A review by aylareve_reads
All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

"-I understand that there's something even more unsettling than being alone in the dark.  It's realizing that you're not really alone at all."

When a child is taken in the middle of the night and a mother refuses to give up, how far will she go to find her son and to make those that took him pay? What secrets will she uncover about others...about herself?

We follow a mother grieving for her infant son a year after his disappearance, who still believes he's out there waiting for her to find him.  She doesn't believe he's dead...she knows there's more to the story about his disappearance and she is willing to do whatever it takes to find him.

Wow wow wow wow. I cannot say enough good things about this book. I loved this book. It took me one way, brought me back a different way, and then ended in a place I didn't expect at all. This book had me looking internally at myself as a mother-how far would I go to find my children (pretty damn far)? What would I be willing to do to find them (literally anything)? 

It also had me looking at myself as a fan of true crime. Why do we as humans love true crime? Are we in it to support the victims and survivors? Or are we there for the details and to live those dark fantasies through those that have already experienced them? It was definitely hard to justify to myself that I can like true crime and still be supportive of victims and survivors-I am a Victim Advocate for the Air Force so I have heard firsthand the real-life experiences that these courageous people have gone through and I know that my intentions aren't to be nosy, but to be there as a support system; as an advocate.

This book hit on so many things that we all feel as women and mothers: mom guilt, the doubt, the need to apologize, to be small when people tell us we are too much, to be less when we want to be more, putting our careers on the back burner so our significant other can succeed-it all hit so close to home with myself and the others I know who have read the book. This wasn't just a mystery/thriller novel about a child who is missing and a mother looking for him. It was everything in between. It was the little moments that go unseen. It was real. And I think that's what I love about it so much. It felt real in so many ways.

I could not recommend this book enough. Stacy is a master storyteller and an instant buy author for me. I loved every second of this book and I couldn't put it down.