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.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for the preview copy. I really enjoyed this book. Didn't expect to be really engaged, but found it part a mystery/ part typical YA angst, and a huge part of social justice, although couched in a manner that made it meaningful.

I was surprised by the twists in the storyline, but really enjoyed the way Happi found her way back to her family through the trip via the route in The Negro Motorist Green Book. It strongly made the point that social justice is not just for "the good ones" but to allow all to be treated fairly.

I had a hard time wrapping my head around this book. I wanted to like it... I wanted to love it, but I didn't.

There is a lot going on in this story, perhaps too much to take in in one book. The main plot revolves around the untimely death of Kezi ,an activist and vlogger with a huge Youtube following, including a few people who seem to stalk her and post unsettling comments.. Her attendance at a rally results in her arrest for protesting the police, and this leads to her death while in custody. Meanwhile, her sister Happi is guilt ridden over their last conversation having been a terse one, as well as the fact that their relationship had been less than perfect.. Genny, their elder sister puts together a plan for the sisters and two friends to take the trip that Kezi had planned throughout the country via the Negro Motorist Green Book. While at first nearly impossible to convince their parents, both of whom are pastors, they eventually set off on their cross country trip, visiting some of the places where their ancestors had lived.

Meanwhile, Happi is lamenting the end of a relationship with her boyfriend, another character is arrested with Kezi and coincidentally had been at an audition with Happi. Her presence in the book results in another story line, as do the stories of some of the sisters' ancestors. (This was also true in the authors' first book).

The story takes a major turn in the second half, but to discuss it here would be to spoil.

I like that the story presents the reader with an activist -- this is excellent for young adult readers, for whom the book is intended. I also like that Kezi is a lesbian, in a committed relationship, much to her religious parents' chagrin. And, the book takes on the notion of who is a "good" Black person in the eyes of the white gaze. However, the fact that there is so much going on in the book made it feel disjointed to me, and diminished my ability to really enjoy it.

"Unfortunately, it takes books like this to humanize black people and show that, like everyone else, we deserve to have peace."

When I saw the Moulite sisters had a second book coming out, I was totally on board. I really enjoyed their first book and was curious what their sophomore efforts would bring. And Wow! Overall, this book was great and unique. I don't even know what genre you would label this one. It was almost 2 different books in one and that could go either way with readers in their enjoyment of it.

Told from multiple POVs we concentrate mostly on Kezi, Happi and Shaqueria in the first half along with the sister's grandmother, Evelyn. Kezi is in her last year of high school, is a history buff and becoming a YouTube sensation by her activism and her researching society issues for the masses. The first half really held me captive with all the timely issues they dealt with including activism, racism, societal issues, sexuality and even differences within families. It hit the nail on so many heads for a young adult. I liked seeing Kezi come into herself and question what she was being taught and having a mind of her own. It's what so many young adults are looking for. But with the added race issues, I just really enjoyed her character and her relationship she had with her friends and older sister, Genny.

Happi is the youngest sister to Kezi and Genny. And while she is only a year younger than Kezi, she feels like the outcast in their family. She has her boyfriend Santiago, but she is all about her acting and not much else. So, for the first half, I didn't really have a connection with her. She was too self involved. But don't worry. That changes in the second half. As does the story. We take a complete 180 and are now dealing with 'after the arrest' and what the family is experiencing in the second half. We shift from hearing about Kezi and the build up to her arrest in the first half to her family and friends traveling across America by following the plans that Kezi had by using The Negro Motorist Green-Book. It is history and it's an adventure that I enjoyed following and connected the girls' to their ancestors and to their friends and family in a way that they didn't expect. It allowed for me to change my opinion of the relationship the sisters had and to see Happi grow as a character. My admiration grew for her. But the second half is also where an added twist came in and caught me off guard. I'm still not sure what to think about that twist. This is where it seemed like 2 different books. It worked, but the way that twist played into the ending seemed a little too quick in it's resolution. I still enjoyed the journey and seeing the sisters and mother and father come together, but I'm still questioning that twist.

Overall, this was an engaging story that I would recommend to young adults in our current state of affairs. It is an important book because of the issues dealt with. The writing was done well and the characters really stood out. I wanted to be on the cross country adventure with these people and take in the history and how much we have and have not changed. The messages were quite clear and the title says it all. Who is to say who is a good one and who is not, just based on your skin color? We are all human and should all be given the same chances.

"We may be young but we are bold. We will inherit this earth so we must speak up and act when we see injustices.

If you want a timely book that has an extra element to it that you didn't see coming, this book will be for you. It will also be a book that just may expand your mind no matter your age. And that cover? Gorgeous!

One of the Good Ones - addressed social justice issues, activism, and the impact of family dynamics. This story wove the lives of family and complete strangers together flawlessly. I would highly recommend this story to my students!

Although just a year apart in age, Happi and Kezi Smith aren't close. Kezi is an activist YouTuber with a hundred thousand or so subscribers, and Happi mostly wants to be left alone. And then she is. Kezi dies in police custody, and Happi, their family, and Kezi's closest friends have to figure out what to do with their grief. Happi and Kezi's oldest sister, Genny, proposes the surviving sibs and friends follow a route Kezi had planned to take over the summer, one that utilizes an old copy of The Green Book. They have a physical copy but also give props to the Schomburg Center's digitized Green Book collection https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/collections/the-green-book#/?tab=about.

There is a lot going on in One of the Good Ones, which as much as anything takes on the idea that some Black people deserve to die less than others. Kezi is a star student, a YouTube star, and a preacher's kid. She has a secret or two, but generally, to the public, she is "one of the good ones." The Moulite sisters want readers to understand that, all Black lives matter.

"They deemed her One of the Good Ones. Sometimes the phrasing was different--A Nice Kid, A Child with Promise--but the intent was always the same: this little girl was worth listening to *because look how composed she was*! If we read her report card, we would see all As. If we spoke to any of her teachers, they'd call her a star student. Her father, Jamal Coleman, immortalized on the internet, if not in the history books, took her to church every Sunday. The cognitive dissonance of it all was something I couldn't take. If I had been the one to die that day in the hands of police instead of my sister--what would they have said about me? I skipped school like I was allergic to desks? I got messy drunk at parties? I could have been a better sibling and daughter? And though that was all true, should those facts have any bearing on whether the world was livid at the injustice of my death or mourned for me? For Jamal Coleman? For Kezi? All the rest?"

The story is told in more than one voice, and it may take a minute to really get who's who and what's going on, but even so, OotGO is an accessible and compelling read. It's about police violence and white silence, but it's also about one family working through their problems, and occasionally joys, even when processing a tragedy. And it's surprising, too!