The book is gripping and it is written in first person perspective. I enjoyed reading the book from Cole’s perspective and his ex-wife’s perspective as well. The book splattered light upon the most prominent topics. The author has made us think of each individual and their perspectives towards life. The book is thought-provoking. The Author has very well portrayed the emotions of two individuals and how they feel in marriage addressing the other important issues too. There is something that author has said about cooking and I felt so good after reading it. So there are a lot of feminist thoughts in the book.

Col and Mel separated, Col wanted to leave behind the feeling of a failed marriage so he accepted the job as a Wildlife Ranger. There he meets Leonora and a realisation hit him. The realisation how we meet right and wrong person and how our life could have been better. His past slowly encapsulates and then the unexpected happens in the plot. Two women go missing and soon Col and Leonora find themselves in the midst of police investigation. The book definitely has power to make you doubt on your own instincts. Like things were just going well and suddenly they take a different turn. The book is twisty and unpredictable. I would recommend it.

I am grateful to Publisher, Author and Netgalley for accepting my request. Thank you.

I thought this book was so thought provoking and interesting. It’s told from three different narratives, Cole , Mel and Lennie. Throughout the novel we get various opinions from social media and podcasts, which is so effective. Cole has decided to rent a cottage in the middle of the countryside where he can get away from his breakup from Mel. Both have them have been struggling with their marriage. Lennie is an artist who is also renting a remote cottage near Cole. As well there are two young women protesters on a march for safety for women , who go missing. I was just gripped throughout . I can see all points of view and I think this was the author’s intention. It is described by some as a feminist thriller and I agree it certainly gets the point over how misogynistic the world can be and how women can be portrayed by social media . Having said that not all men are the same and the extent the women go to in this story could be seen as extreme. However the women in this story feel they are not being heard , feeling they have no option. I loved this and will definitely read more by this author.

HOLY SH!T what did I just read?!? After finishing this book, I am not surprised that it is the fourth book published by Gillian Flynn’s imprint. If you have read and enjoyed any of Ms. Flynn’s books then you will enjoy this.

If you’ve ever looked behind you with your keys between your fingers like a weapon while walking in a parking garage alone at night, or ever been made to feel like a slut because your skirt was too short or shirt too tight, or been made to feel like you’re crazy when your boyfriend gaslights you, then you should read this book. Honestly, if you have a vagina you should read this book. It will, in equal parts, infuriate you, scare you, and make you sad. I am certain it will be one of my favorite books this year.

Intricately plotted, fully realized and fleshed out characters and locations, and a fast paced story will make this a must read thriller of 2024.

Thanks to the author and Gillian Flynn books for the e-arc I received via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Very cat and mouse or made cat vs cat! I enjoy this face pace and even thought the end made me question of that the way I want the book to end. The characters would both believable and yet in the corner of your mind you think can I really trust what I’m reading.

"But what I had forgotten is that, even though we kid ourselves that we’re in control, sometimes things happen which we haven’t accounted for."

Araminta Hall’s One of the Good Guys is your next favourite feminist thriller; it’s unexpected, relevant, and edgy.

When we meet Cole, he is trying to move on from his broken marriage and moves to a remote cottage to escape. Oddly enough, Leonora, a painter, had the same idea and has moved just a walk away from Cole. The two slowly start to connect, only to be thrown into the middle of a police investigation. When two young women, activists for gendered violence, go missing it throws their new relationship into a tailspin and exposes the truth behind the person they’ve shared with one another, and who’s really in control.

What a wild, wild ride. And nothing like what I’ve read before. I didn’t know much going into this book, and I feel like that benefitted me, so I’ll do the same for you by not sharing TOO much :) What I will say is that fans of Gillian Flynn (whose imprint published this) will enjoy this thriller full of complicated characters, which also deftly incorporates some hard to tackle issues. You’ll find yourself taken aback by not only the book's thrills and twists but by its insight into the relationships and dynamics between men and women.

Even if at some points it felt a little too on the nose, One of the Good Guys is effective, impactful, surprising, and ultimately an experience I won’t soon forget (on more than one level). As you turn the final page, you might find yourself divided on how to feel about the characters and their actions, but one thing I don’t think anyone will argue are the twists, turns and clever commentary are on full display.

