What if you had a history of sleepwalking as a child and an unexplained freak accident occurred overnight, would you question yourself? What about if your baby son disappears and there is no proof of a break-in, would you blame yourself? This is the situation Isabelle Drake finds herself in. The police don't believe her and neither does her ex husband. This delves into the story of trying to clear herself of any wrongdoing. Where I did find it kind of predictable, it did have a surprising twist at the end and I finished this book within a few days.

Arc Review

All The Dangerous Things

By: Stacy Willingham

Pub Date: January 10, 2023

5⭐️

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and let me tell you it didn’t disappoint!! I read Willingham’s debut novel A Flicker In the Dark last year and it was my top read of the year, so I knew I needed to get this book in my hands! No doubt in my mind that she will always be on my auto buy list!!

I was hooked on the first page and couldn’t put it down. The plot twists just kept getting better and better, I just kept guessing who the person was that took Mason. I also loved the flashbacks of her childhood. It was full of secrets and guilt that made her question herself in the present.

Run to your nearest store or online and grab a copy of this book! You will not be disappointed!

Thank you NetGalley for the Arc of All The Dangerous Things.

thank you for the early copy!

I loved the second-half of this book. It was thrilling and I could not turn the pages fast enough to know how everything resolved.

The first-half teased things for too long. Nothing happened that kept me engaged and wanting to pick it up.

Overall, would recommend!

I loved this book! I was so-so on her first but this one, I couldn’t put down - in fact, I finished it in 1 day. The mystery was compelling and I wasn’t sure how it would be solved. I can’t wait for her next one.

FIVE BIG, SHINY STARS! After reading Stacy’s debut novel, A Flicker in the Dark, I was so excited to read ATDT. And let me tell you - it did not disappoint! Although the taken child/unreliable narrater has been done many times in mystery and thriller novels, I still found ATDT to be a fresh take on it. I loved all the mini mysteries within the larger one. Stacy’s writing is so compelling and immersive and that truly showed in her sophomore novel. Can’t wait to read her next book!

The beginning was so slow and I just could not connect with this book at all,. It was hard to continue if I didn't care for the characters or the story itself. The writing also didn't help. I just felt like the author tried too hard to have us sympathize and it did not work,

I thought this book would be a hard read for me since I had my son five months ago and this book is about an 18 month old baby boy going missing. It was tough at first but as the story went I identified so much with Isabelle. Some of the things that all the mothers in the story say hit me hard as just being honest and raw and true. I didn’t identify with everything as I didn’t struggle with postpartum depression but the guilt aspect of motherhood portrayed in this novel is spot on.

I did guess some of the things coming in the ending but not enough for me to think I solved it. Willinghams ability to paint a picture and describe a scene is unmatched and I loved it so much. This was a great book to start off 2023 and I hope they all make me feel something like this one did!

5 stars...

This was a pulse pounding page turner! I couldn't put it down! Another hit from this author! The pacing was consistent throughout the entire book, which made this feel like it flowed effortlessly.

This is the second book I’ve read by Stacy Wellington and it was AMAZING!! Keep me intrigued firm start to finish. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I highly recommend this book!

This book was so incredibly twisty, I was on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, another curveball came my way and a whole new theory started to develop.

This book was a bit of a slow burn and a lot of time is spent creating the mood. The setting of this story is super creepy and unsettling. The way the author painted the picture of Isabelle’s life, past and present, added so much to the book and to the overall feel of the story. I’m a self-proclaimed scaredy cat so I appreciated how the book wrapped up but it was an incredible thrill going on the journey of figuring out who was guilty.

I liked how this story included an unreliable narrator. I feel like that always keeps me guessing and wondering if I can trust anything that is written at all. I will admit though, I hated Isabelle for most of this book. I thought she was unfair to her husband and couldn’t believe how much she tried to involve herself in a police investigation but I eventually warmed up to her as the story ended.

I really appreciated the addition of the author’s note at the end of the book. I felt as though it explained her character choices really well and left me with such a great understanding of everyone in the story, it wrapped everything up really nicely!

