We start with Cole's POV who is recently divorced and bitter and decides to move from London out to the middle of nowhere to start over in a more subdued setting. He comes across a nearby neighbor Leonora who also recently moved for similar reasons. As they forge a relationship/friendship we hear Coles sob story about his ex and how he can't figure what went wrong being how he is such a "nice guy". From there we start to get snippets from his ex's point of view. Is he really the nice guy he thinks he is?

This one bit off some big themes related to the "me too" movement and the whole men vs woman gender and equity and sexual violence etc. There's a lot to digest and discuss. This one kept me interested and I appreciate some of the themes she worked throughout but it was a bit heavy handed, a little choppy, and had me disliking all the characters in a negative way which prevented this from getting a 4 star but I would consider this one of the better domestic thrillers i've read recently.

When I saw Gillian Flynn endorsed this book and was published under her new imprint I knew it was going to be good.

Don’t go into this one expecting thrills, think more how Ashley Audrain psychologically explores motherhood, but instead Hall is exploring what it means to be a woman amongst men.

This story took some time for me, the structure is nuanced, we first get Cole’s perspective a man for all intensive purposes seams to be a good guy. We see his side of things first. From here we flip to Mel, Cole’s estranged wife, and then we conclude with various structures of media and performative style think pieces.

I think going into this book knowing less but expecting something original is key. Never has a book provoked so much thought, it even breaks down original thinking and comes at many angles of understanding, it’s a book that is meant to break the mold on our own preconceived notions regarding women and men and how we hold each to different standards.

One of the Good Guys is full of unlikeable characters and an ending that left me a bit salty but I say this in all honesty, this was absolutely the point Hall was making and it’s rather brilliant.

I have no doubts this will become a very buzzy book, maybe even a celebrity book club pick, I highly recommend it for group discussions the social commentary on women and violence alone will provoke stories and opinions that will linger long after.

This book is a hard one to review. I had to wait to review it and sort of digest it. The first 30% seems to be one type of book and then it changes and it's a total different book. I realize the author was trying to write about women's rights and how men are perceived as stronger and in charge in this world. The sections with the online comments were interesting if not a bit much but it really shows how people think differently. After thinking about this one, I still don't really know how I feel about it. It's definitely worth a read if you like a good twisty story!

This one was interesting - it didn't quite go where I expected it to, but in this case I don't think that's a bad thing.

I happily requested an ARC of One of the Good Guys after receiving a promotional email from Gillian Flynn Books. I was intrigued by both the description and publishing house. Overall, I was so impressed with Araminta Hall's writing. I loved the setting, loved the characters, and loved the plot. I truly could not put One of the Good Guys down and am waiting anxiously for Araminta's next book already!

Clever and thought provoking! Cole is going through a painful break up of his marriage to Mel and decides to move to a cabin by the sea and work as a ranger. He becomes friends with his neighbor Leonora, an artist. But when two young women, out walking to raise awareness of men’s violence against women, go missing after a night of camping in the area, Cole and Lennie find themselves in the middle of a social media storm. From the very beginning, in spite of Cole considering himself “one of the good guys”, there is a feeling of something quite wrong. I stayed invested because I needed to know if Cole was not what he presented or if Mel was the evil doer. And what is the deal with Leonora? This author found a clever way to unravel and reveal all the fears we, as women, face living in a world with men. Ultimately, this is a social commentary wrapped up in a thriller and it was brave and smart. Thank you Netgalley, Zando, and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on January 9, 2024

Men believe most men are good so why are women still afraid to walk home alone at night?

Newly separated from his wife, Cole has left London for a fresh start as a wildlife ranger. There he meets Leonora who seems so much different from his wife. Cole pours out his feelings about his troubled marriage and mental health. Two young women activists disappear and Cole and Leonora are caught up in an investigation. How well do they really know each other?

There are multiple perspectives but not until we first get a good chunk of story from one. The first narrator is the definition of unreliable. When we switch narrators we get the other side of things we were already told. About halfway through the book pulls a switch on us in how the story is being told. It's hard to explain without giving spoilers but it fits perfectly with the theme of the book.

Speaking of themes, there is a lot to talk about with One Of The Good Guys. It brings up an important topic. Readers may feel differently about some things. I love the idea of people seeing the same situations and events differently based on what kind of person they are. Who is good though? All of that was very interesting to me.

One Of The Good Guys isn't a typical thriller. You'll probably be able to see what's going to happen. There is one outcome that may be a surprise. No matter what though it keeps you reading.

