Okay. The Green Book has been an interest of mine over the past few months. This book is a beautiful encapsulation of reflecting back on the past and how it connects to our present. I am not one to include plot synopses in my reviews because I don’t tell it well without spoilers. But I will say this. There is a plot twist in this book that honestly came out of left field for me. I felt like I got hit by a MAC truck. And damn if this book didn’t truly resolve itself in the last few pages.

Mystery. Roadtrip. Sisterhood.

Oh, it has been a while since I read a book that I didn't want to end! Thank you Inkyard Press for inviting me to the blog tour of One of the Good Ones because otherwise, I would have never discovered sister author duo Maika and Maritza Moulite. I can't wait to read more from them!

One of the Good Ones is told with multiple perspectives, mostly through the point of views of sisters Kezi and Happi. When online social justice activist Kezi is killed under mysterious circumstances, her sister Happi and the rest of her family are left grieving. As Kezi becomes another immortalized victim in the fight against police brutality, Happi begins to question the idealized way her sister is remembered. Perfect. Angelic. One of the good ones. Even as the phrase rings wrong in her mind—why are only certain people deemed worthy to be missed?—Happi and her sister Genny embark on a journey to honour Kezi in their own way, using an heirloom copy of The Negro Motorist Green Book as their guide. But there's a twist to Kezi's story that no one could've ever expected—one that will change everything all over again.

The book explores the term 'one of the good ones' and what it actually means and whether it should matter that a person who dies was 'one of the good ones'. The book unpacks the questions: "why are only certain people deemed worthy to be missed?" and "Why isn't being human enough?" The discussion and lessons of One of the Good Ones are prize-worthy.

The mystery element is highlighted by the perspectives besides Kezi's and Happi's. The third act of the book had me on the edge of my seat trying to piece together what happened en what would happen by the end of the book. I really enjoyed this book so much.

Furthermore, I really enjoyed learning about American history through the places Happi, Genny, Ximena and Derek visited. Thus, if you are looking for an emotional, mysterious and informative read, One of the Good Ones should definitely be on your To Be Read List. I cannot recommend it enough.

January 2021 reading starts with an INCREDIBLE read!

Shortest Summary Ever: Kezi Smith, a popular YouTube teen influencer, dies mysteriously and becomes a rallying case for a BLM-type movement. Kezi left behind a legacy and a family that wishes to preserve it, so sister Happi (who is anything BUT), older sister Genny , and Kezi’s bestie embark on a trip Kezi had planned out using the segregation-era Greenbook for Negro Motorists as a map. And then a crazy, life-altering ride begins.

Thoughts: There’s so much I need to discuss without giving spoilers. The book is amazing and completely unexpected. I loved it, I highly recommend it, and it’s honestly a mystery (if I wanted to define the genre) mixed with a deep social issue. The sister dynamic was explored exquisitely through Happi, who feels so much of what grief brings - guilt, sadness, worry, incredulity, while battling through a black-sheep-strained relationship with her pastor parents. This struck home with me as I had 12 years of parochial schooling jammed into me. Happi is pure rebellion - questioning, asking, wondering - all of it related to so much of my personal journey. With sharp writing and these intricate characters, the Moulites weave a tale that’s a patchwork of pure genius.

The issue is that (for me) the twist changed the focus and I think it missed a chance to be truly POIGNANT. That twist, in my opinion made this less about treatment by police because it went to a place that was rare and isolated and not likely. Had it kept with the narrative? Like I said - poignant, the book I want to teach my middle schoolers. I respect the angle - it’s different than anything I saw coming and I enjoyed the book IMMENSELY, but that twist - I’d like to take that part out and keep it grounded in reality delving into the whole “good ones “ mentality where if you are black you are either a “good one” - good student, kind, no issues or a “thug” - in trouble, okay for society to ignore.

You have to read it so we can talk!

All my reviews available at scrappymags.com around time of publication.

Genre: Mystery/Contemporary Fiction

Recommend to: All my middle schoolers, those looking for something new and different.

