We meet Kenetria Nash when she comes to after lying dormant in her own mind after 6 years. She has dissociative identity disorder (known in most mainstream media as a split personality). One of her other personalities has been running the show while she was "away," and now Ken is starting a new job as caretaker of a castle on a remote island. But this new job isn't what it seems. She finds herself trapped, accused of murder, and not knowing who she can trust.

This one fell flat for me a bit. I really liked the premise. I enjoyed learning about the ins and outs of the main character's experiences with DID. I was excited by the locked door thriller concept, too. However, I felt like it didn't quite deliver on either... The book overall was muddled, not very "thrilling," and left some loose ends untied.

Thanks to Net Galley for an early copy of this!

I’m getting into my thriller suspense era and this on did not disappoint. Kenetria ”Ken" Nash was diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder following past trauma. After being offered a chance to be a resident caretaker of a historic home, Ken and her ”Headmates” can’t refuse this opportunity to pursue this opportunity to jumpstart her career back. A storm comes stranding strangers in the home Ken comes face to face with the person who sparked her diagnosis. When someone is murdered and Ken is found bloody she is the prime suspect. It is up to Ken and her headmates to figure out who really did it.

Whew let me tell you this was so unique. We get the POV of the “headmates” and the world they live in while we also get to read what’s happening outside of Ken’s head. This was one of those books when you have to pay attention throughout or you will miss something. I was on edge with this one. I love that I found another new to me author that I can see myself reading more of.

So back in the days when Netflix had just started doing streaming my sister and I had a fixation on watching really bad horror movies. There was a movie called The Ward and I don’t remember much of it except for the fact that the woman was in a mental hospital with a bunch of other patients and at the end you find out that they’re all her alternate personas. I already said the movie was bad, but this book took that concept and did it so right. I mean first and foremost were introduced to the whole system from the get go rather than it being a “twist” and each alter gets to be in the drivers seat and provide their own points of view. Ken finds out she’s accepted a job when her alter Della is fronting as caretaker of a decrepit crumbling castle on the Hudson on a private island. (I was picturing a cross between Bannerman Castle near Beacon mixed with Big Brother Island on the east river). When she arrives in the middle of a storm she realizes that the house inside her head containing her alters is the mirror image of the one on the island. Creepiness ensues and lots of things happen. I wish we’d gotten a bit more context about her previous encounter with Pearson, and I’m wildly angry about the last reveal at the very end, but overall this was a fun creative imaginative read.

This was a unique and twisted story. Gothic mansion on a cliff on an island in the middle of a storm. Take. My. Money. Adding the DID to it, absolute genius. I really enjoyed the prose and storytelling and will surely be reading more of this author’s works. So well done!

this one was kind of all over the place, it was a cool concept and well executed but I couldn’t get j to this one overall. It was a complicated plot

An extremely different twist on a psychological thriller. I’m guessing this book is going to get low reviews because readers have to keep the identities straight.

Kenetria Nash (Ken) comes to the front after being away for six years. Ken is one of many identities in the host body that suffers from DID, Dissociative Identity Disorder. Ken has missed a lot over the last six years where she wasn’t even present as to what was going on. The body was mainly being fronted by Della at the time, who guided through COVID.

DID is interesting in the fact that everyone is aware of each other. The personalities in the family can have conversations with each other as well as co-front (though this is very difficult and doesn’t last long).

Ken “fronts” to a world she doesn’t recognize (where people wear masks) and also learns that they have been evicted from their apartment and are totally out of money. Belongings are packed and they are awaiting arrival of John, who is picking them up via boat for the job they’ve been offered.

Before Ken disappeared, she read an article about castle caretakers and applied to a variety of posted positions. An offer came through that was accepted by Della so that they wouldn’t have to live on the street. This position is a caretaker at Kavanaugh Castle, which has interesting history as well as being on an island in the middle of a river.

