Stacy Willingham: All the Dangerous Things

Stacy Willingham shows that a mother will stop at nothing to find her son, whether he is dead or alive

On year ago, the unthinkable happens, Isabelle's toddler son, Mason, is taken from his crib at night and has not been seen since. The only evidence is an open window and Mason's dragon found a short distance away. With little evidence and no leads, Isabelle fears that her son's case will be lost in the shuffle of time. She decides to take her story to true crime conferences around the country in order to keep the case in the spotlight. Ever since Mason has disappeared Isabelle has not been able to sleep and it has been affecting her entire life but entire existence is about finding Mason. In the hopes of stirring new information, she agrees to be interviewed by a true crime podcaster, who has has success in the past with finding someone who was missing, but Isabelle is not sure she can trust him as some things are not adding up. Will Isabelle be able to find Mason, or is Mason not the only one who is in trouble of disappearing.

This is a good read but I am not going to lie, it is slow...I was honestly questioning if I should con6tinue on reading it at the 50% as nothing had happened. Once you hit around the 75% mark things start to happen but it was quite a drag to hey there. So does the last 25 % make up for the previous 75% being slow. Yes and No. I mean the twists were well done but I was able to figure out one of the twists and most of the other. But I struggled reading this book as at times as there appeared to be nothing happening other than Isabelle questioning herself and you can only do that so much. Isabelle is really more concerned about the past and what happened to her sister, and there is no additional investigation really done with regards to what happened to Mason, is just sort of comes together in that last 25%.

I like the format that Willingham has done in both their books, with 2 mysteries occurring but at different time periods but yet they are related in some way. I also appreciate that this book's plot is completely different from Willingham's debut novel, though I will say the formula is similar.

I appreciate that it talks about how difficult motherhood can be and how people put on it’s perfect face to try to cover it up and still feel ashamed when they talk about how difficult it can be. This really plays well into the plot of the book as Isabelle becomes a unreliable narrator with her lack of sleep and not knowing if she has done things while sleep walking or when her insomnia gets really bad we are reminded more than once that this can cause hallucinations. You cannot help but feel sorry for Isabelle, throughout the story, everything that she has gone through, the lack of support she receives and just her never-ending relentlessness to find her son.

I do like Willingham's writing style/format and that both of her books have been creative, I just wish this one was more fast paced instead of just all coming together in the end. I will read the another book by Willingham to see what she can come up with next

Enjoy!!!!

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