Absolutely loved this book - such a fantastic tale of men, women and the power dynamics. The characters are so well thought -f and will stay with you long after you've finished listening. Did not see the twists coming!
The writing and narration are top-notch and full marks for that original plot!
Four star read for the year!

The narrator for this audiobook is not it for me. Dry and monotone, not engaging. I’m going to switch the the digital print version for this one

Absolutely brilliant. I loved the pacing and the narrative structure with how it revisited events through different eyes, giving different sides of the story. The characterisation was definitely the highlight, you empathised with everyone one second and hated them the next. It really made a point of the idea of nothing being black and white. I will certainly be reading this author again. The audiobook, specifically, was great, the narrator was excellent.

This is a fascinating book, and I want to cheer it on, but I also don't know if I can. Cole is just trying to move on from his wife who has decided to go for a divorce. He doesn't want to, he still cares for her, he still wants to have children with her, but she refuses to speak to him, she wants to sell the house destroy the embryos and have nothing to do with him anymore. Cole also meets Lenny, though he only ever refers to her as Lenora. He slowly develops a friendship with her, but is also battling his feelings for his wife. It isn't until two girls who are walking across the country to promote the safety of women go missing that Cole is thrust into the fray and suspicion starts to fall on him. The narrator changes and we jump seven years back to when Cole first met his wife and then fast forward through the years, as Mel tells us little by little all the things that Cole did to erode away at her, but because he could pull off basic skills in the kitchen and wanted to have children that all her friends and family thought he was the perfect man. We jump forward again to seeing Mel and Lenny meeting for the first time, and then slowly begin to understand what is actually happening to all the characters involved. It's a powerful book, but I think because it is so heavy handed with the violence against women that people will pull the same stuff the public in the book do. This is a great book for a discussion group as it will definitely cause debates. I would love to see Lenny's exhibit though, that would be a great viewing.
Narrators are amazing, the book is fast paced and engaging. The multiple news bulletins and reddit comments all feel very natural. A well written book and worth the read.

This was a little heavier than I was expecting but thought provoking.

An all is not at it seems book about a man that thinks he is one of the best guys around. It had me guessing who is reliable and what the heck was actually going on. There are multiple points of view as this one gets you thinking about violence and women and how and why it happens.

This is one that that they further you get into it, the clearer things get. A lot of unlikable characters but that isn't a deal breaker for me as long as I want to know more.

Elliot Fitzpatrick. Olivia Vinall, and Helen Keeley do a great job of bringing the characters to life. They very much sounded like I would expect and kept me intrigued.

While I found this to be compulsively readable, and the message the author tries to convey is so important and sadly, ever relevant, I did not think she went about it in the most effective way. While pushing for the message that women need to be believed, she contradicted it, too, in a way I found both frustrating and predictable. The plot, too, fell flat for me, as I could guess most of everything that happened, even the ultimate twist. Maybe that's the point? That it's all so predictable, when women are harmed and not believed, particularly nowadays when through the internet, everyone can chime in and have an opinion on whether a woman's word can be trusted. It did make me think about who and how women are supported when they make claims of abuse. Shockingly often, the question of, "Was she asking for it in some way?" comes up, not asked only by men, but by women, too. People judge a wife who did not come forth against her husband sooner, and yet if she had, would she have been believed or dismissed as is so often the case? Abused people stay silent for many reasons, but one of them is no doubt that they fear being questioned, their trauma being dissected and distrusted. In that sense, the book did make me think and for that I'm rounding up to three stars.

4.5 stars I GOT this book! Like REALLY, GOT IT! I mean, I completely understood the message and the irony.

I'm going to be honest. This book may not be for everyone. It started off slower paced with the introduction of Cole's perspective and focused on developing and shaping his personality.

Cole and his wife Emma of seven years are separated. He has rented a secluded cottage to live off the land. We learn early on that something significant happened in their marriage, although Cole genuinely doesn't seem to know what. Lenny is a single woman living in a nearby cottage to Cole's. The two meet and beco.e friends. Then this is where the story really picked up.

Once the plot showed its true colors, the way the first half was written made more sense. I loved the play on violence against women. The author's execution was clever. White male privilege was highlighted using creative dialogue and a suspenseful backdrop.

