-olds, was so beautiful. And Kwame Ivery did such an excellent job in capturing the election atmosphere—it did feel like the 2016 election (but on a high school level) all over again. This story made me feel so many things; I think my heart will remain permanently broken because of it in the best way possible. I could not recommend this book more highly; it will seriously change your life.

[Fanna]

June 4, 2020: A sweet romance that brings issues like bigotry, racism, and white privilege to the table? Cool. Very cool.

[Natalie Enoch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a few issues with this but the only one i’ll mention is the slang. i have literally never used nor hear anyone use “truthenasia” ???? Along with several other weird slang words.

[Jesse · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you want to read a book that tries too hard to prove points to the point they have to make multiple analogies and statements, With characters that are so blatantly different races, slang that is repetitive and stereo typical, and no real development within the first few chapters, this is the book for you.


I really wanted to like this book…. I thought finally and little rep, not many books are written a mixed raced, especially in YA (but its starting to happen more which I’m happy about) but it was a huge disappointment. This book read like an early 2000’s movie, you have characters who are so obviously two different races with the way they talk and act, as well as their families….. my rating 1.5/5.


I read about 10 chapters of this book before I DNF’d it. I know this books was own voices, but…. I could not relate what’s so ever. To give this a little insight; I’ve been in a mixed race relationship for 8 years new which started in high school. Maybe its just a completely different environments I’m not sure….

There were many things I wasn’t a fan of in the first few chapters of this book. One, the big point to the beginning is how Uly feels like a fraud because in a school play he faints and in his words “black people don’t faint”. (My first red flag) Two being the slang used. Which you get a big indication in the first chapter. With words like “truthanasia” and sayings like “real talk (used 4-5 times in the first few pages of this book) and for a lack of a better description taking things too far for us as readers to get a point their trying to make, for example Sallie asks why “why are they called spaghetti movies and Uly goes on to explain “its like calling a movie made by ( insert country) a (insert country’s stereo typical insinuation) multiple times with different country’s. In my opinion this was completely unnecessary.

We also have. Uly explaining that while he finds white girls attractive he’s not ATTRACTED TO them and yes the words are capitalized in the story. But he thinks she’s sexy….. again what….. as we know that this whole story is based on their relationship….

And don’t even get me started on the sister, and family situation. I know that she’s supposed to be the not likeable character and (claps) the job was done, but it was so obvious , she didn’t have ANY redeemable qualities and was so in your face obvious. “You wouldn’t even last two episodes on the dyke channel” and so on. I was expecting as her being the “villain” in the story and the sister of one of the main characters we’d get a little more from her…..

This whole story (the 10 chapters I read) was like an early 2000’s movie. In the era of the Bring it on movies the one that came to mind was All or Nothing. I know we are reading from a highschooler’s POV but….. I didn’t feel within what I read we got any development from out characters and things were repetitive in behaviour and vocabulary. I like what this story was supposed to do and what we were supposed to get out of it but…. It missed the mark for me. My fist DNF of the year.

[Fernanda Granzotto · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book for review, all opinions are my own*


For me this is definitely one of the hardest books to review so excuse me if this review doesn't make much sense.
This was a very difficult book to read, because I don't know if you can like this story, it is a very heavy book.
I thought the author took the themes he wanted to talk about and made them to be incredibly bad, that is, all the themes worked here that revolve most around racism are done in a way too heavy, the author shows us the ugly side of the thing, so be careful with triggers.
Until I get to the last 100 pages or so I was finding this book too much choose a side that you think is right, because for me the author made the sides opposite to each other in every way, which worried me, but in my opinion he managed to work things out in a nice way, that in the end these opposing sides didn't turn out so bad.
This is a book that throws in our face several truths, that shows us a reality that exists, the author throws open everything that exists in our society without any fear.
So much so that I was shocked by the ending he decided to give the story, I don't know if I liked it, but at the same time it makes sense with the kind of story this book is, a story that shows the bad things that exist in the world that we ignore or pretend not to see or make excuses for not doing anything about it.
I won't give his book a high ranting because of the last chapter (and other things I didn't like so much) I understand the end of the book but I don't like it and it left me feeling that some of the wrong things and criticisms that the book addresses were for nothing because in the end it was right, white stays white and black with black, and maybe it's actually like that but I didn't like it, my romantic heart wanted a different happy ending.
This is a book that you have to read critically, it's a book to read and think about everything it talks about, if you like books like that read it if you want something to spend time or have fun while reading, his is not the book for you!

[Alexis The Nerdy Bruja · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!**

I have some mixed feelings about this. While I feel like I can understand what the author was attempting to do here, I found the execution was not it. This book felt like it was trying too hard to get its point across. I also felt like i had a hard time really connecting to the characters. Everything just felt very over-exaggerated and over the top. Overall the writing just wasn't my favorite and this just wasn't the book for me.

[Laiba · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. very interesting! can be a little slow-paced at times. i have a lot to say about this book, and no, it's not all bad things. review to come.

[Ellie M · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story begins with a news report of a violent incident at the school's Inauguration Day. We don't know who did it, and we don't know who the victims are, but it truly begins four months earlier with the beginning of Knight High School's student body president elections.

