Such Good People was a great read! It’s definitely completely character driven, so for those who prefer a more plot-focused read this may not be for you.

I was so invested in the characters and wanted to know exactly what was going on, which meant i got through this really quickly! I loved the different perspectives and felt this was written well so we understand the characters in greater depth, even if it was a bit slow-moving in parts.

Overall I’d really recommend this to anyone who is intrigued by the concept of this book.

Loved this book. Thanks for the arc copy. Can’t wait to post more about this closer to release date. Look for the review on my Instagram.I

I really enjoyed this book, especially the second half when we find out more about the miscarriage of justice. I found the telling of the story by the different characters added depth, as did the different time frames. The strength of the love and friendship between April and Rudy, and how this didn’t falter over the years, was the highlight of the story for me.

4 stars

Thank you Netgalley and SparkPress for an advance copy.

I absolutely loved this book! The story was amazing. I loved the friendship between April and Rudy and the fact that it never faltered even through all of the turmoil that life brought. The characters were likable and purposeful to the story. The last 30% of the book I could not put down. The multi POV worked well for me. This was an emotional read that looked into the wrongfully accused and what happens when lawyers suck at their job. This is a story that I'll remember for a long time. I can't wait to see what Blumenfeld comes up with next.

It's not perfect but I think this helps with the story line. It's so good and tackles many different topics. I look forward to the author's next book!

Such Good People has an intriguing premise, and with a comparison in its blurb to An American Marriage, I was instantly sold.

Unfortunately, this book just did not work for me and I am opting to quit it after getting about halfway through. The issues for me are as follows:

1. The dialogue is painfully unnatural and quite stilted. It’s hard for me to stick with a book where the dialogue is a distraction.
2. The plot feels a bit more thin than I expected, given the blurb. There is a weight that I expected the writing to carry that just hasn’t shown up 50% through, and that is a sign to me that it likely will continue on the thin side.
3. The characters feel very one dimensional. I am having trouble caring about them because they don’t seem like full people.

As always, just because a book doesn’t work for me does not make it a bad book, and I’m sure this will work well for some folks. I think if you gravitate toward lighter books but want to tiptoe into a more serious topic, this could be a good fit.

Thank you to the publisher for the early copy.

I truly enjoyed reading this book. I thought that the characters and different points of view were incredibly well done. The characters were interesting, their perspectives well thought out and they were all well developed. I enjoyed their interactions, growth and different takes on the same event. I was pulled into the story line from the start and remained invested and engaged throughout. There were some parts that moved a little slowly - I enjoyed the different POV but wanted a little more oomph from the plot at times. I loved the exploration of relationships - family, spouse and friends, Forgiveness, justice and the ups and down in life to be very well done. I really enjoyed this story and recommend anyone who wants to think a little about life to read it!

Thank you NetGalley for my advanced reader copy.

What a story. You never know what lurks in the human heart, though most people look like such good people. When students get caught in a spiral of death, law, and ambition, their lives spiral out of control.

Redemption and reconciliation make this a satisfying read. Highly recommended.

I selected this book on Net Galley a couple of months ago when I first saw the colorful cover and then read the summary, it piqued my curiosity. Such Good People takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster as you learn about the history of the friendship of Rudy and April. I enjoyed the multiple points of view in the book and was presently surprised on the mysterious way the author laid out the story. It kept me guessing for a good part of the book. I really enjoyed all the rich details of the food and the bonds that were formed in this community, specifically between April and Rudy's family.

The book made you think about the legal justice system and how complicated cases can be. The story showed how a split second decision sent both Rudy and April on very different paths. How things can snowball with devastating results.

I found this book very easy to fall into and the pacing was perfect. I had so many moments I was talking to the characters, trying to give them advice. It makes you think of what you do for found family and friends, and it also showed how class had an impact on the outcomes of a case. The victim's family had the means to create the narrative that suited them. Those were hard sections to read but very important. The story was thought-provoking without being preachy.

