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A review by alertnerd
One of the Good Ones by Maritza Moulite, Maika Moulite

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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.

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