Ulysses Gates and Sallie Walls have never paid attention to what each other's families will think of the other until Sallie's sister, Leona (FUCK that bitch), announces her run for student body president and gives a speech about wanting to stop students from certain neighborhoods (neighborhoods which are primarily Black) from attending school there. Uly and his sister Regina, who are from one of the mentioned neighborhoods, are outraged, and so is Sallie, although she finds it difficult to confront Leona. When Leona comes up with her new campaign slogan, "Turn Knight Back to Day," Regina has had enough and decides to run against her.
Regina bases her platform on making sure that all students feel safe and accepted, while Leona's is mainly focused on putting an end to "PC culture." Leona's campaign soon leads to racist attacks and vandalism across the school, and threats are even made against Uly. Sallie must come to terms with who her sister really is, and the sisters soon learn of a threat that could affect them both.

It's really hard to review this book without spoiling, but I'll try my best. With the exception of one or two scenes that had nothing to do with her political position, I really liked Regina and how she wasn't afraid to call out bigotry, whether it was affecting her or someone else. As for Leona, I already made it clear how I feel about her. She's like that annoying news commentator who's always saying things like "why does everything have to be politically correct these days?" and "you all get so offended over everything." Instead of promising what she could do for the school, like Regina did, most of Leona's statements were about things like why they had to cast a Jewish actress to play Wonder Woman or how she expected her Black friends at camp to be offended when she said that she didn't like a certain Tyler Perry movie. I hated her and everyone who thought like her, and her campaign emboldened some of the worst bigots in the school. Swastikas were drawn on lockers, trans kids were physically attacked, and actual white-supremacist groups formed. And Leona was responsible for all of it.
I did really like the storyline of Sallie realizing that even though her sister was one of her best friends and got her through the hardest time of her life, she could still be hurtful to others. There's even one part where Sallie thinks to herself that Leona can't possibly be a racist because her image of "racist" is a Confederate-Flag wielding white dude. While in reality, racism takes many forms, and it's important to recognize it and put a stop to it.

What I didn't like was how both of the protagonists had to have dead parents. Even though Uly's dad and Sallie's stepmom were still good parental figures, it really didn't seem necessary for either of them, but especially not for Uly. It was only brought up maybe three times, and mainly just as backstory for Leona and Sallie being so close. I mention this all the time, but I'm tired of seeing dead parents randomly thrown into books that have nothing to do with it.
The ending was also disappointing to me. I won't spoil anything, except that it takes place nine years later, and while things did technically turn out good for both Uly and Sallie, I just wish it would've been better. "Bittersweet" endings are honestly overrated.

4 out of 5 stars.

[Sebastian · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
CW: racism, gun violence, white supremacy, sexual assault

How do I feel about The Problem With the Other Side? A great question that I wish I could answer. I picked this e-ARC up from Edelweiss, excited to check out a Black debut author exploring white supremacy in a high school setting with a sweet YA romance to highlight it. I can't say I was disappointed or that I didn't enjoy it. It was very well written, put the spotlight on increasingly emboldened bigots, and I'm for sure going to check out other works by this author.

My biggest disappointments with this were that it tried to do too much and I don't think the two 'extremes' are all that comparable. I'll speak to the latter first. The main characters, Sallie and Uly, are dating when their older sisters decide to run for school president. Sallie's older sister Leona is painfully bigoted, though she usually talks in dog whistles instead of saying explicitly bigoted things. Uly's sister Regina is Black, proud of her identity, and understandably defensive/wary against people from oppressive classes.

To be fair, it never says they're both just as bad. It becomes increasingly explicit that Leona is not just wrong, but causing very real emotional and physical harm to her fellow students, while Regina looks out for students who have been left behind in the growing alt-right culture. However, it does often kind of straddle the line between 'this is right' and 'this is justified but she should be a little nicer while doing it'. Personally, I was 100% on Regina's side through all of this and even if I hadn't been, I feel there are better ways of trying to critique that than falling back on angry Black woman stereotypes.

As for the doing too much part... That's a little harder to criticize because all the things brought up are undeniably tied together. Racism, transphobia, xenophobia, sexism, etc. are all firmly rooted in white supremacy. It's hard to talk about one without talking about the other. Through TPWTOS, though, a lot of the issues felt pigeonholed in and rushed. For example: Gun violence as the result of a white man radicalized by misogyny plays a huge role in the overall plot. As in, the sisters are killed by him. There's definitely hints that it's going to happen - the news clipping at the beginning, the man's comments throughout, etc. - but when it finally happens, it's all off screen. We find out about it entirely through an epilogue nine years later. While it's an important topic to cover, it just ends up feeling like it was rushed through because time was running out or because it was added to check off a box.

Ultimately, the problem with doing too much was probably just a matter of the pacing being off while simultaneously having a word/page limit that just doesn't mesh with trying to cover so many important topics. It's just hard to cover it all in a limited amount of space.

