Book Review: "One of the Good Guys" by Araminta Hall

Now, you know how much I love a 'good for her' novel, right? Well, I can't decide whether what I just read was a 'good for her' novel or a 'good for all of them' novel. There was simply so much going on here and there was such depth that I am absolutely bursting to discuss it with someone. Since nobody I know will listen to me talk about books, let's just say I'm lucky to have somewhere like Vocal to vent about it.

It was weird because I actually bought this book a while back and I keep my TBR pile on top of my bed next to the wall, so it kind of just sat there for weeks on end waiting to be read. It was really only because it was the last hardback in the pile that I picked it up to read (and plus, my Kindle is unfortunately too low on battery to survive at the moment). And I have to say that I will first apologise for all the laughing I did whilst reading this book. Whether it was supposed to be funny or not, I found it hilarious in a really dark way.

This book is about a man named Cole who is going through a divorce which is so difficult for him because he doesn't want to sign the papers to terminate the IVF his wife had but no longer wants. Now, I have no idea why they need his signature because it's not in his body and on top of that, they are getting a divorce - so now he has even less to do with the situation than before.

His obsession with his ex-wife's fertility creeps me the hell out because you constantly see the same problem arise in conversation. That's if you've ever had the pain of having to converse with a 'conservative' man - one of the questions will always be related to whether you have children or whether you're thinking of having children or about the fact that you're going to regret not having children. Hey, even if I do - it has nothing to do with anyone but me.

Cole pretends to be this hyper-liberal feminist man which only sets in the fact that perhaps these men are just as dangerous as the conservative ones who want to chain us all to the kitchen sink. He makes every single problem about him and yet every problem in his life can be so easily resolved if he just had empathy for the women in the situations they are in. He seems like the type of guy I wouldn't even consider being friends with let alone marrying (seriously, Mel, this is the guy you chose?).

But when Lenora 'Lennie' comes into his life he starts to open up to her and share things with her that he didn't want to share with other people. He starts to fall in love with her and need her like a lost puppy. But as you can imagine, Lennie has plenty of other plans that she needs to get out of the way first. As they get to know each other, a woman's walk is starting to raise money for women who have been assaulted or accosted by men and two women are walking the South of England to do it. After receiving brutalities from men online and hatred from men in real life, the women are determined that this walk is more important than ever.

And then they vanish. Lennie and Cole are left wondering how well one really knows the other and who has the upper hand in this new dynamic featuring two possibly dead girls, one woman who is trying her best to be supportive and a man, who has been recorded on video screaming obscenities at two young women as they go on a charity walk.

Cole is quite possibly the worst man you can think of and really quite stupid too. It's a hilarious book divided into two which starts with Cole's narrative and ends with Lennie's. In between, we get flashbacks on to their lives and honestly, a lot of the dumb stuff that Cole says and does is honestly beyond me - why would anyone admit to being that naive? I am lost for words but it has left a great feeling in my head knowing that I will never be as dense as him. I can assure you that every woman who has read this book definitely saw that coming.

All in all, I thought this book was a fantastic read. Again, I don't really know whether it was meant to be funny but I found it absolutely hilarious in one of those dark ways where you know it makes you a bad person for laughing, but you really cannot help yourself. Don't believe me? Read the book.