3.75 stars

One of the Good Guys is a battle cry,; women raising their voices, challenging the norm, changing the narrative and attacking misogyny and violence against women. A thought provoking and compelling read.

This was a very thought-provoking book, and wasn't what I expected. Billed as a thriller, I didn't really feel it was a 'whodunit' once I finished it. It was more of a statement on gender norms, violence towards women, and the confusion many feel in the modern world.

We start with Cole, who has recently moved to the south coast of England from London, after he split up with his wife, Mel. Cole gets a job as a wildlife ranger and meets artist Leanora and they develop a friendship. Cole is a self-confessed 'good guy' and we get his point of view on his failed marriage and his desire for children. But something feels a little off...

At the same time, two young women are walking along the south coast, raising awareness of violence towards women. They pitch their tent near Cole's house, and get into an argument with him when he tells them to be careful at the edge of the crumbling cliffs. The following day, their tent is empty, and they are nowhere to be found. Cole becomes a suspect in their disappearance.

We get a second POV from Mel, and at that point we see a very different Cole. Passive aggressive, controlling, struggling with relationships with women and suspected of the rape of a former girlfriend.

The structure of the book is very different at that point, as we get the story through press releases and social media posts, and interviews with Mel. We hear from Leonora and get her perspective.

All in all, this was a very different book than I initially thought it would be. It highlighted the way men and women see the world so differently, and exposed the fears that many women have.

Cole is staying in the countryside as he starts fresh after a failed marriage. He meets a reclusive artist next door and immediately likes her. Meanwhile, two women’s rights activists have gone missing while passing through their area. Cole and Leonora are pulled into the investigation.

This was an entirely unexpected read that caught me into it immediately. I loved how the book transitioned from his perspective to hers, and then multiple. The first transaction was quite shocking and I began to understand the underlying components of the story. I really enjoyed this one and found it very unique and important.

“But the truth is, men who want to protect women should never be trusted because we only feel the impulse to protect the things we think of as weaker than ourselves.”

One of the Good Guys comes out 1/9.

A solid feminist mystery that picks up intensity as the pages turn.
Cole, the separated husband from Mel comes across as the perfect man. How can you fault a guy who's only desire it to love his wife and have children with her. His behaviors seem to mirror the stereotypical actions of a female. It took pages and pages before I realized his insidious manipulations of both his marriage and his separations. Wow, is that how it's done in real life? You never see it happening until you're buried under someone else's wants and needs?
All the aforementioned weaves in and out of the disappearance of two young females out on a walk across England in hopes of raising awareness of the abuse of women. Told in a variety of formats, video, texts, emails, newscasts and regular prose, it is easy to be caught up with the horror of missing women as much as the disgusting thoughts that are posted about the same women. References to social media are very on trend.
One of the Good Guys has a lot going on but is beautifully brought together to make total sense at the end. It is also a great book for conversations.
This is my first book from the newish Gillian Flynn Books publisher.

Thank you Zando, a Gillian Flynn Books for providing an early e-copy via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Zando, Gillian Flynn Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

This book surprised me, like others I will find this review tough as I do not want to spoil anything!
I feel that the book turned into not being at all what I thought I was reading. I really enjoyed this but it did take me by surprise.

The book will definitely make you think and keep you reading. It made me question a lot of my past relationships and really makes you see how different people think and try to justify what they do.

"If most men claim to be good, why are so many women afraid to walk home alone at night?"

The basis of this story revolves around 'one of the good guys' Cole and his soon-to-be ex-wife Melanie. When Cole moves to the countryside, he ends up meeting an artist named Leonora and things just keep building from there. We get a handful of different viewpoints with time jumps, as well as some mixed media towards the end of the book and I like the way this helped the entire story unfold.

I still don’t completely know how I feel about this book, weeks after finishing it. I was excited for another book by this author but this one seemed so different from her others.

I loved this book!!! I didn't know what to expect going in and this blew my expectations out of the water. This novel was so twisty-turny but also incredibly logical. Sometimes I feel thrillers just throw in twists for the shock value, and I didn't see that at all in this novel. I think as a female in my 20's I'm terrified of the "good guys" and this book really made me question everything. Overall, this was a great novel.

This was a difficult book to finish. The subject matter isn’t something usually discussed so openly, which it what led me to read this to start with. However, it felt like the perspectives shifted so much and so many thing were covered that it was all a little difficult to get through. I wasn’t a fan of the writing style, either.