I thought this would be a bit more of a thriller. I went in blind not knowing what it was going to be about. It’s not my favorite book.. it dragged on at times but the ending was probably the best part. I did like the plot and main meaning of the book.

It always makes me sad to give a one star rating. I want to read and promote authors but this book was a big miss for me.

I was expecting to get a domestic thriller that would keep me on the edge of my seat and eagerly turning pages.

What I got was confusing to say the least. Is this a book pushing a feminist agenda? Is this a book promoting believe all women and hate all men? I really am not sure what the hoped for outcome was intended to be but I feel it missed.

The first third of the book we follow Cole and we get his perspective. He is going through a divorce with his wife Mel after not being able to have children and undergoing IVF. He is an unreliable narrator as he gets migraines and we are not totally sure what that is about but here I was thinking is where the thriller part of the book would happen. Is he odd? For sure. Does he do some awful things, yes, if any of this book is to be believed.
Then we get another view from Mel's perspective and she seems like an awful human as well. I honestly did not like her or feel for her at all. I feel I should have had some kind of positive feeling toward her if I am to believe how awful Cole is, but she just came off even worse.
We also get a perspective told from Lennie, a neighbor of Cole's that he is starting a relationship with. She is also deceitful and setting Cole up. Hard to feel for the plight of women when they are all behaving badly.
Throughout these points of view there is a mystery if you will of two young girls that are walking along the coast to raise awareness of women and the dangers they face every day. These women have an encounter with Cole where they also set him up to look malicious but was he? I am not sure. Then there is a twist and it doesn't really work for me. But it did sadden me a lot.
We also get the nauseating take on social media and how awful people are when they are sitting behind a keyboard voicing not only their opinions but making rather vulgar and unkind to say the least comments. I get enough of that and try to avoid it at all costs so to then have to read about it was irritating.

Trigger warnings should be noted for rape, violence, killing of animals, language, and more.

This book is highlighting conversations that are being had and that are important but it did not do justice to either side of the conversation and if anything just added to the already hostile environment. Some points made were good, some were not.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an e -arc of this book in exchange for a review.

This thriller seeks to answer the question of if men are good, why are women afraid to walk home at night. This surprisngly brought a lot of insightful thoughts despite being a bit of a popcorn thriller. I didn't love all the twists and turns, but I love what this book had to say.

Cole is one of the good guys. Or so he believes and wants everyone else to believe it. But is he really? Recently separated from his wife Cole lands at a small countryside escape to get away from it all. Lennie his neighbor is there more or less for the same reasons. When two female activists suddenly go missing suspicion automatically seems to falls onto Cole. But he's a good guy, right?
This was such an interesting and insightful book, not really what I was expecting, but I loved it none the less. Well written and really made me think. A very satisfying ending as well

Not your average domestic thriller, this got VERY weird and then some more. I honestly didn't see any of it coming, and I loved how creative the author was with the "art part" (can't say because of spoilers).

This book definitely took me for a ride. 😂
It begins with Cole, one of the main characters living in the English countryside following the separation from his wife. We get a description of the relationship with his wife, from his pov, and I couldn’t help but sympathize for his situation. Shortly after his move he starts a new a woman named Lennie - or Lenora as he insists on calling her. You get the sense that he may be able to start moving on from his failed marriage afterall. Then the pov to his wife, and this is when the story gets really interesting, enter plot twist!

I don’t want to say too much more because I’d hate to reveal any spoilers, but I can say that this book surprised me in many ways.
For example, I didn’t think I’d enjoy it as much as I did. I also didn’t expect the story unravelling to where Cole’s truths are not everyone else’s truths - or even real!

There are elements of a thriller, suspense, and feminism that are all weaved together, making this a compelling story that I recommend to all.

❥ A special thank you to @zandoprojects Gillian Flynn books for early access to this amazing book on @netgalley.

While I do understand what this book is trying to do and what it's trying to teach and /or show, I did not enjoy the process of it.

The ending pissed me off while also doing nothing for me.
The male character that we are first introduced to for a good chunk of the book was so aggravating and I did not enjoy being in his pov.
I'm trying to be vague so not to spoil anything for those interested.

