This book started out slow and what seemed like two people who meet that were previously in dysfunctional relationships. the more you read the more it turns into something else that you don't see coming. Definitely an interesting and thought provoking read that can be slightly triggering as far as the way men treat women.
Thank you to Netgalley, Zando, Gillian Flynn Books and the Author, Araminta Hall for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Two female activists disappear, the suspect is the male protagonist who claims he’s “one of the good guys”.
This was a powerful book, about gender, misogyny and power. It was compelling and fast paced.
I loved the twisty ending too.

What a cleverly written book! Absolutely ingenious! I went in blind, as I usually do, so I had no idea what to expect but it sure wasn't that!
I found this book a nice slow burn with just the right amount of information being fed to the reader to keep them engaged throughout. I think this one would be excellent for a book club read as there are so many things up for discussion. Quite frankly, I would suggest book club would go way past midnight after reading this one!

I will definitely be reading the author's other books now. What a beauty!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Zando Publishing for and eARC of this book. It is out now!

If you want to go on a wild and twisty ride, then this book is for you! Full of unexpected twists and surprising events, I couldn't put it down!

One of the Good Guys by Araminta Hall is definitely the kind of book you need to go into blind. It’s thought-provoking, it’s ambitious (and delivers!), and painfully real.

This book was everything I wanted it to be, I had high expectations and they were definitely met. One thing I would’ve changed is the second part of the book having some less media excerpts and more from Lennie. It pulled me out of the story a little at times.

Araminta Hall holds a mirror up to the “not all men” movement and reflects back to them the sad and ugly truth. It will be shocking to some, but sadly all too real for most of us.

4.5 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and GillianFlynnBooks!

I read about 10% and just couldn't get into. The MMC was especially.... whiny? He just seemed like a wet blanket and it was taking too long for anything to happen.

[TW: Language, sexual assault, infertility, toxic relationships, abusive relationship, divorce, miscarriages, animal death (rabbit skinned/gutted), death of parent, gaslighting, misogynistic behavior, use of c-word, domestic abuse, violence, grooming, abusive mother, child sexual abuse]

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book: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. Although 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 female activists raising awareness about gendered violence disappear while passing through. Cole and Leonora suddenly 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.
Release Date: January 9th, 2024
Genre: Domestic Thriller
Pages: 304
Rating: ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Loved the author's writing style
2. Characters were well developed
3. Shirt chapters
4. Fast read
5. The cover

What I Didn't Like:
1. The ending
2. Part 3 tone

Overall Thoughts:
When I first started reading this book I kept thinking that Cole killed his wife. I kept thinking that he really killed her but kept pretending in his mind she was alive. But then he didn't.

This story is wild. There were so many times when he was saying that Mel was abusing him when she was talking to him and asking him for reasonable things. She wanted him to sign papers to sell the house and wanted to have the embryos destroyed. Very understanding. He continues to act as though he is the victim to her.

Mel is your typical women. She always talks herself down when she isn't being polite to her husband or someone . She doesn't really want kids but then changes her mind. She continues to tell herself to calm down so not to make a scene.

Cole gets her her favorite squash pasta and she doesn't even like that one but the mushroom one instead.

Honestly I tried to read this book less from a female prospective (I am a woman) and more from a human perspective. When Mel works so much it does suck. Cole wants a family that Mel has agreed to have with him but she is always at work. It's hard to maintain a relationship with someone that doesn't listen to you. So in that aspect it's understandable that Cole would be upset because even if roles were reversed and Cole was the one working so much he couldnt be bothered to sit with Mel after a treatment, people would be pissed at that. What makes me mad is the gaslighting that Cole puts into the passive aggressive comments he aims toward Mel. The whole and only focus on having a kid is creepy.

Mel and Cole are complete opposites. Mel really doesn't want kids and is more focused on having her business succeed. There is a stigma that is put on women that don't want kids but want a life that is about themselves. People label them as selfish and none caring.

Cole wants kids and he wants his wife and child to live off the land with no connection to work. He wants to isolate his wife and children to almost control them to what he believes and away from society.

