What's Mine and Yours

What’s Mine and Yours by Naima Coster examines the repercussions of a senseless death on a diverse community in North Carolina. A revolving point of view from various characters begins in the early 1990s and moves back and forth to the current day allowing readers to see these many connected lives at different points. Coster handles the large cast well and reveals certain moments at just the right times to give them an interesting depth and meaning. While it explores big issues like race and class, at its heart, What’s Mine and Yours is a book about family — the ones we are stuck with and the ones we choose.

I read this as part of the One Maryland One Book program. If it wasn't for this program, I don't think I would have read this book. It is a story about race relations, but in addition to the racial topic, it addressed issues of teen pregnancy, prejudice, homosexuality, drug and alcohol abuse, absentee fathers, poverty, abortion, and more. It was almost as if the author wanted to put every possible societal issue in the book. It ranged from 1992 to 2018, and would flip back and forth between the timelines.
I think it did a good job of addressing racial issues, but I thought it could have been more focused at times.

I didn't expect to like this book when I started reading it, but once I got into it I couldn't put it down. Coster's story interweaves the struggles of two families and is well-written and engaging throughout, since her characters are realistic and her themes speak to the lives of everyday people. On one side of the story are the Venturas, a trio of girls headed by mother Lacey May, whose lives are upended when their father reveals a mental health issue leading to drug problems and jailtime. The girls are a great set of characters, personifying the differing paths that family members can take to break the toxic molds and examples set my their parents. On the other side we get the life of Gee, a young Black man whose step-father (and show more family rock) is unexpectedly murdered. Gee and the Ventura girls' story intertwines during high school, when a change in the school districts rules pushes Gee into being able to attend their more prestigious high school that had previously been dominated by white students. Being Canadian, the conflict around education privilege is a little bit lost on me (but I am aware of it), but the story has strong themes which resonate with the lessening educational standards for non-white children in the US that I think people are becoming more aware of and in tune with. As Gee and Noelle Ventura (in his grade) navigate their first year of integration, we see them face unexpected racism from parents and students, but ultimately they get through things. This initial year may be the crux of the story, but the secondary storyline (though is it arguably secondary) shows them grown up and still dealing with family conflicts and expectations about their lives. By the final pages, I felt like I had read an interesting story about some interesting lives, but overall I'm not sure if I really got much out of the book besides basic enjoyment and a reaffirmation of what I know about race relations, education, and ongoing family struggles. show less

What's Mine and Yours is a novel full of great characters and a plot with competing timelines that slowly reveal the connections between characters. It all begins with a promising young Black man getting shot and killed. He leaves behind a young wife and son and a friend whose lives will be changed by his death. The timeline shifts around, introducing a school integration fight, a young woman whose marriage in falling apart, and a family whose father is addicted to opioids. It's a bit messy with all the different timelines, but Coster handles it pretty well. In the end, it's one of those books that shows the interconnectedness of lives and the domino effect of one tragedy.

I chose this for the book group I lead and going into the discussion I had very mixed feelings. I didn't think there was enough substance but my group proved me wrong. One woman pointed out the role that housing played which I found accurate and interesting. We talked about motherhood, lack of fathers and the humanity of all the characters, however flawed they may be.

Take 2 on this book. I first found the HB and then decided I didn't want to read so put it back in my LFL. When I found the PB a few months later, I decided to try it again so here I go.

Why are so many books I read set in NC? It seems I've read a lot of books there for some reason.

It started off in 1992 with Gee who was 6 at the time, going to work with his "dad" Ray. I didn't find any of the characters likable except for Gee (Jade's son). They weren't married and Gee was from a college boyfriend. Noelle, was the eldest daughter of Lacey Mae. Margarita and Diane were her others. I found both Jade and Lacey Mae "rough around the edges" but they did their best of love their kids in the best way they knew how. Lacey's husband left her (he show more was in jail actually but her girls didn't know that since she didn't want to tell them because she thought they were too young) and she had the responsibility of the three girls by herself so I can see how it took a toll on her. As for Jade, she loved Ray, who was her boyfriend, who unfortunately was killed. She felt responsible it but it really wasn't her fault. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time and he was helping her cousin with something and he got in the middle of a situation.

This book alternates between the past and the present with both women between 2018 and 2002 and the girls and Gee who is now 16 and in high school. By then the girls were all grown up and on their own with their own lives, Noelle, married, living in GA and Margarita, living in L.A. and Diane, who lives in NC with her partner running a doggy camp. No one knows she's gay not that it matters.

As for Gee's real first name it finally was revealed. I was wondering who Nelson was when he was married to Noelle and was in Paris with his photography career. He was in a play with Noelle in high school, and he used his real name in the program. Then I put two and two together after the chapter in Paris.

This book was an easy read considering all the back and forth of the past to present, present to past.

At first I was going to give it 2.5 stars but my thoughts about it changed when I read some surprises I wasn't expecting. show less

Could have been so much more (Rated 2.5 of 5 stars)

Disliked. Tried too hard to weave together two family sagas as they deal with heartbreak, integration, their past (traumas), and racial identity. Although it’s well written, I disliked half the characters and ultimately didn't care who was related to whom and why.