Sadly this was a disappointment.

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy.

I had no clue what to expect starting this book - I was pleasantly surprised! It gave Gone Girls vibes in the best of ways. I enjoy each twisty turn. Ill be recommending this book to all my thrill lovers. Thank you so much for this ARC.

This book absolutely blew my mind! I know I’ll be thinking about it for quite a while! And definitely be talking about it! I was drawn in by this gorgeous cover and the title sounded intriguing but apart from that I knew very little about the story and I am certain that helped elevate my reading experience.

Araminta Hall took a contentious subject matter and combined it with an interesting format of story delivery to create something that is beyond just a thriller or a mystery. The first two parts are perspectives of 2 different characters and part 3 is a combination of a number of media formats and I absolutely loved the combination. I feel that readers who enjoyed Christina Henry’s Good Girls Don’t Die will love this particular type of “feminist thriller”. Being a woman in today’s society is still a complex and complicated thing and something I think about often.

I am quite certain this one will end up as one of my favorite 2024 reads! (And yes, I do realize it’s only the 2nd week of the year) I also highly recommend this one for book clubs - so much material for discussion!

Grateful to NetGalley & Zando for gifting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

"It’s very sad for me to see how we’re still only interested in women after they can’t speak for themselves anymore, when they quite literally don’t have a voice.”
You know how they say that the more people have to talk you how great their relationship is, the more it's crap? That's kind of how I felt about Cole's perspective. Cole's story takes up the first half of the book. And while he doesn't say or do anything spectacularly "wrong," I find him continuing to let us know that he's one of the "good guys" extremely uncomfortable and whiny. While I appreciate and fully agree with the overall theme of the book, I did find it to be a slow burn through the first half of the book. Only about two-thirds through when you're itching to know how it's going to end does it really pick up. Thank you Netgalley and Zando for the ARC.

This is my first Araminta Hall book, but it definitely will not be my last. I know that's kind of an overdone saying in reviews, but One of the Good Guys was not only an addictive, compelling suspense, but it also made me think. Who is the "bad guy" in this scenario? Is there a bad guy, or are they only opposing viewpoints? Does the end justify the means? I'm still actually thinking about the ending and how I feel about it -- Not in like a love it/dislike it kind of way, because I definitely liked it, but in a thought-provoking, is this okay kind of way, and that's the sign of a great book.

Since my review would require heavy editing due to Amazon's policy I won't be posting it on Amazon. I will post it on Storygraph when I can (currently in the progress of adding an import so I cannot edit things).

I received this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange of an honest review.


When I saw a review for this book up on Nads Book Nook (check out their review) I just KNEW I had to have this book! I already had seen it on Twitter a few times, but while it did spark an interest that review was what set me running to Netgalley to see if the book was still on there! And then clicking that request button so fast, haha. And a big thank you to the publisher for approving my request.

NOTE: Writing this on 11-1, I am tired (read this one before sleeping, tried to sleep, ended up reading the book until around 2-3 am) + this book was A RIDE. Not just in twists but also in feels. So be prepared for vagueness + chaos.

See that blurb for the book? Ain’t it a nice one? It promises all the mystery, a relationship that isn’t what it seems, and more. Well. In a way the blurb is correct. grins But in other ways it is also TOTALLY WRONG. Yes. Be prepared. Because this book will fuck you up. At least, it fucked me up. In a good way. Get ready, strap in, grab some chocolate, and let’s go.

This book is set in three parts. First up we have the first part with Cole. Yes, the guy that is talked about so much in the blurb. A guy who, at first glance, seems to be a pretty OK guy. But as his parts continued I got more and more unsettled by him. More and more wondering if what he said was the truth or not. Wondering if he was really that abused/badly treated by his wife. Or if there was more to it. There were little hints that grew bigger and bigger and had me wondering if I should punch Cole or just yeet him of the nearest cliff, run away hard, or give him a hug. Eventually, when certain things happen in his POV and things escalate or got more and more strange, well, by then I knew definitely which I would pick. <spoiler> And no, it wasn’t the hug, haha.</spoiler> I do have to say that at times it felt like the author just blended a guy character with several psychology + social commentary books because he felt weird/off at times, talking in a way that felt very unnatural, strange, odd. More like he was just reciting things he heard in a book rather than being an actual person. Maybe that was the plan, maybe not. But it just stood out for me. I did love reading more and more about Cole, about Mel, about Lennie (his nearby neighbour in this desolate place). We see the stage being set in his POV, we read about the female activists. We read about what they have gone through. And then the disappearance.