Biting off more than they can chew is always a difficult thing for me to judge authors, especially debut authors, for. I'd rather see that potential than just a story that doesn't try at all. The romance was cute, too, even if it often got swallowed up in everything else that was trying to be covered in the plot. Ultimately, I'm sticking with that 3.5 because of what this could have been and I'll be keeping an eye on this author for future works. Once he gets his pacing down and focuses in a little more, I foresee plenty of 5 star reads from him.

[Heather Jennings · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is most definitely not bacon; it is corduroy. And if you do not know what in the world I mean, don’t worry, the author will try to get you to think that this is the new cool slang for teens about every other page. I am not exaggerating when I say that bacon was used every other page in some chapters which would make for a horribly inebriating drinking game. Additionally, the teen characters talk about swiping right and left on some people and actions which made me realize that the author may not have much contact with Gen Z. While generations from Millenials on up will get the references, I don’t see or hear Gen Z using these terms at all from my experience as a teacher or as a mom to Gen Z teens. Instead, this generation uses TikTok & IG and “slides into people’s DMs.”

I really had high hopes for this book as not many address interracial relationships. But this was a fail all around. Instead, it fell into every single YA trope in existence. We are expected to believe that a school would devote this much time and attention to an entire year-long student body president election filled with this much criminal behavior and insanity. In reality, these things take a month maybe. The couple each have older sisters running in the election who pull their younger siblings in as campaign managers. That is plausible, but that is where it starts to fall apart too. We see the one sister gradually cave into increasingly polarizing and racists views as it gets her popularity in the election, but then she falls into every single Karen stereotype: of course she is blonde and blue eyed (never fear, her better younger sister has brown eyes, a la Jane Elliott’s famous activity), has racist views and tries to circumvent them using her fragility, attacks autistic students, enlists peers with disabilities when it suits her, defends the confederate flag, attacks trans students and so on. The misogyny was ridiculous: the older sister’s boyfriend espouses sexist views, and the third candidate’s older brother talks of cutting girls’ c____s. The increasing violence was a clear shift around page 180 of the digital ARC I read, and it did not seem to flow with what came before it. Not to leave out a YA stereotype, but of course there is a school shooting too.

We want to root for Sally and Uly, but their siblings and the completely unrealistic plot get in the way. I find it interesting that there are no mother characters in the book – was it easier to make everyone’s moms dead than to write one realistically?

I had such high hopes, but I feel that this one does our young people a disservice by not taking them seriously in dialogue or in plot. Instead, it treats their experiences as a bevy of stereotypes.

Thank you NetGalley and Soho Press for the advance copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

[Anisha Kshetrapal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent setup - you really fall hard for the main characters. The ending felt rushed and unsatisfying though.

[kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, let me say this about the cover. It just looks so intimate yet there’s just something sad about it. I’m surprised this book doesn’t have as much ratings or reviews so I’m glad to contribute this early.

As much as I loved Sallie and Uly and their relationship, I had issues with both their sides (which, now that I think about it, seemed like the goal based on the title? I don’t know). It felt like Romeo and Juliet with them being in love amid the election looming over them as they navigate their romance while balancing sibling loyalty. The thing is, my issues have nothing to do with Sallie and Uly, per se. Their sisters were pretty one-dimensional with their only personality traits being their (in my opinion, extreme) political and racial viewpoints — not excusing that Leona is a racist because she freaking is one. God, I hated her. I honestly wouldn’t have voted for either of them if I went to their school.

I did listen to the AN at the end and I do like the concept of a school as a microcosm of America.

Also didn’t expect that time jump at the end, but NOT COOL. Just out here breaking my heart. Should’ve just ended the book before that moment. Like … bruh. We didn't need the extra chapter (I say nicely).

[Jesse · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you want to read a book that tries too hard to prove points to the point they have to make multiple analogies and statements, With characters that are so blatantly different races, slang that is repetitive and stereo typical, and no real development within the first few chapters, this is the book for you.


I really wanted to like this book…. I thought finally and little rep, not many books are written as mixed raced, especially in YA (but its starting to happen more which I’m happy about). I thought wow big issues finally being talked about by an own voices author but…….but it was a huge disappointment. This book read like an early 2000’s movie, you have characters who are so obviously two different races with the way they talk and act, as well as their families….. my rating 1.5/5.


I read about 10 chapters of this book before I DNF’d it. I know this books was own voices, but…. I could not relate what’s so ever. To give this a little insight; I’ve been in a mixed race relationship for 8 years new which started in high school. Maybe its just a completely different environments I’m not sure….

There were many things I wasn’t a fan of in the first few chapters of this book. One, the big point to the beginning is how Uly feels like a fraud because in a school play he faints and in his words “black people don’t faint”. (My first red flag) Two being the slang used. Which you get a big indication in the first chapter. With words like “truthanasia” and sayings like “real talk (used 4-5 times in the first few pages of this book) and for a lack of a better description taking things too far for us as readers to get a point their trying to make, for example Sallie asks why “why are they called spaghettini movies and Uly explaining why Italian movies are “spaghetti movies, than goes on to explain “its like calling a movie made by ( insert country) a (insert country’s stereo typical insinuation) multiple times with different country’s. In my opinion this was completely unnecessary.

