Title: All the Dangerous ThingsAuthor: Stacy Willingham
Narrator: Karissa Vacker
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Format: Audiobook
Listening length: 9 hours 55 minutes 34 seconds
Date of Publication: January 10, 2023
Description: One year ago, Isabelle Drake's life changed forever: her toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep in the next room. With little evidence and few leads for the police to chase, the case quickly went cold. However, Isabelle cannot rest until Mason is returned to her—literally.
Except for the occasional catnap or small blackout where she loses track of time, she hasn’t slept in a year.
Isabelle's entire existence now revolves around finding him, but she knows she can’t go on this way forever. In hopes of jarring loose a new witness or buried clue, she agrees to be interviewed by a true-crime podcaster—but his interest in Isabelle's past makes her nervous. His incessant questioning paired with her severe insomnia has brought up uncomfortable memories from her own childhood, making Isabelle start to doubt her recollection of the night of Mason’s disappearance, as well as second-guess who she can trust... including herself. But she is determined to figure out the truth no matter where it leads.
My Thoughts: This is my first Stacy Willingham book and I really enjoyed it. The story has a ton of twists and turns and when you think you have figured things out, Stacy Willingham throws you a curve ball.
I did find the story to be a bit slow at first but it definitely picked up pace. I also found the flashbacks to be confusing in the beginning because I kept thinking it was going back to right before Isabelle's son Mason disappeared in the middle of the night but it was not. It's actually going back to when Isabelle was a very young child.
Stacy Willingham does an amazing job with creating such a twist and turn story. The characters are complex and well created. The way that she has woven each characters lives into each other, sometimes, without them knowing it at first was great.
There is an author's note at the end of the audiobook by Stacy Willingham that I found resonated with me quite a bit. It discusses how she developed her story and the extensive research she did in being a mother and mental health, especially with her not being a mother herself. She also makes sure to recommend a national helpline for individuals who may be suffering with mental health at the time.
Karissa Vacker was amazing in her narration. I was impressed with the ease that she seemed to be able to transition from an Adult female voice to an Adult male voice to a female child's voice. Her narration brings the story alive as you listen to it.
Rating: 4 out of 5 as I really enjoyed the story including the twists and turns, the intricacies of all the characters and how their lives were interwoven with such secrecy, and the second guessing that is created with the "who done it". The reason for the 4 though is because it took me a while to understand the past part of the story and where exactly in Isabelle's life it was referring to. I initially thought it was to her son's disappearance but then realized that it wasn't and it took me a while to figure out what even it was flashing back too.
I am definitely looking forward to picking up another Stacy Willingham book in the near future.
Many thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for this review copy. This is my honest opinion.
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