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Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Rape, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, War
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
This book takes place largely in 1975 when these murders are happening. When Patch sees his friend targeted, he becomes the prey. His friend is determined to help find him. Then spanning most of the lifetime, we see the cause for justice and a conclusion to these horrible crimes.
The short chapters in this longer book kept me turning pages. I loved the references to his favorite childhood book, Where the Wild Things Are.
The pirate and the beekeeper
“…he’d take that morning still and purse it till the colors ran because he knew it could not have been so beautiful. That nothing was ever so beautiful in his life.” Ch 1
““There’s a place where the bees make purple honey.” He listened. “
The North Carolina Coastal Plain. The sandhills. No one knows for sure why they do it. But it’s real purple. It glows. It’s like proof, Patch. There’s magical things out there just waiting on you.” Ch 24
“I just wanted to show you that sometimes things survive despite the harshest of odds.” Ch 27
The lovers, the dreamers
“At ten years old he realized that people were born whole, and that the bad things peeled layers from the person you once were, thinning compassion and empathy and the ability to construct a future. At thirteen he knew those layers could sometimes be rebuilt when people” ch 39
Cops and robbers
“People talk about one life … one chance. But I reckon a single life is made up of a dozen or more roles and responsibilities. I can count the versions of myself like friend and foe. Mistakes are the detours that remind you of the true way, Saint. To love and be loved is more than can ever be expected, more than enough for a thousand ordinary lifetimes.” 114
The hunt
“The bad are the few, but often they shout louder than the many. Don’t mistake silence for weakness.” 124
“Do something meaningful. Or maybe just mean everything you do,” he said. 127
Fate
“Sometimes people reserve so much of themselves. It’s like saving a fine wine for an occasion that never materializes.” 159
The prisoner
“…she wondered at the price of trust, and the toll it took to offer it, and to betray it.” 236
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Graphic: Hate crime, Kidnapping, Stalking
Moderate: Cancer, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder
Around 50-70% dragged for me, and I wished the book was not 15 hours/261 chapters, but it did play out that all the information we’d been given was circled back to eventually. With 200 or so fewer pages, this would’ve been a contender for best book of my year.
I saw someone compare this to Lessons in Chemistry which I would say is highly inaccurate. It was 1/4 part thriller, 3/4 part literary fiction.
“Do something meaningful, or maybe just mean everything you do”
Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Gun violence, Suicide, Abortion
Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, Stalking