This one is set in a gated community, filled with security but how and who stabbed one of the residents, a father to three children, a famous ex-swim star there are a few twists along the way as we learn all about a couple of families and how their lives span out.

Gertie and her husband Ed with their three children Kat, Abe and Harry everything has been fabulous since they won their house and moved in, happily married for twenty years when Ed drops a bombshell.

Rachael who is pregnant and Sam and their two boys Ethan and Noah move her for the security they have spent a lot of time in the media over the years and it is time to let that go.

Penny, Martin and their son Spencer live next door to Rachael and Sam and Penny knows all.

Gertie and Rachael become friends and are opening up to each other, both have problems that are affecting them and their families, they are a big support to each other and then a husband is stabbed, fear, worry about who did this ramp up the emotions.

This is a story that I thoroughly enjoyed, getting to know the people who live in this community and their families had me turning the pages, this is my first Kylie Kaden book but it won’t be my last, I loved the twist at the end.

I do highly recommend this one to anyone who loves a good mystery that will keep your turning the pages.

My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy to read and review.

One of Us is a contemporary novel of domestic suspense from Australian author Kylie Kaden.

Within one of the architecturally designed homes behind the gates of the exclusive Apple Tree Creek Estate lies the body of a man, blood pooling on the living room floor from a deep stab wound. As a detective studies the scene, and the reactions of the man’s wife, Kaden shifts to the recent past, and focuses on two women, near neighbours Gert Rainworth and Rachel York, who meet and become friends just as their respective marriages are falling apart.

At a fairly measured pace, Kaden exposes the secrets, betrayals, and stresses that culminate in the introductory scene. Gertie is reeling from her husband’s acceptance of a year long transfer to his company’s Singapore office, and his decision to go alone, leaving her with their three children. Rachel, heavily pregnant with her third child, is increasingly exhausted by her husband’s serial philandering, and escalating control issues.

Gertie and Rachel, despite having little in common, form a supportive rapport that feels authentic, as they both struggle with their respective situations. Kaden has a real talent for portraying the familiar minutiae of domestic life, and explores the challenges of marriage and motherhood with empathy.

Stripping back the facade of privilege, wealth and security the community and its residents project, Kaden reveals a host of hidden dysfunctions, from the awful truths about Rachel’s husband, to a neighbours secret shame, and even the way in which the measures used by the gated estate to keep residents safe, can be perverted.

By the time the identity of the stabbed man is revealed, several characters prove to have reasonable motives for the attack. I enjoyed the puzzle of determining which was most likely, and was satisfied by the denouement.

One of Us is an suspenseful and entertaining suburban thriller, sure to appeal to fans of Liane Moriarty, Sally Hepworth and Lisa Jewell.

This was a fun thriller! The story had me questioning ‘who did it’ and ‘which husband was the one that got taken away in an ambulance” the entire book. I didn’t guess who it was, but what an ending! Really enjoyed this book.

Set in the affluent suburban (gated) community of Apple Tree Creek, lie many stories most of which occur behind closed doors – including the story behind the body found unconscious in one of the houses…
The victim is surrounded by police and paramedics – who could have done this and how in a gated community with security surveillance?
Following this dramatic opening, One of Us then introduces us to the neighbours, their relationships and their secrets. It was like peeping into the windows of people’s lives in suburbia which are not what they seem.
Gertie’s husband decides they need a break and leaves her with their three children and heads overseas.
Rachael, a successful businesswoman and pregnant with her third child discovers her husband has cheated on her – again.
Did one husband push his wife too far?
This fast-paced domestic thriller that had me guessing until the end.
In my opinion, this is Kaden’s best book so far!
Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

#netgalley #oneofus This is the first Kylie Kaden book I've read but it is definitely not going to be my last, I loved it read it in one day. If you liked Big little lies you will love this one 4/5 stars

I’ve been a big fan of Kylie Kaden’s books, so I was excited to see she had a new release and I loved it.
Set in a gated community where every movement is accounted for, it centres around two families after a chance meeting. Even though Gertie and Rachael are polar opposite’s they form a friendship, both women are dealing with very different instances in their respective marriages.
The story opens after a violent incident and we are taken back to the start of events that lead up to that scene.
Kylie Kaden sets up these characters well, with some exceptions they are flawed but try their best. With themes of domestic manipulation within a marriage and getting lost in the family life and not knowing who you are any more…or who you married, they are themes that are current. I always love a book that makes me ‘feel emotions’ and this certainly did.
Really enjoyed this book and thank Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to read.

