I really liked the underlying connections between all the stories, but overall it had me in my feels. I have a love hate relationship with a book that can take you through all the emotions you are capable of within a few pages, and this one takes you through them all! I really liked how everything ended, didn't leave you displeased, all loose ends were tied up. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's Wendy Lamb Books for a copy of this book for an honest review.

This was so fun and intriguing - it really is crazy how so many of our stories line up with others, and how we are all connected. This collection of POVs was heartfelt and really makes the reader realize that so much can happen to them.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town started off on an interesting note for me. I liked how the stories flowed throughout this as well because it tied all the characters into a nice bow. I wouldn't necessarily say a pretty one because some of the stories were pretty sad. So, yeah, I felt some emotions but there's one story that just really pissed me off and I'm so happy with how it ended too.

Other than that, the topics were pretty interesting and it definitely made this book a page turner. I don't think I necessarily had a favorite one out of all of them but I am glad that I finally had the time to dive into this book. Even if I found myself being a bit bored with some of the characters or the story that I was reading. Still interesting though.

Hitchcock explores a variety of dark subjects, giving me plenty to think about. She had me feeling the characters' agony, loss, and anger while still giving me a glimmer of hope here and there. In the west and pacific northwest, where these stories are set, Hitchcock excels at creating a sense of location. The stories begin with a single cast of characters, but after a few chapters, you'll notice that there are common threads running across all of them. I liked how she looked at small town life while also shrinking the globe by showing how people from different parts of the world were influenced by the same set of events.

Pros
Wild West: The U.S. is a vast country, full of all sorts of regional distinctions. Even in small towns, these distinctions are apparent. A Midwest small town is vastly different than a Western town, and that distinction here is well-defined--in a good way. Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock fuels these small towns with their regional flare. From the sled dogs and snow of Alaska to the spark-away-from-wildfire life of Colorado, the writing is evocative and grounding at the same time. Crashing Pacific waves, gas guzzlers, and mountains: everything that makes the West exciting and unique weaves its way into these small-town tales.

Short Story Cycle: Each story in this book stands complete in itself, but this is not just a collection of thematically-connected stories. Each story is intertwined with the rest. Short story collections are hard to come by, and short story cycles of this kind are rarer still. I will admit that short story cycles hold a special place in my life--I did dedicate an entire thesis to them, after all. It takes a special talent and intentionality to write a short story cycle, something that many short story writers don't commit to do. These little connections tie the collection into a mosaic, one big story made out of many smaller ones.

Big Impressions in Small Towns: Though the stories in this cycle are more or less mundane, the characters are down-to-earth and tangible. They struggle under the weight of their small towns. Their stories are full of heart and emotion--because live goes on even in towns of less than 2,000 people. Not every story needs to take place in NYC or LA to have purpose and character. It is nice to have realistic characters living out their lives even in these small places. Friend trouble, wildfires, family drama, and religious turmoil: big problems and small are all wrapped into one book.

Cons
Mundane: Though the characters are well developed, the stories themselves are benign. There's nothing wrong with them, necessarily, but overall, they're not that interesting. There's not much that is memorable. They're certainly well-written but aren't intriguing. They're not stories that I'll be coming back to at the end of the day.

Mixed Bag: One common downside to short story collections is that not all stories are great. That is especially true in anthologies, but the mixed-bag nature of this cycle is true despite it having only a single author. The first few stories didn't hit it off for me. Though I found some buried-jewel stories later on, those stories may just be a little too buried. That is, some readers won't get to them, because some readers won't have the stamina to push through.

Mostly Forgettable: This final critique is ultimately the culmination of my other two. Though there is a scene or two that will stick with me, most of these stories won't stay with me long. In fact, I've forgotten some of them already, even as I'm writing this review--which isn't really a good sign. These stories, though well-written, are benign and not particularly compelling. So there's nothing much to stick with me in the end.

Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
6/10

Anyone who enjoyed the small-town vibe of Angeline Boulley's Firekeeper's Daughter will love sinking into these small-town lives. Those craving more short stories after Patrice Caldwell's A Phoenix First Must Burn should check out this cycle of short-and-sweet new tales.

I enjoyed this story. It was a quick, one time read. The characters were fun. I would recommend this to friends.

Linked short stories are certainly interesting in concept. Here we have a wide variety of people and locations. They tell a lot of different stories about abuse, grief, greed and loss. We see how a single moment triggers significant change for each character and how each of these trigger moments drives them into or out of each other's lives. That interplay, finding that connection with other stories was interesting. But in the end, it's hard to pinpoint a single purpose behind these stories.

"Everyone Dies Famous In a Small Town" is an homage and an anthem to all the teens growing up in small towns across America.

As a wildfire ravages the West, "Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town" flows through the stories of nine teens from Alaska to Colorado like a river, connecting the vignettes of their lives in ways they never realize.

The collection has many of the strengths of Hitchcock’s first novella, "The Smell of Other People’s Houses," bringing the same moments of powerful prose and depth of fully-formed characters. Because of this, each story is interesting on its own, but even more so in the often unexpected connections that weave them together.

However, almost every single chapter felt too short and, as a result, exposition-heavy. By the time we got to know everything we needed to about the main character of the hour, their role was over and it was time to move on to another, making the whole process feel rushed and somewhat untethered.

It didn’t help that many of the stories spent many of their pages looking at the past, which made the passing of time and the setting confusing, sometimes on purpose, but often as a simple oversight of switching from place to place and time to time too often.

With fewer perspectives, it would have been much easier to settle in. I would have loved a full-length novel from many of the characters and wouldn’t have minded any extra time we could have gotten with them, even if that meant cutting a few of the others.

Still, I appreciated all the relatability of this book and the messages it had to share, but only enough for a 3 out of 5.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wendy Lamb Books for an early copy in exchange for an honest review!

Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock's work is very interesting! I have read a few of their other work's and I was really unsure what to think about this one. I did DNF it at 55% because the style was not inherently working for me.

Sadly I could not finish this book. I found it very hard to read through and personally think this is because I don't read much contemporary. I think I appreciated the most how the stories will all connect but I just couldn't get through it.

EVERYONE DIES FAMOUS IN A SMALL TOWN by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock (The Smell of Other People's Houses) is a collection of interconnected short stories set in the mid-1990s in the American West and Alaska. Hitchcock is a clever writer and readers will care about the teens she introduces, each of whom features prominently in one of the nine stories, while sometimes appearing in others.

Hitchcock explores the angst of growing up and draws upon traumatic events including child abuse and a devastating wildfire. This is a relatively quick read although confusing at times due to the multiple narrators and varied rural settings.

This book was an interesting read and as someone who grew up in a small town, though not in the wilderness, I related to a lot of the ideas in these stories. I loved the way the overall theme of the book was resonated through all of the different stories throughout this novel. Each of the stories is unique and really gives insight into the way things are handled in small towns and sometimes covered up to keep everything to the status quo.

I was offered an eARC from NetGalley and Wendy Lamb Books (an imprint of Penguin Random House) in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book. I am not the biggest fan of short stories but this one seemed intriguing and the title was haunting. First and foremost, I really appreciated the content/trigger warning included at the beginning of the book. These are so necessary and when certain content is included without a warning it can be incredibly jarring and traumatic for a reader.

cw: sexual abuse (of a minor), substance abuse, child neglect

Hitchcock did a really good job in dropping the slightest hints or details that showed how each of the stories was connected. It was fun for me to look for the easter eggs in each story and have the "aha" moment when a character from another story made an appearance. The stronger stories were intriguing and as the book progressed, and we got introduced to more characters from the various small towns in Alaska and west America, the more invested I became. These stories were indeed short, and some characters were more developed than others, which left the overall book falling a little flat. Some of the stories dragged while others moved incredibly fast and it was a pacing that did not really work all that well. Hitchcock excelled at making her character's stories matter and incredibly relevant. These stories did not have nicely wrapped endings and I enjoyed the aspects of showcasing the ugly messy lives of teenagers over a wide range of topics from substance abuse to parental neglect. The nuances and themes of each story were not overt but also not hidden.