Read this if you:
- Are creeped out by sleepwalkers
- Are a fan of true crime
- Loved Gone Girl

A year after her son is taken from her home, Isabelle has nothing but unanswered questions and not a single lead on the case. Unable to sleep for the last year, she’s taken the cold case into her own hands, investigating neighbours and anyone who’s ever attended one of her talks at true crime conventions. She agrees to an interview with a true crime podcasted but he seems more interested in her than in the case, which makes Isabelle start to question her memories of the past.

💦 BOOK / REVIEW 💦

WOW. Wow. 🤯

Ok ... this book was GREAT! @stacyvwillingham strikes againg with #allthedangerousthings - I truly loved this on #audiobook (the narrator was fantastic). Thank you, @librofm for the incredible #alc!

I will admit that I had no idea what to think about this book for the first few chapters. I struggle with books that discuss child loss or kidnapping (not to mention death), so I want to stress the importance of being in the right frame of mind when you pick this up.

Willingham painted a really intriguing and absorbing story, all while delicately weaving in the struggles that when face related to postpartum depression, sleep walking and infidelity. This was undulates between past and present with 2 very different storylines that finally click near the end. I loved all of the twists in this one - and the ending was strong! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Excellent Book! I cant believe this author has only written 2 books. She is an expert story teller. I loved this one even more than her debut "A Flicker in the Dark".

Love when a story keeps me turning the page and not wanting to put the book down AND wraps up so nicely at the end. This book had me suspecting neatly every character of being involved in the disappearance of the main character's son, Mason, 1 year ago, including the mom, Izzy, herself due to her mysterious past.

The pacing of this book is great with just enough of the mystery revealed at a time and enough twists and additions of new suspects to keep the story moving along. I have already recommended this thriller to a number of people. Love it.

obsessed is an understatement with this one!! i really enjoyed flicker in the dark & was beyond excited when i was approved for this book!! my expectations were very high after her debut album and i can confidently say she exceeded them!! the writing is beyond incredible and the way she took us through the story with the narrator was simply perfection!! i loved this book so much i got it in my BOTM box even after already having a copy!!!
I do not want to give anything away because I think going in blind & letting Stacy take you on the ride is the best way to go into this one!!
thank you SOOO much to Stacy Willingham, NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advance copy!!

"We are nothing but what we choose to believe, but it's all a mirage, bending and warping and shimmering in the distance, changing its form at any given second.

Showing us exactly what we want to see when we want to see it."

How I wish the entire book had been as good as the last third was! Because of those final twists and epic pacing, I still give it 4 stars.

Isabelle Drake's nightmarish reality reminded me of The Machinist meets Unraveling Oliver, where an unreliable, sleep-deprived main character attempts to make sense of the last two years of her life, including the disappearance of her little boy, Mason.

The first 180 pages are beyond a slow burn, but all the setting up makes sense once you hit that cliff edge and go barreling down the many reveals, and hit the last page like a brick wall. Damn, that was a good ending.

Being not only a new mom, but also having lived my childhood plagued by sleepwalking and talking, this book chewed at some of my deepest fears. I definitely had to put it down a few times to take breathers. Readers: be warned-- or encouraged!

Big thanks to St. Martin's Press for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

While I didn't enjoy this as much as SW's debut novel, it's still a pretty engaging story!

I was able to figure out everything very early on, but that's only because I've read loads of mystery/thrillers and can spot the ‘whodunnit’ a mile away. It has nothing to do with SW's storytelling, which remains pretty strong. The pacing is good, the reveals are timed well, the characters have depth to them, and I enjoyed how the past is woven into the present.

So overall, this is a successful addition to SW's bibliography!

A great story!

Isabelle Drake has not had a good night's sleep in almost a year. Her insomnia started after her two-year-old son, Mason was taken from his bedroom while she and Ben, her husband were sleeping in the room next door.