I think a lot of people will enjoy this book, but it just wasn’t for me.

Cole has separated from his wife Mel and decides to leave the hustle and bustle of London to start new in the country. As he's settling into his new life and job as a wildlife ranger he connects with Leonora who is renting a cottage near his and they start exploring the possibility of a relationship.

But then, two young women activists go missing on the cliffs near Cole and Leonora's home. The police are quickly involves, especially since the women were on a walk to raise awareness about gendered violence. As both Leonora and Cole talk more with the police, layers from both their past start to come to light along with more and more questions.

This was a thought provoking book for me that told the story in what I felt was a unique and compelling way. Thank you to NetGally and Gillian Flynn Books for providing me an advance copy of the ebook.

Following some difficult times dealing with infertility and IVF disappointments, Cole and Mel are divorcing. She continues to live in London running a very lucrative PR business. Cole escapes to the seaside where he works as a wildlife ranger and meets Leonora, a reclusive artist. When two young women who were walking the coastline to raise awareness of violence against women disappear, all of them are caught up in a downward spiral.

Oh, but there is so much more to this tale.

I have mixed feelings about this book. It took me til the halfway point to begin to engage with the story. The plot unfolds and twists are revealed with different POVs and alternating timelines that include interviews, transcripts, social media posts. There are important topics here: misogyny, violence against women, the power imbalance in relationships, the entitlement of straight white men, what really constitutes permission, and all the fears women have always had to face and continue to face in society.

I don’t usually quote directly from ARCs because narratives can change, but there are some wonderful lines. Two that particularly resonated with me: “and since they can’t burn us [women] as witches anymore, they have to legislate against us” and “The Virgin Mary set an impossible and biologically ridiculous standard that’s been hanging over women ever since.”

The writing style may not be for everyone; it is a bit unusual and the characters and their actions will be off putting to many, but One of the Good Guys gives readers much to think about.

One of the Good Guys by Araminta Hall is a very thought-provoking and engrossing thriller.
Hall has brought a cleverly plotted and compelling story.
I enjoyed reading this book. Even though at times it was very hard to get through.
The writing was very well done and I found the characters to be intriguing and so interesting.
This story was an engrossing and thought-provoking mystery that keeps readers on the edge of their seats from start to finish.
My first time reading a book by Hall and it will not be my last.

Thank You NetGalley and Gillian Flynn Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

"Two young women vanish in a seaside town. At the cliff's edge, nobody is who they seem.

Desperate to escape the ghosts of his failed marriage, Cole upends his life. He leaves London behind for a remote stretch of coast, relishing the respite from the noise, drama, and relentless careerism that curdled his relationship and mental health. Leonora has made the same move for similar reasons. She's living a short walk from Cole's seaside cottage, preparing for her latest art exhibition. Though Cole still can't figure out what went wrong with his marriage, and Leonora is having trouble acclimating to the hostile landscape, the pair forges a connection on the eroding bluff they call home.

Then, two young women activists raising awareness about gendered violence disappear while passing through. Cole and Leonora find themselves in the middle of a police investigation and the resulting media firestorm when the world learns of what happened. And as the tension escalates alongside the search for the missing women, they quickly realize that they don't know each other that well after all.

From the critically acclaimed author of Our Kind of Cruelty and Imperfect Women, comes an urgent psychological thriller about gender, power, and how both are captured in our contemporary media environment. Unexpected and twisty from its first page to its last, One of the Good Guys asks: If most men claim to be good, why are most women still afraid to walk home alone at night?"

For all those women afraid to walk home alone at night.

One of the Good Guys had me hooked from start to finish! Based on the plot description, I assumed this would be like most psychological thrillers in which two women go missing and the secrets of the main characters are revealed as we approach a resolution to the conflict, but this book's focus lies heavily on the gender/media side of things. I didn't think this novel's discussion of those topics was revolutionary and the inclusion of Twitter threads, articles, group chats, etc. felt very heavy handed. The novel is also broken into three parts: Part one sets the scene on a remote coast in England (one of my favorite settings!) and follows Cole's perspective. Without giving away the rest of the story, I think part two was my favorite, as we learn more about Cole's past behavior from another character. The third and final part goes on too long in my opinion, as the aforementioned media posts become very repetitive, but I still enjoyed the ending and the ride this book took me on. 3.75/5

*Thanks to NetGalley and Zando Books for exchanging an e-ARC of this book for an unbiased review!