Breakaway Books

Authored by Alyssa Cole; Published April 2024; Thriller/horror

⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️

I’m not quite sure how to talk about One of Us Knows, because I have no idea how accurate its portrayal of dissociative identity disorder (DID) is. Which, considering all of the fantasy and science fiction I’ve read, shouldn’t be critical in and of itself. The way it discusses DID is not like anything else I’ve read, and the concept of “headmates” that it is based in is fascinating. 

But I can’t help but feel that the promise of the concept was squandered. I felt like the twists were telegraphed well in advance—I always knew what was coming. While it certainly has its pulse-pounding moments, I didn’t really doubt the outcome of the novel. There are so many options for how to write an unpredictable novel with the premise of DID and a mysterious invitation to be the groundskeeper for a remote castle, and this one just felt predictable.

It is worth noting, as always, that books with unlikeable characters are not my favorites. The main character of this one is a self-proclaimed asshole, and while I sympathized with her confusion and her situation, it was still hard to feel emotionally invested in the outcome when I didn’t feel invested in her.

That being said, crafting this novel could not have been easy. There are so many perspectives to consider, not just because of DID, but because of the multiple timelines at play. Constructing it in a way that both makes sense and continues to build suspense is no easy task

All in all, if you are a horror lover, you may enjoy this one. Otherwise, skip it.