Disembarking off the boat, John warns Ken about three hazards of the island and transitions Ken to Celeste, the cleaning person. Celeste is gruff and convinced that Ken will not make it through one night - but there are no other options, this job *has* to work out.

What does Ken find on the island and do they call to shore via CB for emergency pickup or stay in the job for the long haul? Does Ken reveal DID to Celeste and how does that work out? Do the rumored goblins on the island make it difficult for Ken to do the job they were hired to do?

I really enjoyed this book and very similar to When No One is Watching it is packed with twist and turns. Alyssa has a unique way of writing a thriller that is also very thought provoking. In this novel alone she touches on mental health, ritualistic practices targeting the underprivileged, political/personal stance on vaccines and so much more. If you’re a fan of movies like Split or Sybil you will love this book!

Thank you NetGalley & William Morrow for this arc of One of Us Knows by Alyssa Cole. This was highly anticipated and I was very excited to read again from this author, however, this just wasn’t for me. The storylines was so hard to follow and the DID representation which commend was just not for me. It was not as thrilling as I would have liked.

Kenetria Nash was diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder and after being dormant for years, Ken 'wakes up' on a dock and learns that another alter has secured a job as a caretaker of a historic home on a isolated island. Specific details are hard to recall, but she knows this is a second chance opportunity.

But the island and it's inhabitants do not appear to be what they seem. And as a storm bears down on the island along with the members of the home's conservation trust, it's hard to know which may be more dangerous. When someone ends up dead and Ken is the immediate suspect, Ken must work with the alters in her inner world and tenuous allies in the physical world to discover the truth.

This was a really interesting read and it seems like a lot of research was done about DID and how those who have that diagnosis live. The chapters were set out really well to help keep track of who's perspective was providing the narrative to not get lost along the way. Thank you NetGalley for providing me access to a copy to read and review.

The classic locked-room whodunit and unreliable narrator tropes get turned on their head (or should I say, inside their head) in this newest release from the author of the Edgar Award-winning novel “When No One Is Watching.”

Channeling just as many Jordan Peele vibes as that 2020 debut thriller, “One of Us Knows” blends mystery and commentary on society and mental health for a riveting, gothic nail-biter. Kenetria “Ken” Nash, a “headmate” (yes, like a roommate of the head) of a woman with dissociative identity disorder, awakens after six years of inactivity, finding herself traveling to a new job as a caretaker for a castle located on an isolated island.

The tension begins building immediately with the disappearance of Della, the headmate who has been leading the system of personalities during Ken’s extended absence, and things become even more bizarre and unsettling upon arrival at the estate. The castle looks exactly like the one the headmates share inside Nash’s head. As intrigue and suspense swell internally and externally, “One of Us Knows” transcends a simple page-turner as Cole explores trauma, privilege and violence toward women — with a sprinkling of Cole’s specialty: romance.

I was so excited to pick this novel up. I have heard great things about another one of this author's thrillers, <i>When No One is Watching</i>, but unfortunately this one fell flat for me.

When I first started this one, I was super interested in the DID personalities and how the thriller aspect would play out. It was a very unique and uncommon premise for a thriller and I was excited to continue. As I continued reading, I didn't feel attached to any of the personalities and was bored a lot of the time. The format of the conversations between personalities was confusing and hard to always tell which personality was speaking.

Also, it is 2024, and I did not love how often the pandemic was referenced. I read to escape reality not be reminded about it over and over again. I can appreciate the reference but it added nothing to the storyline or character development.

I was invested enough to see how the story played out which is why I did not DNF the book but in the end, I kind of wish I had.

<i>Grateful to have received a complimentary ARC copy to honestly review.</i>

I really like this author and I thought that it was just an okay thriller. To me, this book started off very slow. I also felt like the ending felt very rushed. I don't think I will reread this book but I was entertained the whole time.