Not recommended to: If you’re burned out on current issues like BLM, LGBTQ issues, or particularly religiously sensitive.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Inkyard Press for my advanced copy in exchange for my always-honest review and for days and days of pondering an thinking over this one. Well done.

💚The Moulite Sisters have done it again!💚
When I read Dear Haiti, Love Alaine I fell in love with their style and had my fingers crossed they would write again.
I am beyond ecstatic that their sophomore release did not disappoint!
I will now wait with bated breath in the hopes that these ladies choose to release more creativity out into the world. 🤞
Much love to NetGalley, Inkyard Press & The Moulite Sisters for my DRC.

When I started this novel, it felt like _Dear Martin_, and a little _Red at the Bone_, and it transformed into a wholly unique and unexpected novel. This is perfect for your seekers of thrills and of social justice.

Trigger warnings: police brutality, death of loved ones, physical and psychological abuse, in-depth descriptions of lynchings

This book was so much more than I expected it to be. It is part social activist manifesto part thriller. I am not sure what I expected with the description: The Hate U Give meets Get Out. But, It certainly fits.

I am a white cis-het 28-year-old middle class woman. I read this book and am writing this review from a place of privilege. This book was wye-opening and heart wrenching. There are descriptions of hate and despair that I will never understand in the way the characters--and so many men and women--experience them. This books was engrossing, heartbreaking, and terrifying.

The story is a non-linear story told from many perspectives. The majority of the storytelling is from the viewpoint of sisters Happi and Kezi.

The story starts off at a ceremony honoring Kezi Smith who died in police custody after being arrested at her very first Black Lives Matter protest. It is her 18th birthday the day she is arrested. This leaves a hole in the family. Her sisters Happi and Genny are left to figure out how to cope without their sister.

In conjunction with Kezi’s two best friends, the sisters take a road trip from Chicago to Los Angeles that Kezi had mapped using The Negro Motorist Green Book before she died. The four of them use this time to remember and honor their sister and are faced with some really harsh realities about history and race.

There is a lot of attention to the details of racism in the United States. The authors describe instances from microaggressions to blatant racism. The name of the book is in reference to a racist statement that implies that some black and brown kids have a special distinction of being the “good ones” because they are ambitious. I think a quote from the story that best sums it up is as follows.

"One of the good ones. How does he not realize that, in order for him to see a young Black girl’s humanity, she must have a list of accomplishments to justify her existence? It’s not right."

The Quick Cut: Two sisters are left changed forever when the middle sister, an activist, dies in police hands.

A Real Review:
Thank you to Inkyard Press for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Losing a family member is always tough. However, when you lose them at a young age, there is a particular darkness to it that can haunt you. All that potential suddenly disappearing has a way of making everything appear grim. This is the devastation that Kezi's sisters Happi and Genny have to deal with.

Kezi died on her 18th birthday after a peaceful protest goes deadly. After being taken in to the police station, she does in a holding cell under mysterious circumstances. Her sisters, Happi and Genny are left without their sibling and wanting to celebrate her life by going on the road trip their sister was planning to take. Will they find what motivated their sister to action? Or instead find that they didn't know their sibling as well as they thought?

I already know I'm going to be a part of a minority that doesn't enjoy this book. Although the premise intrigued me and I can tell the authors meant to share a powerful point, for me it ended up lost in translation. Too much action happened to really pull me into the characters and the story. Truthfully, this felt like someone took two book ideas and unsuccessfully tried to make it into one.

The books description is very accurate in saying it's The Hate U Give meets Get Out. It really is like someone took both and tried to turn it into one coherent story. While both separately tell a powerful reality in today's society, together they end up missing that mark.

Kezi is seen by everyone as "one of the good kid's" after her death. Good grades, solid family, and a YouTube page where her advocacy was seen by many. She's setup as a heroine with her sisters trying to grieve in their own ways. I will say that the grief process throughout the story feels genuine and it's interesting to see how each family member approaches it differently.