The dynamic audio performance was phenomenal. Probably one of the best I've heard this year. This book resonated with me and kept me intrigued. The characters were brought to life, bringing the reader into an emotional twisty ride.

Thank you to #NetGalley for an audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
#OneOfTheGoodGuys
#DrramScapeSelect

I think this book, for me personally, was middle of the road. The social commentary was interesting, but nothing vastly new was covered. I also felt that the pacing was off sometimes, but the narrator kept me hooked enough to finish the book.

A multi person audiobook doesn’t always work well but wow did it shine in “One of the Good Guys”. The narrators did an amazing job of being unique yet complimentary and I felt like I was listening to the real deal and not a retelling. Bravo! This book is an excellent social commentary on gender and how women are viewed and portrayed in society, particularly through the lens of social media. Sadly, I didn’t find anything to be “unrealistic” and am frankly jealous of the women who did. As a social commentary, this book deserves high praise. For a thriller, it’s a little lackluster buy, again, I don’t think that’s the main focus here. A perfect pick for a book club to spark discussion, One of The Good Guys is a provoking read and a great listen!

4.5 stars.

Cole was the perfect husband; a romantic, supportive of his wife’s career, keen to be a hands-on dad, not a big drinker. Basically, a good guy. So he was shocked when his wife left him. He moved to a quiet little coastal town and met the reclusive artist Lennie, whom he believed to be his soulmate. As their relationship developed, two young women went missing while on a walk protesting gendered violence nearby. The new couple soon found themselves at the heart of police investigation and media frenzy.

I picked this up because of rave reviews on bookstagram, and I wasn’t disappointed. It was as epic and confronting as I had expected.

Part one started off deceivingly normal. I nodded along with the story, everything felt like the opening of a ‘standard’ thriller (whatever that means 😁). Then BAM, part two happened, and I got where we were heading. I was quite surprised (and a bit concerned) that the satirical bits of the story didn’t punch me harder earlier!

It’s really hard to explain the details of what I loved about the story without spoiling things. So I’d just say that it was nicely provocative, it made me think and learn new things, and it gave me a book hangover. The depths of the characters were done really well, the motivations were super clear, and the message was well delivered.

Shoutout to the audiobook narrators. The outstanding performance of the multi-cast production complete with amazing sound effects really heightened my experience. The ending gave me a chill, in a good way. Hands down, one of the best social horror/thriller books I’ve read.

One Of The Good Guys by Araminta Hall is the type of book that is hard to pigeon hole as a thriller because it is also a case study on society. It is told in three chapters/sections/parts each evoking a different level of awareness, making me extremely uncomfortable and was executed perfectly.

"One" creates a false sense of security, and was honestly a little boring (but it’s supposed to be)! It is building the privileged word that some members of society have, while others live in fear of. It is vanilla ice cream eaten with a jagged spoon.

"Two" flips the script completely, hitting out of left field with the gritty action ramping up! It sheds a new light, a new frame and perspective on what was said to be true. It's fresh gravel rash on an already healing scab.

"Three" is a rapid-fire game of Pong, with thoughts, opinions and views ricocheting in accelerated succession. It is told in various media formats and depicts the judgemental wars that play out on social media; I'm talking speculations from all - the feminists, the devil's advocates, the armchair sleuths! (Also, this is where the audiobook truly shines!) "Three" is a car hitting black ice, spinning and veering, teetering dangerously close to the brink.

Although this is only the second Gillian Flynn Books, an imprint of Zando Projects, I have read, I am quickly understanding the mirroring between Flynn's own works and the ones she chooses to publish. They are that noir type of book I love and crave, with narratives making the reader question the good, the bad, the wrong and the right.

As a side note, how this book projects itself in both print and audio versions are equally beautiful art forms. Visually, fonts and graphics add to how the story unfolds; audibly the voice acting and acoustic cues all add to the unfolding drama.

Thank you NetGalley, Zando, Dreamscape Select, and Gillian Flynn Books for the complimentary copies to read and review.

Of The Good Guys is the sixth novel by British journalist, editor and author, Araminta Hall. The audio version is narrated by Elliott Fitzpatrick, Olivia Vinall and Helen Keeley. At forty-three, Cole Simmonds has quit London for a job as a wildlife ranger and a cottage on the Sussex coast. After two months, he meets Lennie at the Christmas drinks do, learning she has been living in the coastguard cottage nearby since September.

