Scan barcode
A review by madelinemaesmith
All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
3.0
2.5⭐️/5 - rounded up to three on Goodreads.
I am an outlier on this book, so I still say it's worth checking out if you're curious! It just wasn't for me. This had SO much potential to be a 5⭐️ read, the premise is unique and the story starts off really strong, but ultimately, it fell flat.
I want to start by saying the author did a great job creating this world. The atmosphere, the raw emotions associated with time and place were really effective. The story explores themes of trauma and the passage of time, highlighting how we often grow into who the world shapes us to be, despite our best efforts to resist. It doesn't shy away from harsh truths, and I found the first 20(ish) percent to be incredibly captivating.
Unfortunately, the story meanders far too much after that. This book needed to be shorter, a criticism I've seen a lot from other reviewers. I don’t mind deep character dives or detours from the main plot, but this one came down to the writing and poor execution. I found the writing to be nonsensical, over-the-top, and pretentiously trying to weave together mixed metaphors and characters that spoke in riddles. For a story that insisted upon its characters, there was surprisingly little depth to them.
I also didn’t mind the genre-bending elements—it leans heavily into literary fiction/character-driven storytelling rather than thriller territory—but I can think of other books that handled similar concepts with more finesse. Where the Crawdads Sing, Black Cake, God of the Woods - all had momentum that this book lacked.
In the end, while I appreciated the ambition, it didn’t live up to its potential.
I am an outlier on this book, so I still say it's worth checking out if you're curious! It just wasn't for me. This had SO much potential to be a 5⭐️ read, the premise is unique and the story starts off really strong, but ultimately, it fell flat.
I want to start by saying the author did a great job creating this world. The atmosphere, the raw emotions associated with time and place were really effective. The story explores themes of trauma and the passage of time, highlighting how we often grow into who the world shapes us to be, despite our best efforts to resist. It doesn't shy away from harsh truths, and I found the first 20(ish) percent to be incredibly captivating.
Unfortunately, the story meanders far too much after that. This book needed to be shorter, a criticism I've seen a lot from other reviewers. I don’t mind deep character dives or detours from the main plot, but this one came down to the writing and poor execution. I found the writing to be nonsensical, over-the-top, and pretentiously trying to weave together mixed metaphors and characters that spoke in riddles. For a story that insisted upon its characters, there was surprisingly little depth to them.
I also didn’t mind the genre-bending elements—it leans heavily into literary fiction/character-driven storytelling rather than thriller territory—but I can think of other books that handled similar concepts with more finesse. Where the Crawdads Sing, Black Cake, God of the Woods - all had momentum that this book lacked.
In the end, while I appreciated the ambition, it didn’t live up to its potential.