All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker is easily the best book I’ve read all year. It is a book about endless love, tragedy, and hope; both a coming of age novel as well as a years-long mystery. Chris Whitaker’s writing is like music, with one note leading to the next, pulling the reader along with crescendos and interludes as he skillfully reveals the decades-long relationship between Patch and Saint with all its complexities. The last 30 or so pages are so beautiful, it was almost unbearable.

I loved this book. One crime, that takes three decades to solve, ruins all those affected by it. Kids who grew up and never gave up on finding out what happened that night. We follow their lives and see the damage that was done to them. See it play out in their adult lives. This book is a haunting portrait of the human experience, the consequences of the rich vs the poor and how a crime ruined a town. It’s so beautiful in its entirety. I will never be able to think about beavers or ferrets the same again. NEVER. While the story is full of pain and suffering, there’s also joyous moments of unforgettable laughter. I laughed a few times myself. Seriously, getting parenting advice from Sammy? LOL! The characters are some of the most well developed ones I’ve ever read. We can follow what happened to them as children and link it to their actions as adults. It must have been so much fun plotting these characters out. The book leaves us with one final lesson: when you stop looking for something, that’s when you’ll find what you’ve been looking for. Highly recommend this one. Yes it’s long but I promise it won’t feel that way. Loved the short chapters. They were each filled with just the right amount of action.

Incredible story (and incredibly long). Confusing at times but amazing surprises throughout. Great characters. Very creative writing style. Definitely worth reading.

I was moved and touched by this beyond what I am willing to admit. I was in a book slump for a very long time. Unable and struggling to find a read to match this one. So much so I wasn’t even able to write a review for it because I was still processing it. The writing is outstanding - clever, well-knitted together. Every little detail is well-fitted and placed perfectly to tie in all loose ends. The themes expressed perfectly. My only complaint is - once you get to the ending, you realize how political this fiction piece is - pushing an agenda right before the elections. And yet I can’t refuse the fact that writing was great, intense and very emotional.

My go to reading genre is fantasy, paranormal, romantasy, so this was out of the norm for me. I will be brutally honest, at first I cringed, dreaded picking up the book, and made excuses to not read when I normally read. I have a hard time with realistic fiction that delve into gut wrenching situations dealing with kids. They affect me deeply. I thought this was going to turn out to be like a Mystic River. But it wasn’t. It’s a beautiful journey in the lives of these perfectly constructed, pure, heart-filled characters. It’s a story about hope and salvation. The writer weaves each person’s story together and blends them into a magnificent braided path. Even though at times I was absolutely afraid for the outcome, I read on because I was sucked into their lives and wanted to find out how it finally all concluded for them. It has a familiarity to Forrest Gump, traveling through the decades in the lives of the characters and demonstrating how every action starting from the very first page carried relevance through a lifespan. My only complaint is that there were too many unnecessary chapters or points that were droned on and repetitive. There were chapters I felt added no importance to moving the plot or characters along. This could have been shortened a bit. Overall, no regrets I veered from my norm and read this book. A book that will certainly keep you wanting to know more and leave you breathing easy and satisfied.

All the Colors of the Dark is a novel that has made it impossible for me to move on. The writing is so descriptive and detailed yet flows effortlessly and never drags. Every character is thoroughly developed; I already miss them and wonder what they are up to. That is how completely this gorgeous book pulls you in and never lets go. It has everything. Deep familial and romantic love, horrific crime, mystery, twists you won't see coming, humor, and humanity. This novel is a triumph, an ode to the human spirit, and literally my favorite read in decades.

Someone touted this as the best book of 2024. I don't have a viable argument for a book I think is better, however I would guess there are books out there that will have a more universal appeal than this one. "All the Colors of the Dark" does have some minor flaws in my opinion. First, it is very long. Admittedly, it is a pretty easy read and goes quicker than you would expect a 600-page book to go, but the thought of that many pages will be off-putting to some. The author breaks into this strange affectation from time to time during high-stress or action sequences where the writing becomes choppy and hard to follow. I understand it's to add drama or realism to the scene but, on several occasions, I was flipping pages back and forth and checking to see if I missed a page because it was hard to understand what had happened. The story stretches over a long period of time and it almost gets lost. The author does a good job of pulling it all together but it felt a little anti-climatic. The book blends several genres which some will like and others may not. The good: The characters are wonderfully written. There are enough plot twists to keep you guessing. The author avoids clichés very well. All in all, I really enjoyed this book. Will it be the best book of 2024? Maybe. But I don't think it will be a unanimous decision.