A book meant to make a statement but doesn't quite make it.


My rating: 2.5 out of 5

A fantastic books, well-written, great characters, great storyline. I look forward to sharing it and seeing the reactions of other readers.

Sisters and co-authors Maika and Maritza Moulite have included a very moving foreword in their new novel, One Of The Good Ones, which describes how they felt compelled, as older siblings, to write One Of The Good Ones for their younger sisters – a story about the death of a young black woman at the hands of the police, and the grief her family experiences afterwards. They name many of the African American victims of police brutality, or wrongful gun violence, but they also mention that there are many more people who are less well known, but we should acknowledge that ‘they were here too.’

That message, ‘they were here too’, is in many ways the core thought of this beautiful exploration of not only the issues prevalent in the USA but also the grieving process that a family goes through when they lose someone unexpectedly.

Kezi, an outspoken teenage activist is killed on her eighteenth birthday after she is arrested at a protest. Her family, including younger sister Happi who narrates a large amount of the novel, go to Chicago to collect a prize which Kezi was awarded before her death. From there, Happi and oldest sister Genny (as well as Kezi’s closest friends Ximena and Derek) decide to go on the road trip that Kezi had planned to celebrate her graduation from high school. Relationships are fraught between many of the participants of the road trip, and things do not start out well.

The plot of One of The Good Ones is fairly standard, at least in terms of the road trip parts. But it isn’t really a book about a road trip. I mentioned how grief plays a major part, and that really applies to Happi, Kezi’s younger sister. She and Kezi didn’t have an easy relationship and Happi is living with so many regrets as she processes her grief. There are some passages in this novel that are breathtakingly beautiful, and achingly sad. Happi has to learn to live with her grief and try to voice her trauma, but at the beginning, she just doesn’t know how. As the reader, you are right there with her, trapped in her head, unable to see a way out. It is very strong writing.

There are glimpses of everyone else, especially oldest sister Genny, also trying in their own way to come to terms with what has happened. Genny is not a point of view character, but the authors pointed out their own ‘older sister’ status in their foreword and you can tell that they poured a lot of the big sister experience into the character. As an older sister myself, I totally felt Genny’s determination to make sure that her younger sibling didn’t get too caught up in her own head, and how she was working hard to keep everything together not only for Happi but for their parents as well.

The real thesis of One of The Good Ones though is that notion of ‘they were here too.’ Kezi, at the time of her death, was what some people would patronisingly call ‘one of the good ones’, as though her good manners, academic ability and strong community focus are what makes her death tragic. As though the death of someone less impressive than Kezi is easier to justify or explain away, when in fact it is anything but. The novel rails against this idea and spends a lot of time emphasising that although Kezi’s family, and the rest of the world, are mourning her, she doesn’t deserve that outpouring of grief any more than anyone else, because everyone who dies in such a senseless and brutal way deserves to be raged over.

That message, coupled with a very realistic portrait of a grieving family, are what makes One of The Good Ones such a compelling novel. It isn’t a grim read though; it is in places uplifting and positive, and as Happi finds herself emerging from the shadow of her grief, you will breathe a sigh of relief with her.

**Review will be posted during my spot on the blog tour closer to the publication date.**

3.5 STARS

I liked:
*I loved how this story explored racism and it’s history through Kezi’s life and death which happens because of a protest for a black man who lost his life, Jamal. The story ties into racism in American history with Happi and Genny’s road trip using The Negro Motorist Green Book! This trip also helps Happi and Genny learn about their own family history. I learned a lot of things through their journey.

*The road trip opens Happi and Genny’s eyes to a lot of history and to some things in Kezi’s life they were missing. It’s a healing journey for them and Kezi’s youtube followers too.

*The way the Smith family copes after Kezi’s death is different, as everyone grieves differently. I thought it was interesting how religion is brought into the story and how the Smith parents have to deal with certain truths about Kezi’s life. I like that it touches on how the girls were “raised”. How they were the good ones: good life, grades, looks, family, etc…as opposed to the bad ones who are vilified in the media because they don’t have all those things.