Cole hates it when Mel cries but he has no problem with crying. What a master manipulater. Always trying to control her feelings.

We learn that Cole can only have sex with Mel if he is pretending to sexually assault while dressed in black clothing and "breaking" into the house.

God this book has such good commentary. Mel finally leaves Cole but then when she thinks about why Cole is the way he is she concludes that it must all be his mother's fault for the way he is. Speaks volumes about what Mel said earlier that society always blame women for what men do. We are just a society of people saying it's the woman's fault.

Men like Cole believe they’re right because society has told them that they are their whole lives. And, as a result, they find it difficult to be told "no."

Yesssssssssss!

"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."

I don't agree with that at all. You can be protective of people but not think of them as weaker. I'm protective of my family but I don't think they are below me - I just love them and hate anyone who hurts them.

Towards the end of the book it becomes this mixed media format that I just did not care for. Because the whole part of the book in the beginning was actual story and then we jump into how media dictates to how things are. I just feel like it was very jumbled when it got to that point. Also it just keeps repeating the details we already read and know about.

The moment that Leonora mentions that her next art piece needed Mel I figured they were going to hide the girls. Then when Leonora is the one that finds the tent it sealed it in what she was doing it.

Leonora making tons of money on her show of exploiting domestic abused women pretty ties up how much sense this book ended up meaning.

Final Thoughts:
I was enjoying this book immensely so much so that I finished it in a day (in 6 hours). The story was fascinating. The writing was fantastic. The characters were interesting. Then we got to part three and all I felt about the book quickly took a nosedive. I get having an idea for a book but lately it feels as though authors are adding so many want to be twists to amount to little in their stories.

This book uses mixed media to almost blind you and disorient you from a predictable and mediocre ending.

A lot of this book is just the same details and actions of our characters from different perspectives, which makes the story come off dull and boring. Hearing the news and social media reports repeating the same facts about the case wore on my nerves. It all comes off pointless because they give us zero information to advance the plot other than to showcase how judgemental and horrible people can be. I feel like some of it could have really added to the story but there was just too much of it to make the story better. Endless recounts just dragged this story down making me want to skim some parts.

The revival was just not good. I'm not sure how girls disappearing and then them being found alive had much meaning. How would them lying about what happened to them give the cause to women being believed give women any credibility? It wouldn't. It would prove to all the misogynistic men that women are trash. To the people worried about them they would lose faith in them for lying.

I also wish that this book could have also focused on males that are also sexually assaulted because this story makes out that all males are dangerous. That no men can be a victim to abuse either. 1 in 4 men have experienced rape and physical violence.

IG | Blog

Thanks to Netgalley and Gillian Flynn Books for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I went into this one not really knowing what to expect and ended up really enjoying it. It does start off a bit slow, I thought but becomes quite engaging. I did not really connect with any of the characters but that didn't really bother like it normally would, as it seemed to fit along with the storyline. I don't want to ruin anything for anyone, so just give it a chance. It gets more fast-paced as things start happening and I will just leave it at that!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Araminta Hall and Zando, Gillian Flynn Books for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I will post my review to Amazon, Instagram and other retail and social media sites upon publication.

I had to sit with One of the Good Guys before I could rate or review it. How the book started, I thought it was going to be a meh one for me. Then it all changed. For some reason I didn’t see it coming and how things ended up going honestly shook me a little bit. I was left with a lot to think about after this one!

Not my favorite book , that’s for sure. The book started really well and it held up throughout. I loved all the different parts to the book and the changes in narrative., however there was a lot more I didn’t like. Lots of triggers. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

a compelling and confronting social commentary on power, violence, male privilege and media’s role in perpetuating these inequities.

recently single, oblivious as to why, self proclaimed ‘nice guy’ cole has recently moved to seaside england to live out his humble little life dreams that his ambitious ex-partner deprived him of. as the earlier recount of the downfall of their relationship is told from cole’s perspective, the red flags i’m sure may to some present as a soft pink, but as the book continues and other perspectives are introduced, and other female relationships in his life explored, they shine high and bright.

