This book was awesome! I tore through it and was up way too late reading it, I loved the different formats and points of view. Definitely recommended.

★ ★ ★ ★ //5

One Of The Good Guys
by: Araminta Hall

THOUGHTS:

I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for giving me the opportunity to read this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s a thriller that was hard focused on how men treat women. This read was not like any other book I’ve read. We have multiple POV and a big chunk of it is from Cole who is newly separated from his wife Mel and then we get to hear from Leonora who is the woman he meets after his divorce when he moves away. Two women’s rights activists go missing and everybody is under the magnifying glass and that’s when the adventure begins. There are quite a few twists and turns throughout this book and we do a lot of back and forth in here. There are a handful of TW’s in this book so please read the TW’s before reading this. I will love recommending this book to my book friends who love a good thriller!!!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy!

The first maybe 45% of this book was almost unbearable. I don't mean this in a bad way--I didn't struggle to read it at all, and instead plowed through it like it was my job. Cole's narration was so difficult to stomach that I felt like I was being gaslit by him personally.

The route this book takes was so interesting and almost meta. I don't want to say a ton because I think this one is better read than explained, but it made plenty of points that I'm sure you've heard over and over again if you're a woman or someone who society perceives as one. The points are always worth repeating, considering nobody ever really listens to them in the first place.

I liked this one. It felt different from other societal/gender-focused thrillers, maybe because of the formatting and tone of it, but I'd recommend checking it out for sure. 3.5/5, rounded up!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. I really enjoyed this thriller. I probably read too many thrillers and I don’t remember reading one quite like this, which was refreshing. I especially enjoyed the first two parts where you got the marriage story from Cole’s and then Mel’s perspectives. I wish part three was a bit more like that and a little less of the social media and news items. Overall, I really enjoyed this one and would recommend it!

Two people arrive in the same remote town to lead a quiet life. And then two young women go missing.

Cole needed a reboot in his life. His marriage fell apart, he was unhappy living in London anyway, so taking a job that came with a cottage in a small seaside town seemed like the perfect situation for him as he tries to recover from his emotional wounds. He meets Leonora, a woman who is also dealing with disruptions in her life and has sought refuge in a neighboring cottage. They become friends over time (and might be headed for more in their relationship) until the night that two young women, hiking through the area as they raise money for and awareness of women affected by violence, go missing. The media scents a scandal, and soon they and the police are looking at both Cole’s and Leonora’s past. It seems that both have some secrets in their pasts that might just make one of them a suspect in the disappearance of the two hikers. Are Cole and Leonora who they seem to be, who they have told one another they are? A gentle, caring man who has been disappointed in love and a single mom wrestling with her daughter’s burgeoning independence? When people tell you who they are, can you believe them?
This novel is a twisty thriller indeed. The story starts with Cole narrating, and the reader gets to know who he is, what has happened in his life, and how he came to live in his seaside cottage….and must decide if he is in fact a reliable narrator. Later we hear from Leonora, from Cole’s soon-to=be-ex-wife Mel, and from different members of the media and people posting on social media, all of whom come to have an opinion of what happened to the missing hikers, how Cole and./or Leonora might have figured into the disappearances, and engage in a whole lot of discussion over men, women, and the struggles to have relationships that are balanced. Do men still have too much power over women? Why is it that women accept that they must always be alert to danger? It becomes apparent that Cole and Mel’s relationship came apart under pressure, but it started out so well (or did it?). The answers to many of the Big Questions posed in the novel are neither easy nor clear cut in real life, nor are they here, but they are certainly worthy of discussion. The resolution of the central mystery of the novel may well give you a bit of whiplash, but its a conundrum that will keep your mind engaged till the end. The characters are far from cookie cutter, and are in continual evolution throughout the novel as facts and perspectives unfold. Fans of Gillian Flynn (under whose imprint this book is being published), Megan Abbott and Alice Feeney should definitely add this book to the top of the pier TBR pile. I couldn’t put it down once I started, and fell for a red herring or two along the way. Many thanks to NetGalley and Zando/Gillian Flynn Books for allowing me access to an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to like this book. Given the social issues and timeliness of the topics, I thought I would be hooked, but I had a very hard time getting into the characters and the story. In general, I didn't like any of them. However, something definitely feels appreciably "wrong" from the beginning- which was the point. Some people will definitely love the twists and turns in the plot- I just wasn't one of them.

Fairly predictable and quick. It was a breezy book that had an interesting twist and good for a Sunday afternoon escape. Thanks

The truth of the matter is that I don't even know how to begin to review this book.
I guess first of all I should tell you that I loved it.
From the very first moment I was hooked.
This is a story told in 3 separate parts and each part had me enthralled. First we hear from Cole, a man who thinks that he's the right kind of man. He's compassionate, a feminist, kind; everything you'd hope for in a man. He has left the city for a more simple life on the country side.
From there...so many things happen, things I will be thinking about for years to come.
For a more in depth, and properly put together review please check out my spoiler free youtube revihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y1z-mCImFMew here:

Araminta Hall's One of the Good Guys is an incisive meditation on the "Good for Her" media that dominated film, TV, and lit; it's no wonder it is appearing in Gillian Flynn's imprint.

