It's One of Us: A Novel

This book was an emotional roller coaster ride for me. I loved the entire ride, but I have to confess that the honesty with which the author deals with the heartbreaking topic of infertility was gut-wrenchingly realistic and a chance to really understand what some of my close friends have gone through. Olivia and Park Bender are trying desperately to have a child when Olivia discovers that Park has fathered children as a sperm donor when he was in college. Not only that, but drum roll for the added dramatic twist, one of his children is a serial killer and has left DNA at a crime scene. Olivia’s world is supposed to be one of order and beauty as she designs home interiors, creating wonderful spaces for happy homes. Instead, her world is instantly an insane combination of reporters, police, distrust of her husband and loss of a dream. The story is told in multiple points of view and although I enjoyed getting into the mind of each character, I identified with and enjoyed Olivia’s POV best. Park was not a favorite character, although he was a devoted husband and wanted to be a father as Olivia wanted to be a mother. The twists that happen in the telling of the intricate web of deceit, murder, infertility and sperm banks was so well written that I was waiting for the documentary credits to roll at the end. I learned from this book as well as being entertained and totally absorbed by the story. The ending was a surprise twist that I didn’t see coming and so good! The fast pace, the mesmerizing topics and the mystery all made this book one of the best books that I have ever read! To leave this book behind would be a travesty. It is haunting in its transparent look at a difficult topic and informative in a way that made me empathetic to friends and to the main character. I would give the book ten stars if possible, five for the writing including the plot and the characters and five more for educating me about infertility in an entertaining yet heart-tugging way. As an added note, if you are a reader who stops reading at the end of the book and doesn’t read dedications, acknowledgements, author’s notes, etc., I recommend that you read all the way to the end, every word on every page and let yourself be caught up in the sacrifice that writing this book must have cost the author. Disclaimer Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

I enjoyed this book overall and stayed up late to finish it. Olivia was a horrible person, and she blamed Park and Perry for everything bad in her life. I was hoping she would go to prison for what she did. There were loose ends - whose baby was Melanie Rich carrying? How did Peyton figure out where Olivia was at the end? He could not have followed Park there - he was on foot. I would have loved to have read the interchange of when Park and Perry realized what Olivia had done. The author dropped the ball when she left that out. I was glad that Darby and Park got married. I enjoyed the read - it just ended with so many questions. I will read this author again.

IT’S ONE OF US brings the reader into a world that is candid, filled with tension, and at times emotionally wrought. Ellison peels back the layers of a relationship struggling through infertility and dealing with secrets kept.

Even though I read countless books by this author, there was something much more impactful about this particular book. The suspense, twists, and interwoven deceptions were all present and expertly crafted. However, it was the characters that truly made this story for me. There is an honesty within Olivia and her actions that resonated. Her struggles, the complexities within her personality, and her reactions to the situation she is pushed into bring richness to IT’S ONE OF US. Without the way the author developed and brought Olivia to life, this would have been a good domestic thriller. With Olivia, it makes it a great one.

Then you add into the mix the killer. The malevolent feeling that comes from his actions sent chills down my spine. Ellison managed to delve into the mind of a murderer and allow him to touch every single character’s life.

I commend Ellison for telling this story. She never fails to create brilliantly entertaining suspense novels. And this one has all the dark, twisty goodness I love, but it also has depth rooted in a real-world issue for many women as well as touching on deeply rooted mental issues. From beginning to end, IT’S ONE OF US was compelling, complex, and emotional.

This thriller earned 4 Stars from me!

SUMMARY Married couple, Olivia and Park are living their lives. They have some great successes in that life; they have a beautiful home, their careers are going very well - particularly Olivia’s interior design business, and they have each other. BUT, there is one important area in which they cannot seem to succeed, they cannot convince a baby. That failure gets harder and harder to deal with every day.

In the meantime, a local woman, an acquaintance of Olivia, was missing and found murdered.

At the same time, an online community is growing. One teenager, who was conceived with the help of a sperm bank, has discovered she has at least a dozen half siblings and they have all met in an online chat room and have forged a friendship. They keep finding more and more siblings.

One of the siblings in the online chat group discovers that the DNA found of the murdered woman is a match to their biological father and is a half sibling to the group members.

AND… just guess who is the biological father of all those kids! Yep! It’s Park! The police came to Park and Olivia’s beautiful front door with the news that the DNA found on the victim is a close family member of his! Since Olivia had no idea he has ever been a donor, you can imagine how shocked Olivia was to discover Park not only had a child (or twenty) but that one of them was a potentially a murderer.

And the story gets even more twisted and twisty from there!

WHAT I LOVED I loved a lot about this story!

What an original plot! Loved it! It kind of read a soap opera/ twisty movie. It was imaginative and well done.

I loved the characters and their complicated relationship.

I loved how we kept finding out little nuggets of misdirection and lies the characters had been telling. Such a fun!

WHAT I DIDN’T LOVE As in all thrillers, there were a few parts that were hard to believe but not enough to ruin the story for me.

OVERALL A really fun book to read. Not at all what I was expecting, particularly for the ending.

MAR ‘23 - 3 STARS DESCRIPTION : Olivia Bender designs exquisite home interiors that satisfy the most demanding clients. But her own deepest desire can’t be fulfilled by marble counters or the perfect rug. She desperately wants to be a mother. Fertility treatments and IVF keep failing. And just when she feels she’s at her lowest point, the police deliver shocking news to Olivia and her husband, Park. DNA results show that the prime suspect in a murder investigation is Park’s son. Olivia is relieved, knowing this is a mistake. Despite their desire, the Benders don’t have any children. Then comes the confession. Many years ago, Park donated sperm to a clinic. He has no idea how many times it was sold—or how many children he has sired. Olivia must face the unthinkable. The man she married has fathered a killer. But can she hold that against him when she keeps such dark secrets of her own?

REVIEW: New author for me. Recommended by author, Heather Gudenkauf, who I started to read last year and enjoy. TRIGGER WARNING - Fertility issues. 2Pea epeanymous read and commented “can we stop with the sperm-donation-goes-bad plots in mysteries”. I like this author’s writing right away. Liking the alternating chapters from different viewpoints. Lots of secrets early-on. I feel it was a good solid mystery but a little flat, no excitement.