Get Consumed with me | A book Review of “All the Colors of the Dark” by Chris Whitaker
This novel literally consumed me. It swallowed me whole and kept me in the dark till it allowed me to be spit back out into the world after 608 pages. At first I was hesitant to read such a long book at the end of the year - usually leaning towards shorter books to hit my reading goals - I decided to give it a go. And honestly with the short chapters it made the book fly by. I kept saying that phrase all readers love, “Just one more chapter.”
I find it hard to give a synopsis of the book without giving too much away but I’ll give it a go. The story starts out with two kids, Patch and Saint, who form a friendship based off being a bit weird or not as popular as the other kids. You also find out girls have been going missing in their town, and our main character Patch gets into an impossible situation when he comes across one of the popular girls from his school being taken. He tries to save her, and this moment changes the course of all of their lives forever. In the same way this book consumed me, this moment consumed their lives. You spend decades with these characters, witnessing how one decision can alter everything.
“To love and be loved was more than could ever be expected, more than enough for a thousand ordinary lifetimes.”
I loved that this book had a bit of everything. Love, adventure, romance, friendship, suspense, murder, mystery, and small town vibes. It made me laugh, it made me think, and it made me cry. It was heavily character driven and had some heavy content so you’ve been warned in that regard. I’m also not often shocked by plot twists and big reveals in books but this one threw me for a loop a couple of times which I respect. This book and it’s characters have still been on my mind after finishing it over a month ago and I dare to say it was my favorite read from 2024. So please, go read All the Colors of the Dark so I can have more people to discuss it and fan girl over it with.
xoxo
-April Editorial
