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A review by bestmonthever
All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby
4.0
3.5 stars, rounded up
I liked this book as a slow-burn drama that did a great job of describing small-town life in the South and the racial tensions that exist. The character building, explanation of the relationships between characters, and dynamics of the town were really well written and helped to bring the story to life in my head; however, as a mystery/thriller, it was slightly disappointing.
There are several pieces of the plot that didn't make sense, and weren't ever explained, even after the story ended. And there seemed to be a lot of side-plots that didn't really add anything to the actual narrative of the main story. While I enjoy a good subplot, if it really has no relevance to the story beyond providing additional insight into the atmosphere, ESPECIALLY in a slow-burn novel, it begins to feel like the book is dragging out longer than necessary.
This was my first S.A. Cosby book, so my expectations of it being written like a traditional mystery/thriller weren't met. However, I did enjoy his writing style and character development, and now that I have the appropriate expectations of how his stories play out, I will definitely be reading more of his novels in the future in hopes that I can appreciate them more.
I liked this book as a slow-burn drama that did a great job of describing small-town life in the South and the racial tensions that exist. The character building, explanation of the relationships between characters, and dynamics of the town were really well written and helped to bring the story to life in my head; however, as a mystery/thriller, it was slightly disappointing.
There are several pieces of the plot that didn't make sense, and weren't ever explained, even after the story ended. And there seemed to be a lot of side-plots that didn't really add anything to the actual narrative of the main story. While I enjoy a good subplot, if it really has no relevance to the story beyond providing additional insight into the atmosphere, ESPECIALLY in a slow-burn novel, it begins to feel like the book is dragging out longer than necessary.
Spoiler
I think my least favorite part of the book is finding out who the killer is. The actual person who is "The Third Wolf" isn't introduced, even as a minor side character, until the very end of the book, despite the fact that he clearly is a fairly well-known person in the town. This makes it impossible for anyone to even begin to guess who the killer is, since his entire existence is unknown until it's announced that he's the killer. Considering how many additional unnecessary subplots were included in this book, it was very disappointing to discover that there wasn't a way to include him in the storyline at any other pointThis was my first S.A. Cosby book, so my expectations of it being written like a traditional mystery/thriller weren't met. However, I did enjoy his writing style and character development, and now that I have the appropriate expectations of how his stories play out, I will definitely be reading more of his novels in the future in hopes that I can appreciate them more.