I think this book would also make a great book club book with so many different issues to discuss.

This is the author's second book, and I will be sure to read more from this author. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book prior to its release.

I just finished ​​Such Good People by Amy Blumenfeld and here are my musings.

15 years ago something happened in college that April is eager to forget. Her life is great, married attorney Peter on the verge of election to a local office but her past is coming back to haunt her and she doesn’t know which she needs to protect more.

Heavily heavily character driven. If you are like me you need to be in the mood for a book like this so I started it and had to put it down until I was ready. I can’t help being a moodie.

Once I did settle it, I really got sucked in. I had to know. I was 100% invested in each character. They all felt real, like these people are really out there… Existing in my world and that made it a much more entertaining read. It was really emotional but it also balanced it out with some humor! It was really well done..

It’s fast paced which I did appreciate as I need a decent pace. I really enjoyed how the author presents the hard choices and the moral complexities that come with making decisions where you are damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

Definitely worth the read.

4.25 stars

Thank you to @netgalley and @spark_ppc for my gifted copy!

At the start of this novel, April is in her 30s, a mom and teacher married to Peter who is running for office in Chicago. Then she gets a call from a journalist who to her surprise is not asking about Peter’s campaign, but about the fact that April’s friend Rudy is getting out of jail, a revelation that has personal and professional reservations for April and Peter. The book is told from both April and Rudy’s perspectives in both the past and the present, as we learn what happened back when they were 18 years old, and how it affects their present lives as well.

And wow, this was a good one! So compelling that I literally read it in one day because I just couldn’t put it down and needed to find out what was going to happen! I was so caught up in the characters and the way a tragedy altered their lives forever, and also by the thoughtful look at the justice system. I think fans of older Jodi Picoult books would like this one with its intersection of the personal and the judicial system. It would also make a great movie or mini-series. Not to mention a great book club book - looking forward to discussing with the friend I buddy read with.

**Such Good People** by Amy Blumenfeld is an engaging, sharply written novel that dives into the messiness of friendship, secrets, and what it means to be "good." The story is fast-paced and full of heart, with characters who feel real and relatable in all their imperfections. Blumenfeld balances humor and emotion so well that you’ll find yourself smiling even as you’re reflecting on the deeper questions it raises. A smart, satisfying read that keeps you turning the pages!

Oh, what a heartbreaking story this was! Such Good People is a moving novel of loyalty, family, love, loss, and the injustice of life - how something that seems almost insignificant at one moment can change the course of the lives of many people.

April and Rudy have been friends since they were children but everything changes when they both have started college, April a five-hour-bus ride away and Rudy at the community college in Brooklyn. Rudy is sentenced to prison and April struggles to start her life again. The whole thing resurfaces fifteen years later in Chicago, where April is living with her husband Peter and their three children, and threatens to destroy Peter's political career. And their marriage.

Thank you so much NetGalley and SparkPress for the ARC and thank you Amy Blumenfeld for writing this thought-provoking story.

Such Good People by Amy Blumenfeld is such a good book! Told from various perspectives, the compelling (but not always likeable) characters move this story forward through the themes of loyalty, redemption, justice and above all, friendship.

In perhaps the sweetest of meet cutes, young Rudy crosses the space between the apartment building where he lives and the home next door of young April, telling her parents he’s going to dig a tunnel connecting the two in case she ever needs him for anything.

Turns out, she’s going to need him.

Best friends, the two weave in and out of each other’s childhoods, living as they do, neighbors in Brooklyn, friends, and only friends, who lean on each other always.

One night, in the spring of her freshman year of college, April is waiting in a crowded bar for Rudy, who she hasn’t seen in a while, to arrive so they can catch up.

Instead, a drunk young man who had been hitting on April ends up dead.

In a whirlwind, Rudy is arrested, jailed, and sent away for an interminable amount of time - his guilt more a nod to social injustice than to any real evidence of a crime. Initially, April is steadfast - she will atone for this wrong she knows has befallen her best friend, but time goes by, she meets handsome attorney Peter, moves to Chicago, and has a life Rudy won’t.