He confesses he is still feeling fragile about the break-down of his seven-year marriage, some six months earlier, still confused about his wife Mel’s nastiness, still lamenting having to leave their lovely flat. “But it’s always that way, isn’t it? Men are expected to be the ones to leave. As if men don’t have an inner life or as much of an emotional connection to spaces and things as women do. Which means, when it comes down to the messy process of splitting up, it’s the women who get to be coddled and cared for, even if they’re the one who’s f**ked it up.”

After further encounters, he sees a potential relationship forming with Lennie, whom he prefers to call Leonora. It’s also around this time that two young women are doing a walk, #walk4women, along the south coast, wild camping as they try to raise money for a domestic violence charity, Safe Space UK. Cole’s interaction with them when they ignore signs and barriers is an awkward, angry one that they capture on their phones. And then the girls go missing, and there’s lots of conflicting opinion on social media about what they are doing, and their likely fate.

Cole has always tried to be kind and gentle with everyone; he is very charming; he truly believes he’s one of the good guys. It’s fairly soon apparent from the way he describes their marriage, though, and from Mel’s perspective on that same relationship, that his charm hides a manipulative tendency, a deep-seated toxic masculinity within him of which he seems completely unaware:

“It’s strange how men are asked to be sensitive and understanding now, but when we really are, when we say how we’re truly feeling, women don’t actually like it. I think, subconsciously, they want us to hold their hands and understand their emotional contradictions, but they also still want us to be strong, to bang our chests with our fists and protect them from shit… it was all so … confusing because I want nothing more than to support and empower women, but surely that doesn’t mean I should lie on the floor and let them walk all over me.”

While Cole moans: “I know, historically, it’s been hard to be a woman but, my god, it’s hard to be a man right now”, Mel’s friends observe: “The bar is so low for men. All they have to do is a bit of bloody washing up, or ask how you’re feeling, and everyone thinks they’re the second … coming.” There aren’t really any likeable characters in this tale, but their opinions do bear serious consideration.

As well as three straight narratives (that are perhaps not entirely reliable), Hall uses email, text, tweets, press articles, transcripts of radio and TV interviews, WhatsApp chats, and blog posts to convey the mood and opinions of the online community and the general public. This is a story that examines the arguments on many sides of some very topical issues: gender and the dynamics of power, BDSM, consent, domestic violence, and ownership of embryos. Sound effects in the audio version add authenticity to this compelling and thought-provoking read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Gillian Flynn Books/Zando audio

I know many people seem to enjoy this book, I had mixed feelings. I did enjoy the narration, but the book was not what I was expecting. It goes through a lot of factors against men and women, and goes into detail about male violence, perpetrated against women. At times I found both of the main characters, frustrating, and at the same time can see their points.

I listened to this book on audio, and it was very interesting. It started in more of a thrilling sense where something had happened between the main characters, who were once married, and they needed to be apart. However, it ended up taking more of a turn to be a book about feminism vs. masculinity. I didn't end up enjoying how the second half and end of the book turned out personally. 

Thank you NetGalley for the arc audio copy of this book.

🎧Song Pairing: Good Guys Don’t Change - Neriah

💭What I thought would happen:

10/10 the man is the one who thinks he’s one of the good guys and truly. Is. Not.

📖What actually happens:

Lenny has finally met a nice caring man. Cole is one of the good ones except he only fucks when he’s in control, calls her Leonora even though she’s corrected him, and the dude traps bunnies…there’s red flags. Maybe we should be worried for Lenny.

🗯Thoughts/sassy musings:

The great Gillian Flynn dabbling in publishing…SOLD! When I heard the thriller queen was endorsing this book I dropped everything.

This book perfectly described sooooo many fucking men who think they are just so kind but why doesn’t she like me?! Because they are so much more dangerous than the blatant dickheads out there.

That being said, the pieces were there, it had my attention…there was an interception at the 10 yard line. It just did not score in my heart.

Good not great…yaaa know

This was one of my anticipated reads for 2024 and it was just as good as I expected it to be!