We also have. Uly explain that while he finds white girls attractive he’s not ATTRACTED TO them and yes the words are capitalized isn’t he story. But he thinks she’s sexy….. again what….. as we know that this whole story is based on their relationship….

And don’t even get me started on the sister, and family situation. I know that she’s supposed to be the not likeable character and (claps) the job was done, but it was so obvious , she didn’t have ANY redeemable qualities and was so in your face obvious. “You wouldn’t even last two episodes on the dyke channel” and so on. I was expecting as her being the “villain” in the story and the sister of one of the main characters we’d get a little more from her…..

This whole story (the 10 chapters I read)like I said at the beginning was like an early 2000’s movie. In the era of the Bring it on movies the one that came to mind was All or Nothing. I know we are reading from a highschooler’s POV but….. I didn’t feel within what I read we got any development from out characters and things were repetitive in behaviour and vocabulary. I like what this story was supposed to do and what we were supposed to get out of it but…. It missed the mark for me. My fist DNF of the year.

[Dusti Falgoust · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was provided an ebook copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.


Sallie and Uly are just two teens who fall in love, but when their sisters start opposing campaigns in a bid for their school’s presidency, suddenly their relationship gets a lot more complicated. Suddenly the fact that Sallie is white and Uly is black becomes an issue that it wasn’t before.


That’s so bacon!
That’s so corduroy!
Swipe right!

This book was as awful as the made up slang used in it. My god. This book made me so extremely uncomfortable and only part of the time was it in the way the author intended.

A book with a romance, while addressing issues such as racism, transphobia, and more is definitely a book that I would normally be all about. But this one failed majorly.

The first and obvious complaint is that the author made up so much slang that it was impossible to look past. Every page was some reference to slang that doesn’t exist. It was so annoying and over-the-top. Second, all of the characters were extremely unlikable. I know that was probably in part the author’s intention, but I can’t stand a book where there’s no one to root for. The only one I kind of liked was Uly, but even then he kept dating a girl who kept denying her sister was racist when her sister was extremely racist and bigoted. Maybe it’s just me but if you stand up and defend racism, you’re just as much a part of the problem. So I’m shocked and in disbelief that he would keep dating her. Third, the book is about a school presidential election that escalates to hate crimes essentially. No school I’ve ever attended, as messed up as some of those people in charge are, would ever allow a school-hosted thing to lead to that level of chaos. I spent the entire time just questioning why the faculty didn’t shut it down. Not to mention no school would dedicate this amount of time and energy to a flipping school election. It was so unrealistic. Fourth, none of the characters are fleshed out. I had no attachment to any of these characters. What was happening in the story was horrifying and disgusting, but I still couldn’t feel any emotions about the characters. Fifth, any trope that you can find is thrown in, and not in a way that makes sense or seems plausible. All of these things happen and are very real, important issues but the author just haphazardly threw them all together without making it all make sense and forming a coherent story. Finally, I have to address the ending. I won’t give spoilers but my god it was out of nowhere and felt so sudden. If just didn’t fit in right.

To summarize, I did not enjoy this book at all. It made me extremely disgusted for sure, but there was nothing and no one to root for. I only finished it because it was an arc.

[Marina · Rating 4 out of 5]

let me start by saying this book is something else!!!!! PLEASE READ IT!!!!!
the author was inspired by chelsea clinton and ivanka trump’s friendship and how they managed to still get along when their parents were campaigning for being the president of the us. but with a few tweaks it became a ya political romance story. so the premise sounds amazing!

this writing… was a choice… WHICH I’M SO HAPPY ABOUT!!!! it immediately gets you hooked and you can’t put the book down.
finally some characters who actually have a sense of humour and a personality. it’s a pleasure reading from their perspectives!
the dialogue (the staircase conversation) between the main love interests in the 1st chapter is just so realistic and makes you feel like they’re building a connection and are into each other, which also makes you like them as a couple and root for them.

the thing that this book has going for itself is the dialogues and speeches. they’re so well crafted and engaging, it’s very exciting to read them. i know the political aspect of the book may scare some people away, but i promise, this book is worth it!! when the characters have something to say, it’s meaningful, smart and witty.

the way i was writing my notes while reading, the majority were about the characters. so i’m gonna say a few words/passages about the main ones.

i don’t have a lot to say about regina, because she is the most reasonable one, had the greatest ideas, DESERVED FUCKING BETTER!!!! thank you.