Ben left Isabelle about six months after Mason disappeared. He is ready to move on with another younger version of Isabelle. Isabelle can't understand how Ben is already ready to give up while she is the complete opposite. Her son is on her mind 24/7 and she even travels to true crime conventions to speak about what happened to her in hope that someone can help her find him. At the end of the latest convention, she meets a podcaster by the name of Waylon. He wants to interview her about her son's abduction. At first, she doesn't want to but then she agrees. As she meets with him, she starts remembering things from her past that scare her. Could she have hurt her child?

This audio narrator, Karissa Vacker was fantastic. The development of the story had me on the edge of my seat. I was able to guess a couple of twists but not all of them. This was great! I can't wait to read another book by Stacy Willingham.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Macmillan Video via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Isabelle can't sleep. Her son Mason disappeared a year ago. With no real leads she will stop at nothing to figure it out. All she wants is her son back. And sometimes it seems like she's the only one. Her husband Ben moved out months ago and seems to be moving on with his life. He doesn't get why she can't. She looks up leads and emails the cop on the case as much as she can. She has to figure it out. How could she have slept through someone taking her son? Isabelle hasn't always had it easy in life, this brings up memories from her past. Memories she doesn't want to remember. Is the past about to repeat itself?

With short chapters, this book is told in two different timelines. I like how it was split up. You got just enough of the past to want more. I liked Isabelle's character. I loved the twists. I want to say so much more but I don't want to give anything away! I recommend reading/listening to this book! I've only read 3 books so far this year, but this is my favorite one so far!

This was my first book by this author and I wasn't disappointed. I liked the writing. It kept me entertained. It was such a good pace. It started off a bit slower, but I think it picked up quickly. I really liked the narration as well. Such a good book. It makes me want to read A Flicker in the Dark ASAP!!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Libro.fm for my digital and audio copies, in exchange for my honest review! 

(I will share my instagram link once posted.)

I really liked “A Flicker In The Dark”, so I was excited to get the ARC for this author’s second book! Then, I forgot that I had it until cleaning up my NetGalley page and seeing that I still hadn’t read it. Just like her debut, the writing in this was fantastic, and I really enjoyed the story.

Isabelle Drake has had a rough year. Her son was kidnapped, and the pressure caused her marriage to collapse. She hasn’t been able to sleep properly since her son was taken, so we have a somewhat unreliable narrator. Izzy is alone now, her husband having moved on to a new relationship, and the only thing she has to do is keep trying to find her child.

Izzy is a very sympathetic character and as the book went on, I felt worse for her. She’s trying to find her child, but she’s still a suspect in his disappearance. She also lost her sister when they were children, so the trauma of another child she loves possibly being dead really messes with her brain. Add in no sleep, and this poor woman is barely functioning … but she keeps fighting to find her son.

I thought the childhood back story was obviously sad, but excellent, and a great addition to an already wonderful book. There are twists, a couple of shocks, but this book also has a lot of feeling. This is a great story worthy of a solid four stars.

(Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Stacy Willingham, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)

Thanks @Netgalley for my E-ARC copy. 🥰
🦋💙🦋
This book serves trauma and revenge like it was just meant to be. Isabelle Drake is a mom broken, but not down, never down. Her son was kidnapped over a year ago, her husband left her and she CANNOT sleep, and not from lack of trying. She spends her days doing talk shows and profiling audience members for any clue to finding her son. This left me so heartbroken, and right then and there my connection to this character was well and truly formed.
🦋💙🦋
I found this one was a bit slow, to begin with, but man, once you got into it, it was impossible to stop reading. We only got one POV, but Willingham seamlessly blends the past and present to give us well-developed characters and all their messy ass business😏. Super short chapters (thank you🥰) and the ending was everything I needed it to be. There is nothing better than an act of good revenge, and it was served hunny😈😈. My second book from this author and it will definitely not be my last, absolutely recommend it.

No sophomore slump here! "All the Dangerous Things" is a solid thriller with a satisfying & twisty ending, but I did find it a bit slow paced at times. The MC is both an unreliable and unlikeable narrator, and I did find all the sleep deprivation references a bit repetitive. But that said, the story of this mother & her missing child was enjoyable and kept me guessing to the shocking ending! Recommend. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced digital copy of this book, my thanks to Net Galley & the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own...