One Of Us Knows is such an immersive exploration of mental health/illness, in form of DID. I really appreciated that it was respectful of mental health struggles and not exploitative. Each headmate was well defined, I could always tell who was speaking, and that’s not always an easy thing to do. The twists though! I saw basically nothing coming and I loved it!

I have really enjoyed Alyssa Cole's books in the past and I was intrigued by the premise of this one. It was a little too convoluted and all over the place and I just couldn't stick with it. I kept popping in and out of it over the last month but it wasn't for me. There seemed to be quite a few errors and unfinished thoughts--maybe it was the uncorrected copy that was causing the issue?

I will read more from Cole in the future but this one was not for me.

The premise of this thriller stood out to me immediately, because who wouldn’t want to read about someone with DID exploring and caring for an abandoned, historical island home?!

Initially I was a bit worried I wouldn’t be able to get a hang of Kenetria’s inner world & multiple alters, but actually found it easy to follow and understand who was speaking at any given time. I really enjoyed her as the main character.

I loved that this book covered some really important social themes within the overarching storyline, but didn’t particularly enjoy how many times COVID was mentioned when it wasn’t exactly crucial to the plot.

Overall this one definitely landed in slow burn territory for me. I debated DNFing in the beginning because the story wasn’t moving forward fast enough for my ADHD brain, but found it to pick up in the middle chapters a bit. It also helped that this read like a split POV story with all of the alters speaking together throughout.

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for my e-copy to read and honestly review!

This is the first book by this author that I have read. And I was not disappointed! I do not like to tell details of books because I always like to go into them blind, I highly recommend this book!

Honestly, I'm still confused about what I read. This book had potential,but it was too difficult to follow. The main character has dissociative identity disorder (multiple personalities). Each personality takes a turn narrating the story. I had trouble keeping track of the characters and the plot. I. struggled to finish this. I finished and I'm still not really sure what happened.
This is a unique story that I'm sure will be interesting to some. I did like how the author took on the themes of mental health, race, and class.

First of all Thank You Netgalley.

This was so much better than I thought it would be. Such a twisty thriller that I am so happy to have read.

I can't wait to put this on my shelf.

This is not your typical thriller.While I think it is fairly common to have an unreliable narrator, I've never encountered one as unreliable as Ken (Kenetria Nash).  Why?Because she has multiple personalities.So, you take this unstable person, drop them off at a mysterious island they don't want to be at, and have past acquaintances of hers show up on the island for some kind of hunt.Abort, abort!
The plot was very bizarre and confusing at times, particularly when Ken loses time (another personality takes over).  Things don't get any better when the other parties begin to die and she's the prime suspect.I had to imagine she was being set up, but by who and why, I had no clue.

Although this story had a very creative approach, I didn't connect with Ken, maybe because she wasn't always herself.  The story was also a bit far-fetched, in my opinion.

While I had my gripes with the story, if you are looking for something very different, this may interest you.

Thank You and Net Galley for the advanced reader copy of One of us Knows in exchange for my honest review! 😍

Wow, when I tell you I was hooked from the start.. This really gives a gothic Agatha Christie vibes and I ate it up!!!

We follow Ken who is apart of a DID system (disassociate identity disorder). Many people make a system and can front (control the body etc) at anytime.

The story begins with Ken fronting for the first time in 6 years to discover she has been evicted from her apartment and standing on a dock with a message "new job starts today". The job isn't official until she survives the first night (caretaking a property on a secluded island).

Everything is chaos from the start for Ken and her head mates. How did they get evicted? Where is the headmate who has been in charge the last 6 years? Why has Ken been dormant for 6 years. When they get to the island they realize the castle is an exact replica to the one in their inner world. 😱 🏰🔪

I loved how DID wasn't the plot twist but built into the story from the start. There are many layers and characters but easy to understand and soo faced paced!

4 Stars rounded up to 5 for the hate raid of 1 star reviews

Excited to see what Alyssa Cole does next 📚


#mustread
#netgalley
#Oneofusknows
#AlyssaCole
#thriller