I read "One of the Good Guys" almost in one stretch, it was that hard to put down! The book is a clever page-turner that explores everyday prejudice against women, specifically male violence towards them from micro aggressions, sexist jokes and harmful stereotypes to rape and domestic abuse.

One can sense from the beginning that something is off, but it is done in such a masterful, subtle way that it creates incredible suspense. The story has a few changes in voice, point of view, and style, with twists that keep the story interesting..

This is a thought-provoking book with compelling insights into gender injustice. It is a must-read for anyone interested in gender equality and the fight against sexism and misogyny–or for anyone looking for a riveting read.

This book was about Cole. He was married to Mel for 7 years. The thing that was most important to him was to have a baby. They tried unsuccessfully and eventually resorted to IVF. They tried twice and failed. Mel was a professional woman owning her own business and it was thought that the stress of that business was supposedly keeping her from carrying a child. She went in for the third injection but didn't complete the procedure. She became disillusioned with her marriage and left.

Cole decided to move away to an isolated cabin and became a park ranger. That's where he met Lennie B. She was an artist and was also living in isolation, not far from Cole.

This book is all about a scheme put together by two women, Lennie B. and Mel, in order to implicate Cole. Their plan was devious. They even tried to get him arrested for the disappearance of two women who turned out to be safe and sound.

The last one third or so of the book was nothing more than newscasts and tweets. I didn't enjoy that portion at all. This will not get my recommendation. I gave it one star.

Although I am still not entirely sure how I feel about One of the Good Guys by Araminta Hall, there is no doubt that it stirred up a ton of emotions in me. 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 loved the way this helped the entire story unfold. A lot of reviewers seemed to have known where this book was headed, but I am not kidding when I say everything shocked me.

It is difficult to review One of the Good Guys without any spoilers, and I honestly don't even know how I would compare it with Hall's previous novels as it has been a minute since I read one. I would think that if you were a fan of her writing, you would like this book regardless, but it also deals with some very (to some) controversial topics. I definitely get what she was trying to do here, but I have to agree with the other readers who said it was a bit of overkill. The very end was extremely moving, and I know without a doubt this would make an incredible discussion book for a book club or buddy read. There is a mystery in here, but there are also some literary fiction vibes, and I would definitely check triggers before reading.

After his wife, Mel, walked out of him, Cole moved to a tiny little town out of London, rent a small cottage and work as a ranger. It's kind of a start-over for him. Mel is a workaholic who doesn't seem having a same point of view about where their marriage should be heading, hence the separation.
Cole meets Leonora - who's also a new residence and they start spending time together

Two young girls who are doing the Walk for Women as part of protesting against violence to women, will be in town for their stop. However, both of them gone missing after a night and unfortunately Cole was the one seen them after an "argument".

This book will be great for a book club as I think I'll trigger a heated discussion.
It brings up an issue of male violence against women, but at some stage, it made me thinking further about women violence against men too.
It brings up about gender stereotype issue and how social media handles the news.
It's definitely very thought provoking and ...
Which side you'll be on? Cole? Or all those women?

Review Copy

I was pretty jacked to finally get going on ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS. It sounded like a book I could really get into. But while I like a long, slow burn type read that I could sink into, this just confused me. I didn't know who was who or what was what and the burn just fizzled out. While I was trying to figure out what was happening, I thought about what I could be reading. I'm sorry. Was I the only on one? Looks like not. I think it was the writing that got me, but that's personal. So I say check it out. It's from Gillian Flynn books and just probably is for you.

So grateful to get to read this book before the release date in January, thank you to the publisher! This book was a ride and a half. It started off with this nice guy after a break up trying to move on with his life and then switched to the ex-wife were you find out their actual history and omg I was shook! This book is loaded with the subject feminism, its very heavy. I loved the multi-media side to this book too. The book flips backwards and forwards between men and woman's views on bits of feminism epically when it came to the girls walking for charity and when it came to Cole. I strongly agree with being a woman and being scared to go out at night in the dark as you never know who's out there but also I know that not every man will want to hurt me so its a great subject for a book and a debate.

Araminta Hall's ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS is an interesting, thought-provoking slow burn of a thriller. It's rare that a thriller can be so thought-provoking, so I definitely call this novel a win!

This book is divided into three sections: 1) Cole, 2) his soon-to-be ex wife Melanie, and 3) a mixture of Leonora and social media/journalistic pieces.

Cole is in the process of getting divorced from Melanie. Cole has *interesting* self-talk about being such an upstanding man, such as being willing to take care of any children he and Melanie have (they were going through IVF and there are fertilized embryos at stake). After he and Melanie broke up, he moved to a rural area and became a park ranger and befriends his neighbor Leonora. Around this same time, two young feminist women go missing while on a march to end violence against women.

This novel has a unique premise, and as the reader the story line reveals itself very naturally. I'm not one to accurately guess how a book will reveal itself, but even for me this novel allowed me to easily stay a step ahead.

As a woman, I know "one of the good guys." I dated him in high school. You probably know at least one of these as well. The author captured him perfectly.

This novel has several themes, which I won't spoil for you. My only caution is that by the time you finish this book, you are hit in the head with the themes so many times that you may feel pummeled by them. Perhaps some subtlety could have added more texture and nuance to the narrative.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gillian Flynn Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. (I think we have all wondered what Gillian Flynn has been up to, and I'm excited to see that she now has her own imprint!)

Thank you netgalley for this arc!

Ah, I wanted to love this more than I did, for those who love Joe Goldberg, this is your book. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s just not great.

It was readable and a good read but is it one I’ll remember in a month probably not . It’s a good quick no brainer read worth your time

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.