Years later, April’s two worlds threaten to collide: just as Peter is set to win a local election, Rudy is up for parole.

And now everything is a mess.

April must do some soul searching and make a tough decision: to whom will she remain loyal?
__
Woah. This was a weird, wild ride.

Defying genre - decade spanning family drama, intimate character study, mystery, contemplation on society? - it will keep you on your toes. Told in multiple timelines and different voices, the reader gets a real sense of how of how each player is dealing with these circumstances.

I was enthralled by the blurred lines and how choices we make have a stunning ripple effect on our entire lives; things always have the potential to revisit you, especially when you become complacent.

While Rudy is wholesome and relatable, April is less straightforward and teeters between a character you love and one you might hate. Peter adds another layer, and his arc is both upsetting and understandable. Plus, there’s Jillian, former college acquaintance, once instigator, and redemptively journalist and savior in Rudy’s life, the most complex of them all.

There was one piece to the story that was kept hidden from the reader out of necessity which I found incredibly frustrating until it was revealed much later - though I understood the why, I wish it had been done differently. Not enough to dampen any enjoyment though!

If you’re looking for something quiet and unexpected, I recommend this one.

One night. One decision. A lifetime of consequences. Such Good People is a quietly powerful, emotionally layered novel that explores the long shadows cast by loyalty, love, and sacrifice. When April makes a split-second choice to protect her friend Rudy in college, it unravels the course of her life in a way no one could predict. Fast forward fifteen years, and she’s rebuilt a beautiful, stable life...with a loving husband, three children, and a rising public image. But when Rudy's parole hearing collides with her husband's political campaign, past and present come crashing into each other.

The story shines in how it handles moral complexity...there’s no easy right or wrong, just raw humanity and the hard weight of choices. Richmond’s writing is introspective and emotionally rich, capturing April’s inner turmoil with nuance. It’s less about action and more about what happens after the fallout: how people move forward, how forgiveness is earned, and how love sometimes demands the impossible.

It’s a slow burn, but one that lingers long after the last page.

Such Good People by Amy Blumenfeld is a thoughtful and emotional story about friendship, healing, and second chances. The story follows a group of old college friends who reconnect years later. As they catch up, secrets from the past come out, and everyone is forced to face the truth about themselves and each other. The book deals with real-life topics like illness, grief, forgiveness, and how people grow over time. The characters feel real and easy to relate to. The author writes in a way that is clear and heartfelt, making it easy to connect with the story. Even though some parts are sad, there is also a lot of hope and it shows how strong people can be when they support each other. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys stories about friendship, family, and learning how to move forward when life gets hard.

Such Good People is a warm, honest look at how trauma affects friendships and families. Amy Blumenfeld blends humor with serious moments in a way that feels authentic and uplifting. While a few parts could have been tighter, it’s ultimately a touching, hopeful read about resilience and the bonds that hold us together.

April and Rudy are childhood best friends whose lives both change in an instant when Rudy is arrested and April is kicked out of school. In a dual timeline, we get to see how the pair become inseparable friends, as well as what becomes of each of them over the course of Rudy's almost 15 year long incarceration.

I didn't care for the writing style at times, which seemed to switch between third and first person, but found the story and the way it all came together enough to overlook that. This was an interesting commentary on social class, privilege, remorse and righting past wrongs. The author noted at the end that her father was a public defender turned judge and her mother a public school teacher, and her inspiration was clear in every page of the story.

This is a touching story about lifelong friendships, loyalty, guilt, and privilege. Set in New York and Chicago, it explores the relationship between April and Rudy through multiple points of view. What I love most about the story is the connection between the two families and their community. My only complaint is how April's husband, Peter, changed after her past was revealed, though it was understandable. "Such Good People" is a heartwarming read that brought me to tears by the end.

Thank you, NetGalley and SparkPress, for the advanced copy.