Thank you so much @BookSparks for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 08 July 2025)

SYNOPSIS | Childhood best friends April and Rudy are involved in an altercation that leaves Rudy incarcerated. Whilst Rudy's life is essentially put on hold, April meets a handsome attorney (Peter), gets married and settles into her new life. After 15 years, April's two worlds threaten to collide as Rudy is up for parole and Peter is set to win the local election.

WHAT I LIKED:
- such a compelling story focusing on the depths and devastation of social injustice e.g. "why do bad things happen to (such) good people?"
- the exploration of how the choices we make have a rippling effect on our lives
- multiple POVs + multiple timelines
- small cast of flawed characters

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- the last half of the book felt a little rushed (& wrapped up very neatly) and I would have loved the characters to have more time to sit with their decisions

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This isn't my typical kind of read, but I'm so glad I gave it a chance! I love how developed the characters were and how I was able to connect with them. I also enjoyed the different points of view and duel timeline. My only complaint is that it dragged a little in the middle and the twists were a little out of nowhere.

Overall, this is a decent, quick read and I will definitely be checking out other books from this author!

hmmmm
amazing plot/story with so much potential, but overall the weird "twists" and cringey inner monologues took me out of it
2-2.5 stars for me?

thank you netgalley and sparkpress for the arc!!

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book gutted me. In the best way, perhaps, but still. April and Rudy are best friends - but one night completely alters both of their lives forever. The twists and turns, from the deep dive into relationships and what they mean, to the failures of the justice system - this book is complex and just really different than most of the books I've been reading lately. I really lovedhow love, trauma, and friendship are all explored in this one, and well, it's all messy. But isn't that real life?

Not my typical genre, a great read, it took me awhile to get into, but so does any good book. I will be looking for another by Amy Blumenfeld

Thank you to Net Galley and Spark Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book was a nice surprise for me, I have not heard of this author, but the description sounded interesting so I decided to give it a shot and I am glad that I did. This was a great read with a layered and emotional story about enduring friendship and loyalty. I was invested in most of the characters and story and truly enjoyed this book.

This book follows April and Rudy, best friends since they were young, into adult after an eventful night in college leads to Rudy’s unjust arrest. I loved this story and the focus on the bonds of friendship- how they change throughout life but with effort can be just as rewarding at any stage. Additionally, the important inclusion of struggles previously imprisoned people experience upon reintegration was very powerful, as well as introducing the existence of organizations built to help ease these struggles that the reader can hopefully go one to research in their own area and give back.

My only beef is with Peter (April’s husband). His behavior through the hardest moments was unacceptable and hurtful.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Such Good People by Amy Blumenfeld's is told in dual timelines between the past and present. It is the tale of childhood best friends April and Rudy. They were the tightest of friends until one terrible situation that led to life changing events. The likability of the characters make the story realistic. The exploration of friendship and love with compelling characters. I highly recommend this well written novel.

This was an interesting read exploring how quick decisions two childhood friends make to protect each other impact their lives — particularly one of them who lands himself in jail for 15 years. I love the message behind the story because, covering courts and crime as a news reporter, I’ve had the opportunity to listen to many stories of people behind bars or living a criminal lifestyle. Things aren’t always what they seem.

I did, however, struggle a bit to get through this book. I would have loved to read more of Rudy and April as kids to build up more of that lifelong bond. This would have made their interactions as adults once Rudy was released much more impactful.

*A warning that this next part is a spoiler*

It was pretty obvious that Rudy did not kill Bailey. It would have been more suspenseful had Rudy have actually killed him for the sake of protecting his best friend, or at least left the reader wondering whether or not his actions caused him to die.

I enjoyed how the journalist had ties to both Rudy and April and used her investigative skills to help them out. She didn’t seem promising in the beginning, but it’s not very often you get positive portrayals of journalist in books.

Rudy and April have grown up as close as siblings and are the best of friends. When Rudy intervenes to help April from the attention of a drunken stranger on a night out, a scuffle ensues and the stranger is injured. When he unexpectedly dies, Rudy is found guilty of manslaughter and is sent to jail

Fast forward fifteen years later and April is happily married with children. When he best friend is released from jail, she is torn between being there for him and standing by her husband who is campaigning for office. Rudy's release has reinvigorated the public's interest in the case and places April and her family under the spotlight, much to the anger of her husband. When an old friend now working as a reporter gets wind of a suspicion that Rudy was made a scapegoat and he was not responsible for the man's death, she begins searching for the truth and is astounded with the answers she finds.