Cue part 2 which features Lennie (for bits) and Mel (for most). We get a whole different turn-around and see what happened with Mel and how in the end she went away from him. I won’t spoil it, but HOT DANG. Be prepared. Be so prepared to dive into the relationwreck that was Cole x Mel. Not to mention some other things that were just seriously WHUUUUTTT *throws chair*

Part 3 is about the aftermath and features 2 twists that had me going OMGGGGGG. This part partially written with Lennie’s POV and goes deeper in what happened in her past, but also shows us the aftermath and all that happens after the girls disappeared on that cliff/bluff, the whole media circus + more. This was definitely the hardest part out of the 3 to read. Because there are things said, social commentary, there are newspapers and opinions on social media, interviews, there is a podcast (at least it felt like that), things are fucked. And Lennie’s past, if you thought it was fucked up already because of THAT, strap yourselves in. This last part definitely made me gasp so many times. Plus, what happened to her when she was with Cole, we get some parts.. but oh boy.

There are two big twists in this book, well OK, there are several OMG revelations, but two twists that will have you gasp! At least I was.

The social commentary in form of what people said in the normal story parts, but then later through the social media/articles/etc., it was unsettling, uncomfortable, it made me want to yeet things, and OK, it also made my eyes roll just a bit (there were points that I wasn’t sure if I was agreeing, sorry but I don’t see my husband protecting me or saying he loves me more than anything is violence, but maybe I am just a bad woman or something). I guess the uncomfortable/unsettling feelings are warranted and that the author was going for that, in that case, well done.

Plus, I am not entirely still sure on where to stand with the twists. On the one hand: YAS but on the other hand That is some really fucked up crap.

So as you can see, conflicted. But it was a good twist. All of the twists were.

Oh, and I just LOVE it when a title of the book is either mentioned or everything comes together as the title (hope that makes sense, haha).

Well, I could probably go an about this book a bit more, but I will just say read this darn book. It will stick with me for a while, I can tell you that. I was thinking of maybe reading something light after this one (yes, despite it being 2-3 am), but my mind was just too full with this one and wouldn’t allow anything else to be read. It is just there. Sticking around. Eating cookies. Sipping some tea. Hot dang. Good job to the author! Small update on the 16th just before the review goes live. I have been able to read… but the book is still on my darn mind, haha.

I was a fan of Our Kind of Cruelty, but could not connect to Araminta Hall's new novel. I believe it lacked nuance and subtlety. After a while, it became evident that I might not be the right reader, and as a result, I am not going to provide feedback on other platforms. I wish the author and publisher a successful launch.

Just by the title, I already knew this was going to be a provocative read. The book covers some hot topics, including violence against women, modern day feminism, and the challenges it has brought to the relationship between the 2 genders over the years.

The book is divided into 3 parts - it starts with 2 character perspectives & ends with a few chapters of mixed media (interviews, online posts, news coverage). I thought all 3 parts were equally needed in this story. In the ongoing discussion of feminism, there are always 3 players - men, women, and the media/online world. The author clearly wanted to give all 3 perspectives, which truly brings the story to life.

The mystery part was also intriguing. I would categorise it as a slow burn, but still bingeworthy. The writing style & constant tension made me flip through the pages. The twists are not too unexpected if you’ve read a lot of thrillers, but they fit the story perfectly.

This is a roller coaster of a book. I LOVED how the story was told from different perspectives - it allowed us to see the psychology of the characters, and see how every incident was perceived by various characters. This technique really enhanced Araminta Hall's theme of how women and men are viewed by society, how violence towards women is often time explained away, and how the voice of women is often times silenced. The ending was a little underwhelming for me and not the direction I had hoped the book would take, but I still really enjoyed it from beginning to end.