*The plot twist in this book made my eyes go wide. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I kept on reading, but the ending of the book is really unexpected. It goes in a direction I never expected!

Random Notes:
*Triggers: mention of lynchings, racism, police brutality, stalking, grief, kidnapping

*I had a hard time getting into the story at first because there are many different perspectives with many different dates (timelines): Kezi, Happi, Shaqueria, and Evelyn. They are all connected but I’m not even sure if Evelyn’s story perspective was needed since Kezi explains who she was and how her family was close to Derek’s.

*There is a lot going on in this book. I feel like this story turns into something else entirely in the second half and almost wish it picked one story to go with. I would have been satisfied with an amazing road trip story or the plot twist really could have been a separate book on it’s own. Honestly…the second half would be my pick because then the story becomes a thriller!

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I think this is an impactful story when it comes to talking about racism, American history, family dynamics and social justice. It took me awhile to get into because of all the different perspectives and timelines but I do love how thrilling the ending becomes, which was so unexpected. This is an important story about how society as a whole values black lives.

One of the Good Ones is a page-turning exploration of contemporary youth activism and its impact on both activists and their families. It provides a terrific glimpse into the emotional toll that loss can take. Highly recommended.

When social media activist Kezi Smith is killed after being arrested at a protest, she is turned into a martyr and seen as “one of the good ones.” While on a road trip in Kezi’s honor, her sisters must grapple with their complicated relationship with each other and their feelings over Kezi’s death.

The Moulite sisters examined a lot of different topics in this pretty short novel, but the main idea is who society deems “one of the good ones.” Kezi’s death was seen as tragic only because she was a straight A student, was going to a good college and “did everything right.” However, there are other characters in the book who are seen as disposable (and some even say bad for the Black community) because they weren’t as privileged as Kezi.

I felt like this book was doing A LOT. It was part historical fiction, part thriller, part YA contemporary and part history lesson. It didn’t always work, and the first part of the book was a little clunky. Everything really came together in the second half though and I found myself not able to put the book down.

I was a little disappointed that the Smiths sisters’ privilege wasn’t addressed more. They clearly lived comfortably, but I don’t think the Moulite sisters truly examined how that made them different from some of the other characters in the story.

For the record, I totally saw the plot twist coming, but also felt “there’s no way” at the same time.

This is described as The Hate U Give combined with Get Out but I think it would also be a great read for fans of Tiffany Jackson.

This impactful story is one that will help you find your true direction. I really loved the insightful path that that book took. This was a magical tale that readers who loved the Hate You Give and others of its kind will fall hard for this one. This is one for the schools to get their hands on!

Wow. Once I got into this book told from different perspectives, I was blown away. Terrific examination of what happens to the families of those who die at the hands of police, and a wonderful examination of what it means to be "one of the good ones." If the twist at the end of this book makes you really, really happy--perhaps that needs some unpacking. Do you have to be "a good one" for your life to matter? Highly recommended.

This had been sitting on my virtual book stack for months. I didn’t read any reviews, so I think that I was expecting this book to be something else: a story about systemic racism, police brutality, a young life cut short, and a family coping with loss. Once I started reading I realised that it went beyond this, and I loved it precisely because it wasn’t what I expected.
It’s difficult to say much about the plot without giving too much away! Kezi is a social activist and YouTuber about to graduate high school. She shares a tense relationship with her younger sister Happi, an aspiring actress. We know immediately that Kezi has died following an arrest, as we see her family months later attempting to cope with and respond to their loss. The circumstances surrounding her death are revealed late in the book, instead the focus is on what happened before and the repercussions. .
The book weaves in multiple narrators’ voices, and jumps back and forth along the timeline. We also hear from Evelyn (their grandmother) and Shaqueria, who in contrast to Kezi has no family and is trying to break into acting, alone in LA. It is well-written, well-paced, suspenseful, timely, and thought-provoking. Further, it asks really important questions about who we value and why, whose humanity we see and whose we are able to ignore.
Thank you so much to Inkyard Press for the ARC.
Review on Goodreads : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46189861-one-of-the-good-ones?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=kFpdAgq1pb&rank=1

