A Different Kind of Us

by Kelly Quindlen

Fresh out of law school, Sutton is eager to climb the ladder at her new job. But on her first day of work, she comes face to face with an unexpected colleague--her ex-best friend and first love, Ada. Forced to work together, Sutton and Ada must untangle the complicated feelings they've always had for each other--feelings that may lead them back to friendship, or even to something more.

Genres: Romance, LGBT, Lesbian, Queer, New Adult, Contemporary, Fiction

238 pages, ebook

First published August 7, 2015

About the author

Kelly Quindlen is the bestselling author of the young adult novels She Drives Me Crazy (winner of the Volunteer State Book Award; Goodreads Choice Awards nominee), Late to the Party, Her Name in the Sky, and the forthcoming This Must Be the Place (May 2026). Her books have been featured in The New York Times, Business Insider, Vulture, and Paste.
Kelly enjoys speaking to high school GSAs, PFLAG groups, and all manner of LGBTQ+ organizations. She lives in Atlanta with her fiancée and their saucy cat, Peach Marie.

Reviews

[Diane Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok read! less detailed and way too dull at times..but for the most part it was a well written book

[Megzz · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

The first part was good enough with quite a lot of tension and great chemistry between both women. But the second half couldn't hold my attention. Once the chasing was over I got bored. And didn't finish.

[charlotte, · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rep: lesbian mc, biracial Black bi li

CWs: internalised homophobia, biphobia, racism

[haneet · Rating 3 out of 5]

sweet but boring

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

tw// racism, homophobia, outing of a character

[Emmaby Barton Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

omg this was so good im so happy how it ended i got scared for a minute

i wish there were print copies of this book there's sm i want to annotate

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

honestly reading this on wattpad made the experience more impactful for me bc the comments felt like i was buddy-reading this with a hundred other people, yelling at the two main characters to get over each other and kiss

i felt this one hard because i'm also in that period of entering an office job straight out of university, where you're adjusting to grown-up life and yet the smallest random things remind you of the imperfect way you were in high school. i feel (as quindlen describes poignantly) like i'm "finished with something forever, but also starting something that might go on forever." this story beautifully conveys the balance between the need to name something for what it is, and also of letting things go - of disregarding the urge to assign every moment a label, of being present for the small joys of our daily lives. and still we might look back on each moment "and feel that it was profound," because they are things that happened to us, that we tuck into our identities as we grow and change and discover new things about ourselves that we always knew to be true.

[Natsu · Rating 5 out of 5]

290115: Chapter 2 down... 7 more to go, then comes the wait for the next story update.

310115: Done. Now, I wait... *Twilight Zone BGM*

100315: Love how Kelly weaves Ada and Sutton's past and present together. Now waiting for the other half of this chapter (11) that hasn't been posted yet. It's prolly gonna be chapter 12.

04212016: Forgot to update this.

[Maze · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love coming across a good book by accident. The whole element of reading it and being surprised by it is just awesome. I totally fell in love. The dynamic between Ada and Sutton was extremely realistic and believable. The way they had to face their past, and even their present, in order to have a future together. The way they had to risk themselves and put it all on the line. All very good. Very well written. I just wish the author would write a follow up to it. I've read HNITS and it was not as good, or I just did not relate to the characters as much.

[Hadleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much feeling - there aren't many books that really captivate me in the way this book does.

Books like this are perfect for me. The way Quindlen draws out and times the raw emotion of her stories is brilliant. Chapter 7 really got me in ADKOU especially. This is what I love reading the most, I can't wait for her next book.

[Merel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writing was very good (same for every Quindlen novel) but the story was just,, idk kinda boring. Within the first 2 chapters you know the ending and its just an uneventful read until you're there. Defenitely felt like the characters could be way more 3d and we should've get to know them more outside of what they are to each other. Oh well

[LaylaMay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointing. The premise seemed interesting enough and I like one of the author’s other books but this one offered nothing. Boring characters, plot and writing. Almost nothing happened here. I didn’t feel anything. The yearning or the longing. It was quite anticlimactic when they reconciled. But it was decent enough to finish.

[Mara · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I liked more about this book is the plot twist. At the beginning it seems the fallout was Ada's fault, like she rejected Sutton or something like that but it was Sutton who messed up... I didn't expect that considering how the book began.

[Amy Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun! It was unpolished, in my opinion, but I fully expected that, so I had a good time with this.

[*＊✿❀Shoyle❀✿＊* · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mehhh

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Both annoyed me

[Nancy G · Rating 4 out of 5]

A second chance at first love in an office setting. I’ve read this story a few times and it still makes me smile.

[marz]

genuinely embarassing to find this today and then promptly realize i’d read this years ago on wattpad

[Vianca N. N. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kelly Quindlen's book A Different Kind of Us, speaks the truth, past memories held in the present, emotions dread but making hope part of an unspoken new routine.

Sutton and Ada conquered my heart, they felt like the first girl that twisted your world making you fly so violently that you become attached to fear and possibility.

What happens when she is all you have been looking for?

When you have been labeled by everything?

Ada, needs NO label or stigma to define her, she broke my idea of everyone needing to fit into one. I been working with this internal issue and Ada's truth helped me to see beyond it.

Are labels for others or for ourselves?

[Daydream_believer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, so here's the thing...when I found out that the author of one of my favourite books [I adored Her name in the sky] had written another one and that it was available online, I was beyond thrilled!And I really enjoyed this book!Suffice it to say that I generally am a very slow reader but it only took me two days to finish this one. However,even though I liked this book a lot, I found its second part to be a bit repetitive and dragging.
*********************************SPOILERS***************************************
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I also thought that it was a little out of character for Ada to react the way she did when she found out about her promotion. More specifically, when she said to Sutton that she could not except her to let her in, in everything, it kind of felt strange to me.Especially after all the conversations they had in this part of the book. I guess it was more something that I would expect Ada to say a bit earlier and not one or two chapters before the end. Despite these few things, it was a really nice,well rounded book. The characters [even the minor ones] were quite interesting and likeable and the plot was surprisingly extraordinary. It was not just a simple love story, it addressed things like racism, sexual identity, labels and how some people need them while others are totally against them.I loved that it supported sufficiently both sides of the coin on that matter. Closing this quite long review, I would like to thank Kelly Quindlen for sharing her story with us! I am looking forward to her next work!

[p ✧* · Rating 3 out of 5]

i liked it less than the other books by this author but it was still cute:)) let's go lesbians!!

[W. Gregory Kett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally... :)

I was watching this come out bit by bit over on Wattpad, doing my damnedest to wait until it was done to crack chapter 1. Had my taste whetted with Her Name in the Sky and could barely wait until this was ready. :)
Just today saw it was finished and devoured it in one marathon.

Another wonderful book. I liked the MC's and while things seemed a bit hurried at spots overall it was an excellent story.

My only real issue was so many of the secondary chars are barely there, barely even cardboard cutouts.
Sutton's Parents, the mother gets a decent workup, but the Father might as well have been left out as he is entirely offstage.
Ada's roommate a few complaints about, and what 3 words of dialog? Might as well never been there.

The MC's and their relationship was good, but the world around them needed to be better populated to make this a great book in my opinion.

[Yeewei Cheo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd never realise I like happy ending so much until kelly quindlen
amazing how she releases her story online just like that

[Raqz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great great story!!

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good work from Kelly Quindlen. I feel the story towards the end is rushed and slightly out of character (ie. Ada). Read her other book Her Name in the Sky.

[Neeti · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well written book with a cute story. Entertaining. Loved it!