Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - All Good People Here

I listen to crime junkie and have heard Ashley promoting the book saying “the twist at the end you don’t see coming” and as much as I figured out in the book I truly did not see the twist coming. Phenomenal book with an engaging plot and twists and turns that feel real and aren’t forced. 5/5

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ktdakotareads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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jennastopreading's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I have been a fan of the Crime Junkie podcast since they had roughly 16 episodes out. so when I found out that the iconic Ashley Flowers was trying her hand at writing a novel, I had to jump on it and read it! Thank you to the publisher/Netgalley for granting me access to read it early.

This was a solid debut for Flowers and really showcased her ability to tell a story. At times I felt like I could hear her reading in her voice. The Indiana setting was perfectly described (as someone who lives in the neighboring state of Kentucky, I loved the small state representation) and the cast was intriguing and well fleshed out. I enjoyed the dual timeline/perspective, and I was equally invested in both of them (which is unusual for me, I usually love one way more than the other). I appreciated that the story was fast paced, that it kept me guessing, and that it never lagged.

I was a bit frustrated with the ending of this book, but I do understand why Flowers left it a bit open for interpretation. And while that may be more satisfying for some, it left me feeling like I was missing another chapter or two.

All in all, a great debut from Ashley Flowers, and I look forward to her next book!

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drraytay's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This book was well written and if I was unfamiliar with the JonBenet Ramsey case I would think it was a unique story. But unfortunately we are all familiar with the JonBenet Ramsey case and the main focus of this book is a murder almost exactly like JonBenet’s. I know Ashley has been accused of plagiarism in the past so I wanted to go in with an open mind but it was clear from the first chapter that there were glaring similarities: charismatic and successful girl goes missing in the middle of the night, same age, same time period, nearly the same cause of death, crime scene compromised from the start, body found within hours, mention of a ransom, national obsession, weird media appearances, mom is painted as jealous and a bad mother, stand-off ish brother, pretty mom and well off dad, mom dies before crime is solved. That is A LOT similar of details, so much so that I was distracted by the ever unfolding similarities for the first 60% of the book. There were a few twists that were surprising but most of them I saw coming from a mile away.

One glaring error that kept bothering me was the timeline of when Billy and Krissy got together vs when the twins were born. Billy and Krissy met the summer of ‘88 but when January died I’m ‘94 she was 6 years old. Later in the book her birthdate was mentioned as April ‘88 which means Billy and Krissy would’ve had to get together in the summer of ‘87. Hopefully this is just an editing error and it will be fixed before the book is released but it was really distracting.

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