Let’s just start by saying that I was pretty impressed with “One of the Good Guys”! I’m not usually a mystery/thriller reader, but this book as a mystery was not that mysterious, in my opinion 🤭 However this was such a thought provoking story told through a feminist perspective! I found myself rethinking my own expectations of the story and the characters, and I love that about a story, it’s unpredictability! Couldn’t recommend it more!

Thank you to @netgalley and @dreamscape_media for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Select, Gillian Flynn Books for an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

Cole, is recently separated form Mel and has moved from London to the country side to reset and live the life he has always wanted. The marriage was troubled and when infertility struggles kicked in they could not survive. He is fascinated with Lennie, his new neighbor, who has also recently moved to the remote location but is not settling in as well. They are becoming fast friends but find themselves in the middle of a police investigation when two activists go missing.

This was a hard one for me as I really struggled to like any portion of this story. First off this is not a thriller it is a derisive gender statement with a sprinkling of intrigue. The story is told from the POV of Cole, Mel and Lennie... none of whom are likeable or even reliable narrators. Cole and Mel were a toxic couple that never should have been together. I thought the idea of two POVs telling the same events with different gender perspectives was an interesting way to develop a story but feel like it got too lost in its political agenda. There are real topics here that need to be explored but this dropped the ball. I struggled to get to the end and highly recommend skipping this one.

I had the audio version read by Elliot Fitzpatrick; Olivia Vinall; Helen Keeley who all do a good job.

🕺🏽Book Review🕺🏽
*
Summary: 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. Though 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 women activists raising awareness about gendered violence disappear while passing through. Cole and Leonora 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.
*
Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
*
My thoughts: thank you @netgalley and @macmillian for the advanced copy of one of the good guys on audio! This was a hell of a story. I almost DNFed it, until I realized how this story was going to play out. I would say if you are repulsed by the first few chapters give this time because I really loved this one. In ways it reminded me of Promising Young Woman but in all the best pieces. I think this story takes you on a wild ride but does detail instances of abuse, you will most likely need to read something happy and light after this one !
*
QOTD- what is the last book that you read that you can’t stop thinking about ?!

I don't know if I can clearly describe how much I disliked this book. The longer I think about it, the more it bothers me. One of the Good Guys was poorly executed, obvious, careless, and heavy-handed.

Non-fiction aside, feminist rage books don't usually work for me. I find they lack the subtly required to discuss heavy themes and topics. Yet, I keep trying because I believe in the message. I keep hoping I will find a great one. Therefore, you may love this book, but it was not for me. I would not recommend this to anyone, but I may be in the minority.

I had several issues with One of the Good Guys. First, the narrative structure is a mess. There are three separate POVs, each with their own section. The first section starts pretty strong. The POV was creepy, and I was intrigued enough to continue despite how obvious everything was. However, at roughly 35-40%, the author switches POVS, and everything devolves. It ends up suffering from what I like to call The Village effect. If you haven't seen the movie, it boils down to the "Big Reveal" happening too soon. The story loses all its tension, intrigue, and creepiness.

Further, the author beats you over the head with her message. It was exhausting. You are trying to prove a point to the wrong people. Women get it. Women have lived it. This story needed finesse and subtly. However, what angered me, like deeply angered me, was the complete lack of care the author uses with the story. The author spends pages and pages screaming at the reader about the atrocities that men inflict on women, only to reinforce the narrative that women are the ones to blame, that women are not the victims, that women lie. As a woman, how careless can you be? How do you not understand how problematic this all is? All of the author's ravings atop her soapbox meant nothing.

I wish I never read this book. I have no doubt this will be my worst book of 2024.

Despite the above, I thought the audiobook production was great, especially with the mixed media portions. The narrators did a great job.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Select, and Gillian Flynn Books for an advanced copy in e

This book is incredibly hard for me to rate. It is well written and well read, but the last third of the book didn't fit so well with the first two and the constant options from random Internet people along with the notification chiming was irritating and distracting. Since the book was a thriller the first two acts were great, but ultimately act three was a let down.

Kudos to the author for tackling such a difficult topic. While Cole seems like a '"nice guy" to so many his behaviors always rubbed me the wrong way. His refusal to see his part of his divorce (and refusal to actually get divorced) along with refusing to call Len by her preferred name were absolutely power moves, though even in his own head he can't understand that. I don't think I agree with how the women planned his comeuppance, but also can't think of anything better.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for my advance copy of this audiobook.