Book Review: One of Us Knows | Alyssa Cole

A genre-bending gothic thriller centered around a woman with dissociative identity disorder serving as the caretaker at a gothic estate, when she finds herself trapped on the island with a murderer. Chilling!

Over the years I’ve read several books who use dissociative identity as a plot device, including several where it is the twist (the reader thinks they are reading different characters but they are actually reading different identities of the same person). These are fun, though that twist gets tiresome after a while. Many readers may be more familiar with the old term for dissociative identity disorder, “multiple personality disorder”. That’s an outdated and inaccurate term, but it should give you the general gist of what our central character is coping with.

What’s it about?

Kenetria Nash had a breakdown several years earlier that led to her losing her spot in the Masters of Arts historical preservationist graduate program at Benson College. As a young child, Kenetria experienced trauma that led her to develop dissociative identity disorder (DID) as a way to cope. This involves splitting into different selves who manage or take over different parts of her life or when certain triggers happen. Kenetria and her other “headmates” operate relatively collaboratively to manage her life. They keep a shared journal to update one another on what has been happening in Kenetria’s life while the others have been away.

The headmates include Della (65 years old, manager/caretaker), Solomon (30 years old, system assistant manager), Empress (16 years old, teenage self), Mesmer (20 years old, emotional caretaker), Keke (4 years old, child self), Ken (37 years old, host / Kenetria), Lurk (unknown age), and Rapunzel (unknown ager, trauma holder). Only some of these headmates are able to take the primary spot (“front”) for long periods of time.

The book opens with Ken (Kenetria, the host), who has been away for some time and has just awoken on a dock, waiting for transportation to Ken / Kenetria’s new job as a caretaker on a remote estate on Hudson River Island. She’s unfamiliar with the island, her alter Della evidently applied for the job while Ken was away. When Ken takes control of her body, she discover that Della has disappeared, unable to provide answers to why she applied for this job and what it may entail.

Ken has been looking for something stable and interesting since being removed from her graduate program, and this seems like a great opportunity. But when she arrives on Hudson River Island, she realizes that the house looks almost identical to the one she’s built in her mind to cohabitate with her other headmates. Is it a coincidence? Or is she unaware she’s been here before? Ken is warned not to spend a single night alone in the house. The island seems to have attracted it’s fair share of death over the years. Why do so many who visit here wind up dead?

A surprise visit from the home’s conservationist catches Ken off guard. Meanwhile a strong weather formation is rolling in, bringing battering winds and making it impossible to leave the island. The conservationist isn’t the only surprise guest that will be staying on the island with Ken, one of whom was the very person that triggered her breakdown. When someone is found dead, Ken is the prime suspect. She must work together with her other headmates to find out what happened and clear her name.

What did I think?

This is a dark and addictive thriller with a unique premise and expert execution. The different identities all have their own clear personalities and roles, and seeing their thoughts about one another and what is happening in the shared journal offers surprising levity. They’ve made the best of their situation, and they deliver it with a dry sarcasm and sharp wit that add to the experience. It feels at times like the reader is in the position of one of the headmates, trying to catch up on what the other kooky cast of identities have been up to.

I won’t lie that it is overwhelming at first as the reader is getting the hang of the various headmates that share Ken’s body. It quickly evens out, as it becomes clear that each plays a different role, has a unique personality, and even have different limitations (Ken’s vision is worse than the other, though the share the same eyeballs, for instance). The interactions between the headmates is balanced with the Agatha Christie-esque plot unfolding on the island.

Pulling off this type of story requires a high level of plotting, world building, and writing to execute. I thought Alyssa Cole nailed it. The book is gripping from start to finish, the structure and plot are unique, and the setting was well-developed and unsettling. The way the primary plot wove seamlessly with Ken’s struggles to leverage and integrate her identities was well-done and led to a gripping and heart-pounding story.

Ken is fairly advanced in her treatment of her disorder—she’s aware of the different parts of her occupying space in her life, she’s set up mechanisms to help manage an extremely difficult disorder, and she is mostly in a place of acceptance that this is the unique way her brain operates. She (like most in real life) developed this as a coping mechanism from extreme trauma. The identities allow her to manage which part of her may be best equipped to handle different situations, though it’s not a flawless system. In this story, we see Ken dealing with the presence of a new headmate. Ken doesn’t seem panicked by it, she seeks to understand who it is and why they emerged now.

Final Thoughts

This book is a winner, though it may not be for every reader. It’s a unique structure and narrative format that added layers to the story to wonderful effect. The dialogue among the headmates adds a lightness to a dark and twisted story. Since this is a novel style within the genre and a powerful and different approach to storytelling, this book may not appeal to readers who are looking for a straight psychological thriller. I think most readers will find it not only gripping, but thought-provoking as well. Themes of mental health are understandably present, but it also has a lot of subtext about race and class as well that can’t go unacknowledged.

Chilling, dark, addictive, and twist-filled—this is a must-read for those looking to expand their horizons!

Thank you to William Morrow for my copy. Opinions are my own.

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About the Author

Alyssa Cole is an award-winning author of historical, contemporary, and sci-fi romance. Her Civil War-set espionage romance An Extraordinary Union was the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award’s Best Book of 2017 and the American Library Association’s RUSA Best Romance for 2018, and A Princess in Theory was one of the New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2018. She’s contributed to publications including Bustle, Shondaland, The Toast, Vulture, RT Book Reviews, and Heroes and Heartbreakers, and her books have received critical acclaim from The New York Times, Library Journal, BuzzFeed, Kirkus, Booklist, Jezebel, Vulture, Book Riot, Entertainment Weekly, and various other outlets. When she’s not working, she can usually be found watching anime or wrangling her pets.

About the Book | One of Us Knows

Years after a breakdown and a diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder derailed her historical preservationist career, Kenetria Nash and her alters have been given a second chance they can’t refuse: a position as resident caretaker of a historic home. Having been dormant for years, Ken has no idea what led them to this isolated Hudson River island, but she’s determined not to ruin their opportunity.

Then a surprise visit from the home’s conservation trust just as a Nor’easter bears down on the island disrupts her newfound life, leaving Ken trapped with a group of possibly dangerous strangers—including the man who brought her life tumbling down years earlier. When he turns up dead, Ken is the prime suspect.

Caught in a web of secrets and in a race against time, Ken and her alters must band together to prove their innocence and discover the truth of Kavanaugh Island—and their own past—or they risk losing not only their future, but their life.