A compelling story about the value of friendship and loyalty, and the opportunity for justice and second chances. The writing is crisp with a storyline which alternates cleanly between two timelines. It was interesting to read the Author's Note which sheds light on the author's influences for this book. A great read. I am definitely keen to read more from this author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and SparkPress for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book explores topics such social injustice, friendship, and the blur lines of a life perfectly created and the cost of it. The main characters are well written and the story is really captivating. I definitely recommend this read!

What happens when everything you’ve worked for, everything you thought you knew, and everything you expected to happen is turned on its head during one night of ill-fated connections? And what happens if a dozen years later everything you thought you had known, everything you had established, and everything you were hoping for gets turned on its head again because of the events of that same night. These are the questions that Amy Blumenfeld grapples with in her engrossing new novel, Such Good People. This is a tightly woven story with a small cast of characters whose lives are irrevocably changed one night in New York. The strongest parts of the story are the medico–legal drama in the modern day section - areas Blumenfeld knows well and roots in the Jewish concept of “justice justice you shall pursue”. Thank you to NetGalley and Sparkpress for the DRC.

Such Good People by Amy Bloomenfeld was a wild ride! I went into this blind, but enjoyed the characters April and Rudy. I don’t want to spoil anything but I will be recommending this to anyone who wants a deep, moving novel. Thank you to Sparkpress and NetGalley for n advance copy in exchange for my review.

I love the way this book tells the story of the complexities of relationships, forgiveness, and the power of the choices we make.

I absolutely loved this book and read it in one day! The characters and storyline are so well developed and you’ll be rooting for April & Rudy until the very end! Thank you so much for the ARC - another definite beach read!

Put this on your "beach read" list. An enjoyable read centering on the question of friendship, and how those relationships shape our actions - and inactions.

I fiercely love character driven novels that are thought provoking and bring light to real life situations that happen in the world we live in. In this case it was ethics and flaws in the judicial system — like convicting someone of a crime that didn’t happen. It was a well written novel and I found the dialogue to be easily digestible and realistic, but also emotionally aware/intelligent. April and Rudy’s loyalty and friendship stood the test of time and against all odds and I found that to be the cherry on top of a good story.

Thank you NetGalley and Spark Press for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Best friends Rudy and April have their lives upended when an altercation leads to Rudy’s arrest and April’s expulsion from college. Rudy is sentenced to 15 years in prison and though April keeps in touch, she separates herself from the incident and starts an entirely new life in Chicago with her husband and three kids. But Rudy’s release from prison sparks new interest in his case and connects April to the crime, forcing her to navigate her past and her present.

I absolutely loved this! The plot is gripping, the characters are flawed but redeemable, and it touches on heavy topics while providing a sense of hope. I enjoyed the format of the story. It starts with the present (Rudy’s release), transitions into the past to learn about the incident, then works back to the present. This works better than switching between the past and present every few chapters. The ending wraps up a little too neatly, in my opinion, but it isn’t completely unrealistic. Thanks to NetGalley, Spark Press, and Amy Blumenfeld for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars. I’m a little torn on how to rate this book. On one hand it was a very propulsive and interesting story and a very quick read. On the other hand, the writing and some of the story elements were very clunky. Some of the characters (Jillian, Peter especially) had no consistency in their character traits or actions, they acted completely differently at different points of the story just to move the story along, but it didn’t really make a lot of sense. Peter, who was ostensibly this loving and devoted husband, all of a sudden started acting like a toddler throwing a fit?
Overall, I did enjoy this story a lot and I was very curious about how it was going to resolve. I liked the story of Rudy and April’s friendship and I appreciated the author’s choice to reveal exactly what happened to Rudy instead of dragging it out across the entire book.
Thank you to Netgalley and Sparkpress for an advanced copy of this book.

This book hooked me early and never let go. I really liked all of the characters and felt like they were well developed. It was easy to follow and engaging. It wrapped up satisfyingly.