One Of The Good Ones Had Me Geeking

• Maika & Maritza Moulite (Sisters)
• Second Book
• Genre: YA Contemporary
• Heritage: Haitian-American (AYISYENNNNNNN*waves Haitian Flag*)
• IG:@maritzamoulite, @maikamoulite; Twitter: @maikamoulite, @MaritzaMoulite
• Website: www.maikaandmaritza.com
• Release: 1/5/2021 (Go get it NOW!)
• Publisher: inkyard press
• Favorite character: I quite loved Kezi! She’s smart and a bit sarcastic/snarky. I love the energy that she brought to the book when she was mentioned or when things were from her perspective. Sis is just dope!
• Favorite Quote: This is something Happi thought that hit me like a ton of bricks “Speaking about her in the past tense still feels weird on my tongue.” Man, this is an entire mood/mindset/outlook & it’s very me too! Another quote: “Oh! And who are ‘girls like me’ exactly?“-Happi! YES HAPPI YES! Like what does that even MEAN?!

So I’m starting this off saying that I am a HUGE FAN of Maritza & Maika! Their first book, Dear Haiti, Love Alaine, literally changed my life and I wrote a post about it. If you haven’t read that post, click here to read it! It holds such a special place in my heart and I’m always happy to talk about it. I also did a live for the Haitian Read-A-Thon with some other Haitian Bookstagrammers & Maika about DHLA, you can see it here (I had such a good time)! I adore their work and I adore them, seriously! I’d read anything that they write, even their grocery list, lol.

Now that I’ve gotten the warm and fuzzies out, I’mma move on to talking about their second book, One Of The Good Ones (OOTGO)… It is SO SO SOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD! It is literary GOLD! The gems that they dropped, the scenarios that the characters were in, the twists & turns….*Chef’s Kiss*! Also the levels of emotions that I felt…*low whistles* but I also felt that it validated where I was at that point in time while I was reading.

To be transparent, when I read this book, it was less than a month after my Grandfather passed away and I was extremely emotional (the top contending emotions being anger and hurt). So that thought that I quoted, I felt it so very hard and even almost 3 months later, I’m still in a similar place (baby steps y’all, baby steps). So this book had me in my feelings and tears very early on. Since I was in such an emotionally turbulent place, it took me longer than I would’ve usually read but I loved this book SOOOOOOOO MUCH! It touched on so many necessary things that tend to get overlooked or just outright ignored/dismissed. I love books that get me thinking, that reminds me of our current realities without bombarding me with it, balances joy & humor with grief & heaviness in such a brilliant way! Seriously… y’all need to get this book!

So, y’all know how I’m a history buff right? Okay, maybe you don’t but now you know! I was in full on history geek mode from the moment that the Negro Motorist Green Book was mentioned! I, for real for real, was all in my nerdy feelings! When Kezi says while holding the Green Book “It’s like holding a snapshot in time between my fingers. Holding one of these never gets old.”, I imagined feeling like the sky opened up and angels began singing or the instrumental to when Mufasa held Simba up played…It would’ve been ALL UH THOSE FEELINGS! I love how Kezi revered the past but was solidly in the present…which can be tough. She also came with ALLLLLLLLLLL THE RECEIPTS when stepped to…and well, that’s me too! She will hit you with the historical facts then current data…I just LIVED when she spoke! The way that Maika & Maritza intertwined the past with the present was just brilliant! My Spirit was fully spoken to!

Another thing that I love is the multiple perspectives in the book. Nothing delights me more than a book with multiple points of view! I feel it adds to the brilliance of the book when done really well and Maritza & Maika did *clap* that *clap* and they did it REALLY FREAKING WELL! And not only did they do multiple POVs but also multiple TIMELINES! Y’all, I was in full on GEEK! For a cherry on top, each POV brought on MIND BLOWING revelations that when it hits you, you’re just like “OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”!

Then….

Yea, that’s all I can really say without spoiling the sheer brilliance that is this book! That second gif was also me when Kezi came with the receipts!

Another thing I wanted to touch on right quick that is a really important question that this book posed… What exactly makes someone “one of the good ones?” and WTF does that even mean?! Who exactly is a “good one”? What do they look and sound like? Are they someone who is like a “step & fetch it” (look it up)? Do they do “all the right things”? What exactly are all the right things anyway? This is what I basically think when I hear that term (dezòd for real). Does being “a good one” mean that that person’s life deserves more recognition than one who isn’t considered as such? That they are more worthy than others? As the book shows, that answer depends on who is being talked to. What we know is that being “a good one” doesn’t save a person…no number of good deeds or degrees or even graveling will save a person, especially a person of color, as history (past and present) has dictated to us. I love how this book poses the question and asks you to really question your outlook on what constitutes a “good one” and why victims are either villainized or canonized in the court of public option………………*Hops off her soap box* (to a smaller one cause y’all know I’m short and need the extra height *shrug*)

I love a book that makes me think, gives me history, multiple points of views, witty banter and even makes my eyes leak! One Of The Good Ones was all that and SO MUCH MORE! It is Sooooooo worth reading! I bet you will thank me after you do!

Before you say it, I know I didn’t talk really about the characters and I didn’t on purpose because I didn’t want to give spoilers on accident. I want you to meet all of them on your own and get to know them! The character development in OOTGO is SUPERB! I really can’t say enough good things about this book! I hope you decide to pick it up and join me in geeking out about it! It is in the Haitian Read-A-Thon’s plans to come back and this will be one of the books that will be featured! There is an IG page for The Haitian Read-A-Thon that you can go follow, here is the link! We’ll be back at it for Haitian Heritage Month in May!

Well My peoples, I’m going to end it here and offer you òne ak respè! I’m wishing you all Happy Reading and as usual I’m sending Bookish love your way! Feel free to find and follow me on all of the social medias: Instagram @bookishgirlmagic, Twitter @bookishgrlmagic and Clubhouse @bookishgrlmagic, especially on Tuesdays for the Pub Day: YA Edition room under the Diverse Shelves club for more bookish banter! BYEEEEEEE!