All the Dangerous Things

Never having picked up A Flicker in the Dark, but knowing it was popular enough to be one of the BOTY finalists for BOTM, I picked up All The Dangerous Things when I had the chance. I loved how the plot knitted together motherhood and complicated emotions; after all, none of us are simple creatures. Towards the beginning, I was thinking to myself how upset I was going to be if this turned out to be a simple, clear cut story; luckily, I was rewarded with an astounding tale featuring multiple plot twists that I did not guess. 

The writing style of Stacy Willingham stood out to me from the very first pages. She blends poetic word choices with a gripping, tension thriller that not many people can pull off well. Furthermore, she manages to create characters who are so flawed, but so relatable. There were many points in the story that I felt as if she pulled a certain aspect of my personality and threw it on the page (I’m an immensely heavy sleeper, but luckily I don’t tend to sleep walk!). I was deeply invested in the story, but not because I needed to see how it ended; I needed to absorb more of the story because I cared about what happened to her. 

Overall, if this sounds interesting to you, I would recommend picking this up. It’s a quick read at less than 350 pages, and the story will stay with you long after you read it. That being said, this book comes with a list of trigger warnings; I’ve heard many mothers of young children say they could not read something like this, so proceed with caution.