This book is one thing I love about a book. You in essence can tell people's stories and perspectives. You can be entertained or you get to see someone's story and perspectives. This book shows you a families story from different prespectives and through their grief and loss. It is about siblings (sisters) and their feelings and experience with racism and violence, about police brutality, about who people feel is worth sympathy or diginity. It brings up many relavent issues in todays society through the eyes of a family. The first of the book gave me rememberance of books suck as "The hate you give" and "Dear martin" and personally i feel it is sad that the story has to be told so many times for people to understand something to me that is common sense but with change it is always that way it seems. Books are great at helping people understand and expand their minds so this is a great way (one of many) to do just that to bring some healthy changes. The only thing I dont care for in writing and elsewhere is the making of all one group of people demonized or the same. I dont feel that is okay with ANY group of people. Not every person or experience is the same but every story and person is. Their is a whole lot taught in this book such as about the green book and sundown towns. I love a book that teaches and that also gives perspectives on things that many not see without their stories but, I also do not like books that want so badly to deliver a message that they drill the point to much and lose some of the story. I feel this book did some of both but stil found it a good read and important viewpoint that should be read.

I somehow thought I had already written this review, so memory may be faulty. I really liked the premise of the book. I did feel the kidnapping wasn't actually needed to move the story along, but I guess I get why the author chose to do that.

Great character development, and of course timely (sadly) storyline.

TW: Racism; Mention of lynchings; Police brutality; kidnapping

I was really intrigued by this book, thus why I requested the Arc on NetGalley and it was really interesting, and dealt with really important topics, as well as educated me as a reader on so much Black History, all things I enjoyed thoroughly. My favorite concept the book was portraying was the roadtrip that Kezi wanted to go on for her graduation before she died that her two sisters and two best friends go on in her memory. If the whole book had centered around that, I genuinely thing that would have been enough. Maybe even add in the things that happen to Kezi (I won’t spoil what it is). I actually even enjoyed the mini chapters about Happi and Jenny’s great grandfather when they visited a specific town because it gave the plot more depth, more understanding of who exactly had to face this ill moments of history. I actual even understood at the end why we got so much background on Shaqueria. Unfortunately, I don’t think I completely understood the plot with Evelyn? It seemed a little out of the loop and maybe I missed something, but all in all, I felt confused a lot of the times trying to keep the characters separate in my head, and understanding what tied to what plot. I felt like the authors were trying to do too much at once, trying to dive into all genres all at the same time rather than picking one and fully flushing it out. With all that being said, I loved the family dynamics between the sisters and friends because they felt honest rather than stereotypical and perfect. This book was extremely powerful in the information it shared about Black peoples’ experiences in America and how traumatic it can be. I’m really glad I read this book, and I did enjoy it for the most part. I would recommend anyone pick this one up, specially if you just want to understand and learn a bit about Black history in a contemporary novel type narrative.

Characters: 6/10
Atmosphere: 6/10
Writing Style: 6/10
Plot: 5/10
Intrigue: 5/10
Logic: 6/10
Enjoyment: 6/10

Rating: 5.7 or 3 stars (rounded to a 3.5 stars)

My brain had a hard time tracking the multi-character/multi-timeframe storyline as I began reading, but it didn't take long before this book hooked me in. And then it didn't let me go. This book is raw, brutal and honest. I can't go in depth as to avoid spoilers about the book's second half: only to say, that, because I knew there was a twist, I actually managed to guess what it was. But did guessing the reveal detract from the story-not at all. This book was fantastic.

For Libraries: Buy it. Display it. Book talk it. This book matters.

This book was a challenge in the shifting points of view and time, but it was well worth it by the end. It all came together In such a haunting and beautiful way. I don’t even know what to say without spoiling it, but you don’t have to be one of the good ones for your life to matter.