ULY

in the beginning i said that it’s fun reading from the characters’ perspectives, but not always. i had issues with both main protagonists.
there was a point when uly described how (white) girls are annoying doing the most innocent things, like wearing uggs or listening to justin bieber, and it just smells like good old misogyny to me. the type when you put “white” in front of it and think that it justifies whatever you’re about to say. AND he puts too much emphasis on sallie being “not like other girls”. like it’s possible to describe the things you like about a person without making it a competition between girls.

i hoped it would be a one time thing, but here uly goes again defining girls’ worth by their beauty. i understand that people are allowed to have preferences when it comes to appearance, but to me it was kinda toxic being in his head and reading what he thought exactly about a certain girl’s face/body. even when describing leona’s appearance uly had to make sure we knew how sallie is so NOT like her!! “Leona is a head-turner, but Sallie is a mind-turner.” or sallie is “beautiful”, but leona is “boring beautiful”.

uly gives me toxic masculinity vibes, afraid of feelings, even just seeming too mushy with his girl in front of the guys, so they don’t think he’s not manly enough. always reassuring us that he is macho: “I know that sounds corduroy as hell but I’m just keeping it 100.” btw this book should be in the Guinness book of world records for its excessive use of the word “corduroy”. i now despise this word!!

uly has sort of strained relationship with his dad, which influenced his thoughts and views on the world. they’re polar opposites and there’s a lot of unreleased tension and failed expectations between them.
this is what uly’s dad had to say about women: “Sisters today got more issues than Newsweek.” i guess an apple doesn’t fall too far from a tree.
not to mention uncle kj who worships or more like fetishises white women calling them “delicious vanilla”.
the constant thirst to humble black women in this household among men is just astounding. so i can see why uly has these sometimes narrow opinions on women, their appearance and worth as human beings.

SALLIE

i think sallie as a character has a great arc. it was fascinating to follow her journey from denying the obvious to finally standing up for herself and others and making her sister face the facts.
as readers, it’s evident to us that leona is a racist, but i can also understand sallie’s pov. we tend to be more lenient to those we love and it’s often hard to admit the truth even though it’s been in front of you the whole time.

oh boy, but was that journey slow af!!!!

sallie and uly keep making a pledge not to talk about the campaign or bring up the fact that leona is a racist, not realising that it’s a temporary solution, sooner or later they’re gonna have to face the facts and decide which side they’re on.
not sallie thinking that if uly stops being regina’s campaign manager, then all the problems will go away and they can be bf and gf forever. as if the fact her sister is a racist scum is not hovering over their heads about to drop and crush everything. when she kept thinking how leona and her followers’ racist antics were bad for her relationship with her bf and not for idk… literal black people and poc, hello???? no compassion to them whatsoever. at those moments she made me think “there goes another white girl thinking the world revolves around her”.

LEONA

what a character! absolutely despise her! such a realistic depiction of a casually racist white person, who constantly whines about their words being misinterpreted as a hate speech and microagressions.
throughout the election she did and said such questionable things. for example, talking john smith out of resigning because for a blind person being in the race is already a statement that disabled people are capable of anything, but by pulling out he’s gonna send a wrong message. like what?!? a manipulative ass bitch!!
when the allegations of sexual assault against john were brought up and the video of regina slamming white people (she said that white men ruin everything and it’s presented as if it would discredit her campaign as a school president. wtf the sister simply spoke the truth!!!) resurfaced, she really chose the rapist side!!!!! “I’d rather compete against a respectable opponent like you than a racist one like her.” — she said to john. “a respectable opponent”??!???? come on, leona, where are your morals?! oh wait, i forgot she doesn’t have any.
no wonder the people in school were describing her as someone very honest and who is not afraid of saying it how it is. that’s basically a trump description, very fitting, i must say.

i’m really bad at conclusions, so i’m gonna end this with regina’s legendary quote: “I love when white people ‘try’ not to be racist. You ever notice they never try hard enough?”

p.s.: i just need to get this off my chest. this fact has been bothering me since the minute i read it. the main love interests don’t like the spider-man movies?!!??????!!?? just fyi i don’t condone it!!!!

[Novel Obsession · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sallie and Uly are falling in love as they sit in the midst of brewing conflict. Both of their older sisters are running for student body president and racial discord is increasing tension at the school, flamed by the words of Sallie's sister. The Problem with the Other Side has a set up for a great YA novel, but it doesn't deliver.

Much of the story is unrealistic. The school is devoting a large amount of time toward this student election, which is unrealistic in its fervor. The characters aren't likeable or well-developed. Uly depends on stereotypes while Sallie is a the epitome of a privileged white person ignorant of her privilege. She really doesn't have anything going for her. The book relies a lot of stereotypes, repetition, and an oddly excessive use of slang.

Certainly, Sallie's sister shows how to work up an audience, tell them who is to blame for their problems, and then use that fear against others to place herself in a position of power. However, the book could have been a strong, amazing novel addressing the rise of alt-right extremism and racism/white privilege in society. Instead, the story line lags while addressing issues seems forced and pushed over rather than fulling addressing them and letting the reader sit with them.

Disclaimer: An advance copy was provided by Soho Press.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book opens with a newspaper headline about a school shooting, but you don't know who the victim(s) or shooter is until the end. Ulysses is black and Sallie is white, they begin an adorable romance just as both of their sisters are running against each other for student body president. The campaign gets very ugly and racist attitudes are revealed and exposed. Uly and Sallie's relationship is in constant conflict with each of their relationships with their sibling. I couldn't stop reading this one. It's powerful and enlightening and tragic all at once. It also has my favorite thing: an epilogue.

[Chrissyreadsbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Problem with the Other Side by Kwame Ivery

Thank you to NetGalley and Soho Press for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.