Like Midsommar, the first section works to lull readers into an uneasy complacency. The rest blends narrative forms to contextualize events through multiple critical lenses. Shifting from social media to podcast transcripts to public statements, there is a sensationalized "true crime" veneer over characters' actions and motives. The questions of who is right and who is wrong fades, and the more pressing question of how rightness and wrongness appear in our current media landscape is brought front and center.

Hall confronts social and political debates that are currently raging across social media and 24-hour news pundits and your weird uncle's facebook page. I found myself frustrated at many of the characters' lack of nuance when expressing their positions, but that only speaks to Hall's ability to capture reality. At times it can be a bit heavy-handed, but again, that's likely part of the point.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Ughhh!!! This book was a little too realistic! Definitely alongside the thrilling speed and challenging topics of Gillian Flynn. A dark and timely book that sadly all women should read. Hits home HARD. The author did a good job of character development and plot pace. A difficult but important read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy.

I enjoyed this more than I originally thought. I look forward to reading more from this author.

This book starts off from Cole's perspective. Cole is a kind and caring man whose marriage fails after they struggle to conceive. His wife is the breadwinner and he had promised to be the main caregiver for their child. He comes home one day to find Mel gone and she grows increasingly angry at his reluctance to sign the divorce papers. Mel seems unreasonable in her attitude and she's causing a lot of hurt to Cole. He relocates with the idea that he's going to have a fresh start. He meets someone near his new home and embarks on a relationship with her. A pair of young women then go missing from the area and some unwanted attention comes from the police. As the perspective in the narrative shifts, we see that Cole might not be the nice guy we're led (by him) to believe... This book is a really fascinating and twisty read. I found it really gripping and finished it in under a day. It's definitely not the book you expect!

One of the Good Guys starts with an interesting premise. If most men claim to be good, why are so many women afraid to walk home alone at night? Cole has recently separated from his wife and has moved to a remote seaside where he is now a wildlife ranger. He meets and befriends Leonora, “Lennie”, an artist who is living nearby along the cliff. The first part of the story is told from his POV and he comes across as a meek, nice guy. But then, why does his wife make some of those comments?
Hall takes her time setting up the premise of the story. She lets the reader spend a lot of time with Cole in the first part. In the second part, we hear from his wife, Mel. And suddenly, Cole doesn’t seem quite so meek but much more passive aggressive and just off. We also hear from Lennie. And, as the story progresses, the one thing that becomes apparent is that none of these folks are good people.
There are some interesting psychological issues raised - the desire (or not) for a family, the need for someone who provides what a parent did not, gender stereotypes. But it also deals with how social media handles the news, the willingness of folks to condemn others without a full set of facts. It’s all about who one believes when there’s no proof either way.
The mystery part of the equation involves two young women who are walking to raise awareness about violence against women. On New Year’s Eve, while camping nearby, they go missing.
It’s a complicated story, bouncing back and forth in time and changing perspectives. This is one of those books that starts slow but gradually draws you in. Before I knew it, I was hooked and couldn’t put it down. But it’s also a book that will have me thinking about the issues raised for a while.
My thanks to Netgalley and Gillian Flynn Books for an advance copy of this book.

What an amazing read! The main character is revealed a page at a time through different points of view…like an onion being peeled a layer at a time. The plot is fast moving with many twists which keep it lively. There is also an important message concerning perceptions and acceptance in the treatment of men and women in society, This book is entertaining and thought provoking. I’ve never read anything like it.

Interesting premise for a story that just didn't quite make it for me. At first, I was really intrigued as to whether Cole and Mel, the two central characters, might have their happy-ever-after. The story evolved into something entirely different toward the end; an end that is surprising, and for me not satisfying.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC! Unfortunately, this story didn’t work for me. I thought it would be a gripping social commentary about conversations were all having all the time these days — conversations about gender and equity and sexual violence, etc. I got a tiny bit of that, but overall the story just seems to fall flat . . . with occasional bits of suspense or intriguing conversation, the sometimes successful take on elements of social media and hive-mind tendencies. I just feel this book could’ve done more, been more. However, this isn’t my last book from the author. I can’t wait to try her others.

Smart. Thought-provoking. Incredible. Not sure what else to say. This was so good! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It is not often that I have absolutely NO clue where a book is going to go...but this one kept me on my toes the entire time! I loved how the author make each narrator seem so reliable, that you could easily believe their POV. Each twist and turn was handled with precision and enough surprises to keep the story from falling into a predictable pattern.

A real page-turner with twists that I couldn’t see coming, One of the Good Guys is a thought-provoking novel that examines how women feel and what they experience on a daily basis, and the range of reactions this evokes from men. Hall explored several points of view that were often unlikeable, but exposed important parts of the story or allowed the audience some insight into the minds of characters we would otherwise have ignored. The different writing styles were compelling in their own ways and the plot was engaging throughout - from around the 30% mark, it was difficult to put the book down as I was keen to find out more about what was truly going on.

this book is not what i expected and unfortunately it wasn't for me.

i'm all about feminism and standing up for women's rights but i also think there's a better way of going about it that was opposite of what was portrayed in this book.

outside of the message, i found it to be very repetitive and it dragged in a lot of places. i was disappointed w/ the ending. what i thought was going to be a thriller ended up being a very political, drawn-out, underwhelming story.

with that being said, thank you so much for the early copy! even though this book wasn't for me i could see the appeal for some!

2.5/5