Title: “Rebecca, Not Becky”

Author: Christine Platt and Catherine Wigginton Greene

Genre: Satire

Publication Date: December 5, 2023

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2/5)

“Rebecca, Not Becky” is told from the perspective of two upper middle class women living in Northern Virginia. Rebecca Myland is a stay-at-home mom living in a multimillion dollar home with her husband and two daughters. She is a white woman leading the diversity committee at her daughter’s very non-diverse private school. De’Andrea Whitman and her husband and daughter move from Atlanta into the same gated community as the Myland’s, and their daughter attends the same school, but is one of the only Black children there.

I found most of this book to be an uncomfortable read, and not because the topic of race, racism, and diversity are uncomfortable, but because so many of the characteristics of both families, and the host of supporting players, felt so stereotypically based on their races.

I found the middle of the story to be the best part of it, but did not like the beginning, or the ending, at all. It is hard to feel sympathetic towards Rebecca, living with all of the privileges of her wealth and status (I don’t care that she feels stressed about managing all of the contractors coming in and out of her house to do things like build a koi fish pond to help with her mediation journey, or that she has a hard time relaxing in her fancy meditation room in her big house.

I found De’Andrea much more palatable, but hated that the experience she and her husband had near the very end of the book was rushed through and glossed over. It should have been one of, if not the, most important parts of the book, and throwing it in at the end felt wrong.

There were a few laughs to be had here and there, and some moments that many mom’s will be able to relate to, but overall, I found this book to be poorly executed, and I would not recommend it to other readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amistad for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.