On the first glance “The Problem with the Other Side” is your typical love story about a teenage boy named Uly and his girlfriend Sally, troubled with typical first love insecurities they both navigate through their first relationship.
But on the second glance not everything is as perfect as it seems, being an interracial couple creates tension in their lives they did not see coming.
Leona (Sally’s sister) starts her campaign for school president with the aim to create a school without black students, which motivates Regina (Uly’s sister) to run for school president as a counterpart to Leona’s racist electoral goals.
Both Sally and Uly are nominated to be the campaign managers for their sisters, but they realize, that being in a relationship and supporting their sisters drives a wedge between them.
Things start to escalate throughout the campaign, more and more racially motivated incidents happen and Sally and Uly are faced with a crucial test of their relationship.

What I liked about the story:

- This was one of the first books I read where the protagonists (Sally and Uly) are teenagers and talk and behave like teenagers. They are confronted with real world problems, but they react to them like I imagine 16-year-old me would have reacted. They don’t try to solve the world all at once, it feels very real to me.

- The writing was easy to follow, I liked the small jokes used and the way the story is told, feels like reading Sally’s and Uly’s diary, I felt close to the story and their feelings

- The rhetoric used by Leona (the coded language and plain racist language) hit me hard, it’s the exact same thing said by politicians and bigots alike, she escalated more and more after gaining a following, like real racists, their opinions radicalize when they think they have a lot of supporters

- Yes, Leona is blond and popular, other reviewers thought a stereotype of an “angry white woman” a “Karen” is perpetuated in the story, but it just shows that racism is deeply ingrained in our society. Sally thought -only bearded old white man are racists- but that’s not true, racism is a system and not a problem in a small group of people, therefore found everywhere and popular white girls are not excluded.

- I don’t know if the letter from the author in the beginning of the arc is included in the printed version of this book, but I liked it a lot, it helped me understand the reasoning behind the story, why it was told this way. The author tried to use the events of the 2016 presidential campaign as a blueprint for a fictional election at a high school. I agree with other reviewers, an election like this isn’t realistic at a school, but the most important thing isn’t if it’s realistic but if the behavior and opinions of the participants is realistic and that’s the case in my opinion.

What I didn’t liked:

- Even though I liked the way the protagonists talked and behaved, I think the use of teenage slang was too much

- I think this story could have profited from more adults who do something. They shouldn’t have solved the problems for the students but there should have been an adult voice of reason (or more than one), someone Sally or Uly or Regina could confide in, a parent or teacher or something.

- There were some adults in this story, but they didn’t do anything, they behaved like ghosts and all the teenagers were left to handle the situation alone. I don’t know if this is a metaphor to compare the missing adults in the story with the general public, like every time a black person gets killed in our real world everybody just looks away. Or regarding the election, the teachers in the story didn’t intervene, they let everything happen, in the end they supported the racist behavior. This reminds me of people who don’t vote or support racist politicians, they don’t care about the people who are suffering.

Conclusion:

I recommend this book to everyone, but I think this could be a great read for students who are 15-18 due to the age of the protagonists in the story. I think this book should be read AND discussed, I had a lot of opinions and feelings while and after reading and I think younger readers would profit from a discussion with their parents, peers or teachers about the things happening in the book.

TW: acts of racism and bigotry, racist language, gun violence

[Bailey St Clair · Rating 3 out of 5]

WARNING: spoilers discussed

I really enjoyed the premise of this book -- Uly is a Black student who starts dating Sally, a White student, and shortly after both of their sisters begin competing for class presidency. Sally's sister Leona calls for the school to end their Send/Receive policy, which allows surrounding communities (which happen to predominantly be communities of color) to go to their high school. Regina, Uly's sister, is inspired to run against Leona as her campaign becomes increasingly racially-coded and borderline dangerous. Regina's entire campaign is centered around making all types of students feel safe and accepted at school, while Leona's campaign centers around the direct opposite, ending "Wokeness" and "PC culture." The third candidate, a White athlete with assault allegations against him, is also introduced, though this character does not get explored as in-depth as the previous four. Throughout the entire novel, the racially-charged motives of Leona's campaign become more and more evident, seen in the increasing racist attacks on school grounds. Sally is faced with the difficult realization that her sister is not who she believes her to be, and a lot of the novel explores Sally's privilege in being able to ignore and not accept this right away. Told through first-person alternating views, Uly and Sally reflect on the state of American politics in a school setting, based on their own experiences. The book explores a HUGE range of topics that have become 'hot-topics' in modern politics--interracial dating, transphobia, xenophobia, abelism, White supremacy, patriarchal norms, and that's not even the half of it.

While the premise of this book is great, I don't believe the story was told as well as it could've been. For one, I had trouble with some of the writing--while I do understand this is a novel for teenagers, the author seemed to try and write almost TOO much like a teenager, if that makes sense; it was borderline cringey at parts... I'm not really sure how many modern-day teenagers say 'bacon' or 'Swiped Left/Right', and I visibly cringed each time those euphemisms were used. While I applaud the author for the representation within this novel, I think the author took on too many topics and didn't focus on a wide range of them justly. The author mostly focuses on themes of interracial dating, racism, and White supremacy, which I do think were explored efficiently, especially in a way that can be relatable to a teenage audience. I understand that many of the topics mentioned go hand-in-hand with White supremacy, but hear me out...

