One of the Good Guys - Araminta Hall

 One of the Good Guys - Araminta Hall

Pub Date: January 9, 2024

She read

Following some difficult times dealing with infertility and  IVF disappointments, Cole and Mel are divorcing.  She  continues to live in London running a very lucrative PR business.  Cole escapes to the seaside where he works as a wildlife ranger and meets Leonora, a reclusive artist. When two young women who were walking the coastline to raise awareness of violence against women disappear, all of them are caught up in a downward spiral.   

Oh, but there is so much more to this tale. 

I have mixed feelings about this book.  It took me til the halfway point to begin to engage with the story. The plot unfolds and twists are revealed with different POVs and alternating timelines that include interviews, transcripts, social media posts. There are important topics here: misogyny, violence against women, the power imbalance in relationships, the entitlement of straight white men, what  really constitutes permission, and all the fears women have always had to face and continue to face in society.

I don’t usually quote directly from ARCs because narratives can change, but there are some wonderful lines.  Two that particularly resonated with me: “and since they can’t burn us [women] as witches anymore, they have to legislate against us” and “The Virgin Mary set an impossible and  biologically ridiculous standard that’s been hanging over women ever since.”

The writing style may not be for everyone; it is a bit unusual and the characters and their actions will be off putting to many, but One of the Good Guys gives readers much to think about. 

Thanks to #netgalley and @zandoprojects for the ARC.

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