All the Dangerous Things: The gripping new psychological thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of A Flicker in the Dark

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All the Dangerous Things" is a story about mental health and motherhood. It's told in two timelines, now and in 1999 from a sleep-deprived mother seeking answers. There are many twists and surprises along the way which I much prefer over the reveals unloaded in the last few chapters. I was completely blindsided by this one and all theories I had were tossed out the window. Loooved when this happens!! This book is slow and laborious. Willingham has a tendency to use more words than are necessary to say the most basic of things so it takes forever for her to just get to the point. A lot of people like that style of writing, and sometimes I do too, but for whatever reason it just didn't work for me here. I like my thrillers a little more thrilling.

The locations and settings add another dimension too as they perfectly match the events, creating a terrific atmosphere and heightening the tension and increasing intensity. Stellar suspense at its very best. . . this one will rightfully find itself on many a year-end, best-of list.” – Vulture The mystery/suspense feels very guessable but has enough surprises and twists to keep you on your toes. A couple of the twists are nice but many of them were just silly. Some were farfetched.I’ve been so used to being the one with a tale to tell, the one with a tragedy, that I’ve never even thought to ask. “Your sister?” All the Dangerous Things is a story about motherhood, sisterhood, and toxic secrets. It’s about how our need to know more can push against our limitations—and what happens when those limits break. My Thoughts

On the night of Alison’s memorial Waylon saw Ben kissing Isabelle. Waylon thinks Ben took Mason. His rationale is that he couldn’t kill two wives without people getting suspicious and that he didn’t want to be a single dad.Her husband Ben already lost his hope and moved on in his life, dating with a new woman who is younger version of Isabella. The only sign of an intruder was an open window in Mason's room. With zero other leads, or evidence though, the police had nothing to go on. The case goes cold. Detective Dozier comes by and tells Isabelle that no old man lives in the house with the view of her yard. Just Paul Hayes, a guy on parole for minor drug infractions.

What do you think Stacy Willingham is saying about “mom guilt” in this book? How does Isabelle’s story reflect societal pressures of family dynamics and the role of mother? At the time, it reminded me of the stars: how two can collide and fuse into one—bigger, brighter, stronger than before. But what I didn’t know then was that when they collide too fast, they don’t fuse at all. Instead, they explode, evaporating into nothing.” Isabelle (Izzy) Drake's toddler, Mason was snatched from his crib in the middle of the night, the baby monitor ran out of battery and there was no break-in. A year later with no clue to go by, the investigation stalled and it's up to Izzy to keep the case going and maintain public interest. Many readers found the twists to be mind blowing but I didn't think anything all that surprising was revealed. I knew who the bad person was very early on though I admit I didn't know exactly how it all went down it and when I found out I just shrugged my shoulders ready to move on. 2 stars! 🤷‍♀️Then comes marriage and a baby although along the way she loses so much of herself, her hopes, her identity. Once her baby is born she's so exhausted but eventually she wants more, only to lose everything she had left. Sleep deprivation is a beast and it's not like Isabelle hasn't struggled with sleep irregularities in the past.

I was so excited to be granted an arc for Stacy Willingham's latest novel after hearing so much praise for it so it always pains me to be the dissenting opinion in the crowd. 😞 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. —Stacy Willingham, All the Dangerous Things Ladies and gentlemen of TrueCrimeCon, it is my honor to present to you, our keynote speaker … Isabelle Drake!” As usual, the police didn’t find out anything important. It is our unreliable narrator who manages to resolve the case almost entirely on her own, a whole year after the incident. So basically, nothing much happened for a year, and then every secret started unravelling within a couple of weeks and the mystery is resolved too neatly, tied together with a ribbon on top. A young boy goes missing from his bedroom while his parents, Isabelle and Ben, are sleeping. Less than a year after his abduction, Isabelle and Ben, separate as they struggle to come to the acceptance of his disappearance. Isabelle continues her desperate search for answers alone.I'm a firm believer in "less is more" when it comes to writing. Think of Iain Reid: he can bring all the spooky vibes without winding similes and melodramatic run-on sentences. If you can elicit emotion from the reader with sparse prose, that's talent. Moaning on and on and on about "me sad, me depressed, me wounded like a baby bird who dropped 30000 feet from the sky during a stage 5 hurricane" in hopes the reader might be like... maybe I should be sad here?? is not talent. Izzy encounters a true-crime podcaster Waylon Spencer who had success solving a case. Although reluctant at first, Izzy gave in for an interview. He seems to be interested in her past and keeps digging but it's something Izzy wants to forget.