The part of the book I struggled most with was the end. Out of nowhere, the book abruptly stops, and is catapulted nine years into the future. While the novel focuses on the battle for class presidency, the actual Inauguration of the class president is only a couple paragraphs, and ends in a school shooting that is only talked about in a matter of a couple pages. I also found it hard to believe that Regina would willingly be second-in-command to Leona; I understand the intent is to set up what later happens in the novel, but after writing Regina as a strong and independent woman of color, I just can't accept that she would be willing to work with someone who LITERALLY taped racially-charged images on her posters, along with all the other hateful things Leona and her friends did.

Overall, I think the author might have been trying to deal with too many topics at once; something as impactful and traumatic as a school shooting in a novel for teenagers deserves to be explored, especially given the morbid way the author chooses to describe it--one second Uly and Sally are in love and walking in their favorite spots, the next the author is telling us Leona was shot in the face. There was definitely hints that a school shooting was in the works, but it all happened way too fast, and really didn't get the type of attention I believe it deserved. I think, however, there is a lot of potential from this author--pacing can be learned with time, and I'm interested to see how the author learns from this novel as he writes more.

[Marie Fairchild · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good debut by Kwame Ivery about love, family, and real-world issues. The story centers around teenagers Uly Gates and Sallie Walls, who fall in love despite the fact that their sisters are running against each other in their school's presidential election. Things get even more complicated when it's revealed that Sallie's sister is a racist whose words caused numerous violent and harmful actions at school.

I liked this book and can't wait to read more from the author. Sallie and Uly were likable enough as protagonists and they were realistically written (for a YA novel, anyway). They both had flaws, which is one of the things that endears me to lead characters, which have the unfortunate tendency of being Mary Sues and Gary Stus. Uly could be passive at times and Sallie could be blind to her privilege, but they both grew and learned by the end of the story. While the events that happened in the story could be a tad unrealistic, they moved the story along and showed that this country still has a lot of work to do in terms of equality. I liked the way Ivery wrote his characters. Sallie and Uly were both so human and complex. Their loyalties to their sisters and each other was beautifully done. Ivery was also not afraid to address the uglier side of things, which I liked. Both protagonists had valid reasons to stand by their families. Uly knew his sister was doing a good thing, and Leona was Sallie's only living family other than her stepmother. Uly and Sallie's relationship was also incredibly healthy, despite what was going on around them.

However, I also had my issues with this book. The main one being the cringy use of slang throughout the novel. My sister is Gen Z, and not once have I heard her, or anyone her age, use these phrases. My biggest pet peeve is when adults use outdated or made-up slang to sound more like teenagers. It does not work in the slightest and it does not have the effect the author thinks it does.

My second problem was Leona. I understand that she was supposed to be an antagonist, but my god, she had the brain cell count of a leaf. She always said the worst thing at the worst time and she somehow got over half a school to vote for her? If any real high school student said even half the things she said, she would be suspended and her peers wouldn't touch her with a ten-foot pole. The fact that the school administration let the school become a bigoted cesspool over a class president election was incredibly unrealistic. The fact that Uly's father and Sallie's stepmother never got involved or even seemed to know what was going on was also incredibly unrealistic, but then again, this is a YA novel. Adult incompetence is to be expected.

The ending also bugged me because there is randomly an epilogue with a nine-year time jump. Then it's revealed that one of the many bigots at Uly and Sallie's school came and killed both Regina and Leona? The ending wouldn't have been as out of place and random if the author made it the actual ending instead of halfheartedly explaining it in an epilogue.

[Emily Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Soho Press for a digital review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

'The Problem with the Other Side' starts with a blooming high-school romance between a white girl, Sallie, and a black boy, Uly. At first, their relationship is uncomplicated and easy. Anxiety is there, as with all first-loves, but what they have feels huge, good and important. Things get rocky however, when both of their sisters decide to run for school president, Leona (Sallie's Sister) with a campaign focused on 'making their school a safe place to be' and Regina (Uly's Sister) with a Platform made in rebuke to Leona's racist undertones. The siblings are asked to be campaign managers, which puts strain on their relationship. The Situation escalates and Sallie struggles with her loyalty to her sister and her morals, while Uly struggles with his love for Sallie and her unwillingness to see Leona for what she is.

Reminiscent of "The Wave", heaps of important issues like mob mentality, white priviledge, white supremacy, trans rights, loyalty, racism, and standing up to the people you love in the name of what is right were touched on. I thought the way these topics were introduced felt easy to understand and suited for teens. It will stay with me for a long time. However, as a white reviewer I can't truly offer an opinion on how well the issues concerning race were handled, so I urge you to look to OwnVoices Reviewers regarding this.

I enjoyed the romance in this book, the characters had chemistry and felt the way teenagers feel: like their love is the most important thing in the world, indestructible, perfect. The Characters were fleshed out and well-described. I generally enjoyed the wealth of characters that were each unique. I also felt like the coming-of-age bit that books like this inherently have was well-done.