unfortunately for cole, his peaceful countryside dreams are shattered when two young women, walking to raise awareness for violence against women, go missing. as one of the last people to see them before their disappearance, the interaction not one he feels particularly proud of, the internal and external revelations about cole this brings, are uncomfortable, but as a woman, sadly not entirely shocking or surprising.

while coles actions are morally apprehensible, the book is not simply a platform for male slander as one may suspect with cynicism, as the women in the story can also be held to the same account. however, as the story of the two missing women is told through a stream of differing media outlets coverage, ‘one of the good guys’ showcases the reality of inequity with which men and women are represented and perceived as both victim and perpetrator. with each character committing acts of questionable morality, evident is the different reactions males and females face at the breaking of moral code. mirroring reality, society are more willing to implicate women for a misuse of power or deceit, that men for perpetrating physical violence.

with ‘one of the good guys’, araminta hall has undoubtedly crafted a bookclub-worthy, clever and unique psychological thriller, with many conversational points on pressing issues of universal significance.

a spoiler free list of cole’s red flags:
- sees women in relation to himself, rather than their own person
- speaks poorly about past romantic partners and other women
- love bomber
- refuses to see a psychologist
- wants women to think he is ‘one of the nice guys’, as opposed to actually wanting their safety and wellbeing

While I appreciate the message conveyed in the book, I feel that the presentation could have been better. Additionally, I didn't like any of the characters, which affected my overall enjoyment. However, I think the book would be a good choice for those interested in feminist literature.

One of the Good Guys by Araminta Hall had me stumped. After I finished it, I just didn't know how to feel. I wanted to enjoy this more because it starts off really good. The premise was good but i struggled to finish. I was expecting gripping social commentary but this book fell short for me. I didn't connect with any of the characters. #netgalley #oneofthegoodguys

I really enjoyed this! It's unique and I think it's clever. The twists are really great and it moves at a quick pace. I would recommend this! Special Thank You to Araminta Hall, Zando and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a wild ride. I’m honestly not sure what I can say without giving anything away-and trust me, you don’t want the surprises ruined. The beginning was a little sluggish and sometimes irritating, but that is the point, so just push through, because it’s worth it. The one plot point I can say is a man and a woman meet when they both move to the countryside. Now go read it!

Absolutely gripping, I sped through it so quickly. Kept me guessing all the way through. Really well paced and great tension

This book is not an enjoyable read. That's not to say it isn't well-written because it definitely. It's uncomfortable because it hits a little too close to home on every level.

I did not like Cole, though we aren't really supposed to. I also did not like Lennie and Molly and Phoebe and Mel, all for their own reasons. While I understood why Lennie was doing what she did, I'm not sure she went about it in the best way. Was it realistic? Absolutely, in every respect, honestly. Did it further the conversation, even in the book? No, I don't think it did. By the end of the story, we have one man who is speaking up about what women go through and how we need to start listening to women. Everyone else is proceeding pretty much as usual - Cole is exonerated and the women are widely hated. To quote Taylor Swift: "I think I've seen this film before, and I didn't like the ending." The end of the book didn't leave me with hope, it left me despairing because it's all to easy to see that this is exactly how things would play out in the real world.

Essentially this book was almost like a case study in what happens when white women go missing, particularly if they're not afraid to speak up and speak out. It all feels too "real" because anyone who has listened to a true crime podcast, or watched Dateline, or even just read the news has seen a story like this play out, only with a far worse ending.

This was a good read - I really enjoyed this book. I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

For single straight women, the search to find a “nice guy” can often prove to be frustrating. And One of the Good Guys by Araminta Hall makes the task seem not just frustrating but quite close to impossible—because even the good guys are hiding something dark beneath their kind, thoughtful appearances.

Full review published on NightsAndWeekends.com and aired on Shelf Discovery.

I really struggled to engage with this book. I was really looking forward to it, and there were times I thought it might be taking a positive turn. But the messaging was really a turn-off & I finished it with a rather icky feeling.