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A review by mackenzierm
All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
1.0
In 1975 in the small town of Monta Clara, Missouri, girls are disappearing. When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, Patch, a local boy with one eye, saves the girl, leaving heartache in his wake. Patch and those who love him discover that their search for answers will lead to truths that could mean losing each other.
I have seen many, many glowing reviews for ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK so was beyond excited to pick this up as a buddy read with several ladies on Bookstagram. Unfortunately, I think this one is over-hyped and it very much missed the mark for me. Honestly, I have never been so excited to finish a book in my life. I should have listened to my gut when I wasn't enjoying it by the 30% mark and dropped it, but I was hopeful that things would pick up.
The writing style is unusual, almost poetic, with an odd, jilting sentence structure. It certainly takes some time to get used to and maybe a little extra focus to not miss anything important. I was getting used to it by the 15-20% mark, but unfortunately the story is so boring and dry that I was struggling to focus. Each chapter is less than a handful of pages, which makes you think that the story will progress quickly - that's not the case (for me, at least). At the 30% mark, I decided to give the audiobook a try to see if this would help my case and make this story more palatable. It did not. I think this 600+ page book would benefit from a chop of 200-250 pages as there's a lot of filler and unnecessary details.
I have trouble with the fact that this book is being labeled as a thriller. I typically expect thrillers to be more fast-paced, tense, with some action.... and actually <i>thrilling</i>. I think that this novel leans more towards mystery whilst having a very character-driven focus, and a lens that looks closely at obsession, love, and hope. All this aside, I found the plot to be slow and winding with little happening to incite me to want to read more. The ending wasn't even that much of a shock, more of a disappointment. Despite this being a character-driven novel, I never really found the characters to be relatable or for me to connect to them in any type of way, lacking in substance and dimension. It's a very long book to not connect in any type of way with the characters.
Alas, this one was not for me but I'm glad everyone else is loving it!
I have seen many, many glowing reviews for ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK so was beyond excited to pick this up as a buddy read with several ladies on Bookstagram. Unfortunately, I think this one is over-hyped and it very much missed the mark for me. Honestly, I have never been so excited to finish a book in my life. I should have listened to my gut when I wasn't enjoying it by the 30% mark and dropped it, but I was hopeful that things would pick up.
The writing style is unusual, almost poetic, with an odd, jilting sentence structure. It certainly takes some time to get used to and maybe a little extra focus to not miss anything important. I was getting used to it by the 15-20% mark, but unfortunately the story is so boring and dry that I was struggling to focus. Each chapter is less than a handful of pages, which makes you think that the story will progress quickly - that's not the case (for me, at least). At the 30% mark, I decided to give the audiobook a try to see if this would help my case and make this story more palatable. It did not. I think this 600+ page book would benefit from a chop of 200-250 pages as there's a lot of filler and unnecessary details.
I have trouble with the fact that this book is being labeled as a thriller. I typically expect thrillers to be more fast-paced, tense, with some action.... and actually <i>thrilling</i>. I think that this novel leans more towards mystery whilst having a very character-driven focus, and a lens that looks closely at obsession, love, and hope. All this aside, I found the plot to be slow and winding with little happening to incite me to want to read more. The ending wasn't even that much of a shock, more of a disappointment. Despite this being a character-driven novel, I never really found the characters to be relatable or for me to connect to them in any type of way, lacking in substance and dimension. It's a very long book to not connect in any type of way with the characters.
Alas, this one was not for me but I'm glad everyone else is loving it!