There were some things that bothered me however. The first big thing is that I felt like a lot of false equivalencies were being made. Especially in the beginning. I can see how this was used in the story, letting us literally feel how confused and irritated Sallie felt, but it did bother me a lot in some parts.
I also disliked the way the book was generally written. This is very much a personal preference, but the writing felt extremely casual, like the characters diary or a rundown of their thoughts. This often confused me. I didn't even realize what was bothering me until halfway through! Actually, I'm still not sure what exactly the format was supposed to be, since Uly apologizes to the reader for not speaking for about a month at one point. Who is he apologizing to? What was I reading?

This was truly an impactful read that I'll be thinking about for a long time.

[Elizabeth Sond · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a serious book. It has an important message, deep themes and though it's comedic at its heart, its core is poignant: the ending is terribly sad.

I enjoyed reading this book. Sally and Uly are both developed characters with narrative voices that fit how they behave. They don't act too old, or too young for their ages and they have a nice relationship which again doesn't stretch beyond the realms of believability.

When Leona, Sally's sister runs for student representative at school, everything goes wrong as she reveals some of her opinions which are clearly racist and hateful. It's easy to read this as a student and see that a lot of things that she says, thankfully, wouldn't be put up with in many institutions today but it was good to see how the book strove to call this type of behaviour out.

I especially liked how the author explored the idea of interracial relationships and how these can be perceived– it feels like a topical theme and whilst a lot of YA Contemporary now shows these relationships, here we see all the negativity that surrounds them. Many of the moments in the book made me sad.

As a warning, the book had a lot of language in it so I would recommend this for older teens, given its important message. What I loved about this book was that it took on serious themes that many would seek to avoid yet did it with enough levity so that we are attached to the characters and invested in their journeys.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an advanced ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sallie and Uly noticed each other while they were in a high school production together. Not that they had never seen each other before, but they noticed each other. Neither thought the other would be interested, in that high school sense of insecurity. They are so different yet so much the same. As their interracial romance begins to grow, their sisters become opposing candidates for student body president, each appointing her younger sibling to be campaign manager. Can they survive the spring election season with their budding romance in tact? Will their sisters end up killing each other? Will their school still be standing after the racially fueled escapades?
This story is great for those who enjoy young romance overcoming obstacles. And shocking, unforeseen twists at the end. Looking forward to more from this debut author.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Soho Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Uly and Sallie are both high school sophomores. They both love old westerns. They both have older sisters who are running for school president. Sallie is white and Uly is Black. Sallie's sister is running a fear-based, racist campaign. As if that weren't bad enough, Sallie and Uly are dating and both have been asked to manage their respective sisters' campaigns.

I thought the concept of the book was good, but the execution could have been better. There were a lot of unrealistic extremes - a year-long election, school staff who allowed racism to run rampant, actual crimes being committed on school grounds during school hours with little to no consequences. And then an absolutely-out-of-nowhere bombshell thrown in after you thought the book was over. There was also a LOT of wording/phrasing that got very annoying - Uly and his sister constantly making rhymes out of everything, "corduroy" to mean lame and "bacon" to mean cool.

I would still recommend this book to teen readers but with a few caveats.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea for this book is timely and relevant, and why I am giving it 3 stars. The concept would encourage important conversations between young adults and the adults in their lives. From the middle of the book until the end it seemed that the author was trying to stuff as many current issues into the story as possible to enrich the book, yet it ended up becoming all muddled instead.
I realize this is a young adult novel and YA use slang I may not be familiar using; however, in this case the slang overwhelmed the story. (Apparently anything good is "bacon" and "corduroy" is bland, cheesy or campy??) That and the practice of capitalizing Words in the Middle of sentences for reasons that were Often unclear, was jarring to the story flow for me.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uly, who is black,  would rather watch old Westerns with his new girlfriend, Sallie, who is white,  than get involved in his school’s politics Sallie has no interest in managing her sister’s campaign, but how could she say no? After their parents’ death, Leona is practically her only family. Even after Leona is accused of running a racist campaign that targets the school’s students of color—including Sallie’s boyfriend, Uly and Sallie must navigate sibling loyalty and romantic love as the campaign leads toward a devastating conclusion.  This book did not hold my interest.  I was disappointed as it was the first book I received from Good Reads contest in several years.

[Kara Sofilka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The voice rang true for a 16 year old kid. The setting was realistic. It was fast paced. Getting to see Uly and Sallie’s relationship unfold while their sibling relationships struggled was enjoyable (in a weird way). I found all of the characters to be realistic, with Wilks being the only flat/stereotypical character (but I’m okay with that!). I found reading from Uly’s perspective way more interesting than Sallie’s perspective, but both were needed to fully tell the story.

[Kristina Agan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter read this book and enjoyed it. Here is her review.
This book has interesting views on rascism and right and wrong. It has some language that is a bit confusing at first but you start to understand it after a while. (Also just has some general language too, if you know what I mean.) The constant conflict between the two sides may have given me a bit of a headache at times but it was a great book and the ending was beautiful.





Note: we won this book through a goodreads giveaway and were not paid for this review.