Do you ever wonder what really goes on beyond the gated, perfect communities out in suburbia? Are they ever safer, or nicer? Are the people living their devoid of drama? If this book is a glimpse of what might be happening in suburban utopia, I think I am glad I am not in one! Apple Tree Creek sounded delightful on face value, but underneath it was far from perfect. I was surprised to see that this fictional suburb as set in Australia – this book did not have a strong Australian flavour to it. It also reminded me a lot of one of my recent 2022 reads by Liane Moriarty, “Apples Never Fall”, so if that book captured your interest, this one will too.
This was more about family and neighbourly relationships with a sinister edge. Kylie Kaden was able to provide a lot of detail about the main families in this book. There were also a few red herring trains in relation to some of the characters – they were introduced but their connections never came full circle and I was a little disappointed in that, like Penelope’s blog and the reveal about her son, Tyson. The whole idea of a gated community or a privatopia has always intrigued me. There was a little bit in each character, apart from Gertie and Ed who seemed to believe they were above all others but really they created their own narrow reality because that was the only place they could maintain some kind of control compared to their life in the big bad world outside those gates.
If you’re looking for a book to take on a long weekend, or to read while you sit on a chaise lounge in the sun with a coffee or a cocktail, this will be a great one to read out for.

This novel opens dramatically with a victim lying on the floor surrounded by paramedics and police, his traumatised wife and a shocked teenager sitting watching nearby. A detective is asking himself how this could have happened in a gated community with all the latest security surveillance. The novel then goes on to introduce us to the families and the suspects who might have been responsible for this crime scene.

I really enjoyed this contemporary novel about families living in a gated community of Apple Tree Creek in Sydney. They might be wealthy but they are not all happy by any means. There is Gert, a wife and mother of three who longs to go back to her career, her husband Ed, hiding a secret that he thinks running away will solve, her friend Rachel, a successful businesswoman struggling with a newborn and two other children who really should leave her controlling husband Sam, handsome ex-Olympic swimmer and serial philanderer. And then there are the nosy neighbours who like to give out advice on raising children but really should pay more attention to what their own kid is up to. Throw in a few teenagers with their own problems and secrets and a stalker and there's a lot going on in this little community.

The build up to the crime scene is gradual, but never dragged, as we get to really know all the main players and the pieces are slotted into place. Kaden's characters may all be flawed but are they all relatable with their very human failings. The friendship between Gert and Rachel was portrayed really well and it's easy to feel empathy for both women, although not so much for their husbands. Told with a touch of humour, it was easy to become engaged in the lives and dramas of these families as we wait to find out what really happened at that opening crime scene.

This book was a total surprise! Right from the start, I was pulled into Gertie & Rachael's lives at Apple Tree Creek. For the most part, this is a slow-paced story, and this worked for me - we gradually see the imperfections in Gertie & Rachael's marriages, and see the reality of life within their families. This slow reveal of information leads to an incident, and the pace picks up. I really liked the friendship that Gertie & Rachael built, and how they supported each other. This was a real page turner, and I had to know what happened!

Okay, firstly I need to get one thing out of the way.

I am millennial. I am THIRTY EIGHT YEARS OLD. I identify with the MOTHERS in this story. My hips creak when I stand up and I remember when the internet went bing bing tshhhh. I remember when no one HAD internet!

THE TEENAGERS IN YOUR STORY ARE NOT MILLENNIALS!!

This error is made MULTIPLE times in this book and it is a huge pet peeve for me.

This book honestly reads like it was written by a boomer. The "newfangled tech is the root of all evil" undertone made my eyes roll so hard they fell out. Literally the whole whodunnit of the story is*SPOILERS* that a kid (again, not millennial, he'd be Gen Alpha) is in some kind of Fortnite fuelled psychotic state and stabs his father. Fortnite, for fecks sake. Come ON!!! The drone, the constant digs about people being on their devices - I just cannot. Did you know that people used to complain about depraved young people playing chess? About how reading novels was wonton silliness? Don't be that person who can't move with the times, who automatically thinks anything invented after they were born is bad and wrong. It's SO annoying.

These things aside, it's a fairly decent domestic drama. Certainly not a thriller by any stretch of the imagination and the first half is a fairly slow plod through these women's lives. I did enjoy the friendship between the two central women.

While both the men in the story were shits, it did really annoy me that we spend so much of the book seeing Ed be a total douche, Gertie learning how strong and capable she is on her own, and then in the end it's just like "meh oh well, that domestic abuser is worse so I'll forgive you and take you back". WTF?? So Ed basically gets to just up and fuck off from his family and then just waltz back in when he feels like it with no consequences. NO THANK YOU! I think the Gertie in this book was way better and stronger than that.

Look, isn't wasn't a bad read, and it was pretty well written. If you like to shake your fist at clouds, you'll probably love it (and by clouds I of course mean dirty evil technology, the scourge of millennials et al). I just really hope someone at some point manages to Google (yes) the word millennial before this goes to print.