A review by mahaliahp
All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

dark emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I picked up this book because I saw several readers hyping it up on social media. I personally don't see the hype. The writing style, though quite stunning in sections, felt contrived. I felt hyper-aware of the writing style in a way that sometimes took away from the reading experience. Not sure if others will relate to this. I wished characters would have normal conversations instead of constantly saying the most philosophical, perfectly-phrased reflection on the nature of life. Especially the child and teen characters. Just felt off to me.  

This book was extremely slow paced. Like it's a "thriller" in the sense that they are tracking a serial killer, sure. And the chapters are short to artificially make it feel like a page turner, but it was much too slow of a burn to truly be a thriller. Though I never read thrillers so maybe I'm wrong. The middle section was hard to get through. I kept wondering how this book could possibly be almost 600 pages, and I SAVOUR a long book if it's good.  I gave it an extra .5 star for the last 50 or so pages that gave a satisfactory ending (though too many loose ends were tied up, in my opinion). Interested to hear what people who loved this book have to say. 
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