Reviews with content warning for Slavery - One of the Good Ones

4.5

Thank you to Harper Collins for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly… wow.

I did not expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. Not to say that I was expecting it to be bad it just was not what I expected and I was hooked. It took me three days (during the work week) to read this. I found it very hard to put down I was hooked by the characters the mystery the drama and it went in a direction that I didn’t expect.

The story follows many different characters and has a few character perspectives from completely different timelines and they all mesh together at the end which I absolutely loved.

This book talks about some serious topics like race and injustice in America, police brutally and how racism is still alive today. That is just a brief description of all the important topics that this book brings up.

The only reason it’s not a full five star for me is because I found the way the book resolved at the end was a little too much based on luck and coincidence. it’s hard to explain without going into details.

Despite that, I absolutely love this book I think it is a must read for many people and if you are a fan of Angie Thomas or Tiffany D Jackson you will love this book.

Content Warnings

nytephoenyx's review

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emotional informative sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

One of the Good Ones was such a good book, y’all.

I was a little hesitant as I didn’t love Dear Haiti, Love Alaine (although admittedly I read an ARC and I think it was a really early edition). I’m so glad I picked this one up because I think that Moulite & Moulite did a wonderful job telling this story. There was excellent balance between grief and joy. History lessons were woven in with things that are very present in today’s world and daily life.

I don’t feel like I’m the best person to judge the rep and experience. As a white woman, I cannot begin to understand the pain and fear Black people face every single day. I cannot understand the weight of history that a Black person bears. I really recommend checking out some OwnVoices reviews of this book to get the most authentic possible reaction to One of the Good Ones.

Reading this as a white person, I appreciated multiple perspectives that showed the different circumstances. I never felt like the story lost its way despite the one-time POV chapters. I think that the perspectives from the recognized, the forgotten, the grieving, and the trying-to-survive added such a level of depth to the stories the Moulites were telling. I liked them all, but I particularly appreciated Shaqueria’s POV.

There were twists in this book I did not expect, and there was a character that was… very interesting. Without giving a lot away, I think it was so good that the Moulites held up a mirror to some intentions and the depths of extremes. It felt like there was a lot of… honesty in One of the Good Ones. And I’m sure – I’m sure – there was a level of editing that happened here and made it so things were a bit watered down. But I did not feel as though the behaviors in this book were overly polished. There was so much honesty and realism in reactions. This is one of those rare books that didn’t feel overly staged in the way characters responded to things or the flow of the environment around them, and I really appreciated that.

From a very objective perspective, craft-wise, this book was also well-done. One of the Good Ones is very easy to read. It flows quickly and for me, the multiple POVs keep it extra interesting. The balance between the storytelling and history-sharing was very well-achieved. I found myself googling some of the snippets to learn more independently, but if you don’t have a good knowledge of Black history in the United States, this book will serve to broaden your horizons.

One of the Good Ones was a charming surprise for me. It wasn’t a book that left me feeling happy and good at the end, but it was really well-told with many rich characters. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Content Warnings

goldengirlbookclub's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

What an incredible read to start out the year!

This book feels like two separate books to me. I went into to it knowing that the MC, Kezi Smith’s death, would be the centerpiece of the book, as she attended a BLM protest that went sideways and that the book would focus on the aftermath of the friends and family grieving along with commentary on police brutality. 

BUT this book was so much more than that. 

Part one has multiple chapter perspectives with flashbacks to the Smith family’s ancestors dealing with racism, white violence, and particularly the lynching of a family member that really affects the trajectory of the family and the present day descendants. 

Part two however, brings that trajectory back around for the karmic retribution and closure that, for me, was completely unexpected and where the book goes from a book about BLM and the grieving loved ones left behind after a person has been murdered by the police, to a mystery and story of retribution and karmic balancing. 

The depiction and exploration of grief, loneliness, and feelings of regret that  Happi, the youngest sister, felt in the face of such a loss was beautiful and felt deeply personally for me, as someone who also lost a sibling recently and with whom my own relationship was fraught and at times tenuous. I also really loved how the religious tensions between pastor parents and rebellious daughters was shown. 

The writing was sharp, the characters fully formed and written in all their flawed beauty, and I couldn’t put it down. 

I also really loved how the authors explored what “one of the good ones” meant in a variety of contexts that showed how society places value on people, particularly black people, only when they fit the criteria that white society has stated makes some one “a good one” ie that they were making good grades, went to college, had a job, or stayed out of trouble. But the authors make a point to show how flawed and dehumanizing this standard, and frankly racist, classist, sexist, anti-queer, etc that this can be, and how all humans regardless of their race, gender, orientation, accomplishments, degrees, where they were raised, etc should be valued as humans whose lives are both precious and valuable. 

Part two and the ending really came out of left field a bit for me and made the book feel like two separate books in some ways. There were definite ties that brought both halves together but the switch to a mystery/thriller from a reflective commentary was a little jarring at first. 

The  twist did feel like it took away some from the legitimate and raw depiction of the special grief one feels when someone has been murdered by the state without consequences to the officers involved, and in which most families usually never get closure. And for Shaqueria, and those who mourn her, there is no closure. The life of a black girl deemed not “one of the good ones” was still lost, and while the closing letter shows that they are fighting now in her name, it is still a bittersweet end. 

 However, I loved both parts a lot and it was probably the twist that made the book truly memorable for me.  And, in a world where so often all we see is the tragedy and pain of black people, (although Kezi’s trauma was on full display from what she experienced, which I’m glad it was addressed instead of simply written out as though she simply fell back into her life) it was nice to see a somewhat happy ending for the Smiths, and gave the family a second chance. 

Overall, it was absolutely a book that I will definitely recommend for others in the future. 

Thank you NetGalley for the arc

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