Overall, the stories just felt a little to underdeveloped at times. The pacing within each story made little sense at times, but the stories were entertaining enough and did a good job of connecting multiple stories to the main theme.

I really loved this collection of short stories. Each story was well written and showed a small vignette of a character's life. Each story had overlapping characters, so you got the thread of the story, but without one single story teller. I thought this one was terrific.

This book was awesome. One thing is for sure, in the beginning I didn’t understand why each chapter was telling a different story, until I see that each chapter features teens, they are all somehow connected, each chapter is connected to the a character in the previous chapter, either they are siblings, best friends, or cousins. The book jumps from state to state, which is awesome. And then as the book carries on it’s collecting more and more characters along the way. It’s was awesome. In each chapter you learn something, a girl who got heartbroken, a new girl who everyone thinks has it all, cousins going through it because one of them wants to branch out and not follow the norms of a small town, while the other one is also doubting what she wants to do with her life after high school. A book full of teens trying to find their way, some have huge secrets, some have a lot going on, it’s great I loved the style of it, so many characters but you never got lost, you start to make the connections very quickly.

Thanks Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

While reading this I have found that short story collections might not be for me. I did not connect with any of the characters because I only had a little bit of time with them. The 2nd story was by far my favorite one.

This is surrounded by small town teens who live their lives and connect at the end.

YOUNG ADULT

Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock; Wendy Lamb Books, 208 pages ($17.99) Ages 12 and up.

Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock, Alaskan author of acclaimed debut "The Smell of Other People's Houses," here offers a beautifully written, poignant collection of interwoven stories, loosely connected by the tragic disappearance of a young girl and set in small towns in the West and Alaska in the 1990s.

In each story, Hitchcock swiftly sketches out fully developed characters in the grip of fierce emotion, teens struggling with personal crises or trying to reinvent themselves, their angst echoing and magnified by the claustrophobic confines and limited possibilities of their small towns.

The collection begins in Alaska with Gina, who is boiling with rage over her mother's recent death and her father's new girlfriend; she takes her anger out on the woman's young daughter during an ice skating outing reached by dogsled. In other stories wildfires threaten; the actions of an abusive priest have ripple effects. A girl is betrayed by her longtime boyfriend. A boy is found unconscious on a beach in the Pacific Northwest, in his possession a postcard to the boy who shared a kiss with him. A bear threatens campers in the wilds of Alaska. A girl is confused by the intentions of a young volunteer firefighter who rescued her cat and seems to be flirting with her. Older sisters plot an intervention.

Only gradually does the mystery at the heart of the collection become clear; a second reading may be required to appreciate the links between stories, to assemble the pieces of the puzzle.

"The Smell of Other People’s Houses" was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and was a finalist for the William C. Morris YA Debut Award.

I really enjoyed this one. Very different than what I expected but in a good way. I highly recommend.

I love books that follow a large number of characters who slowly start to interweave as a story goes on. Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock’s 2016 release The Smell of Other People’s Houses was a favorite of mine when I read it in 2019 because it was able to do this so beautifully. Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town follows the same kind of storyline. Through short stories that go character to character, you slowly get an overarching story that brings these characters and their individual stories together. Hitchcock is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors because this kind of story structure is extremely hard to do well. Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town is Hitchcock’s second time blowing me away with how perfectly she is able to weave so many different characters and their stories into one story overall.

Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town takes place in the nineties in various small towns from Alaska to Colorado. I love that the book focuses on small towns and their dynamics, but also reflects how connected people are even thousands of miles away. The plot focuses difficult topics like a missing child, a wildfire and an abusive priest in the Catholic Church. Although they have darker themes, the stories are about much more than their darkest moments. (I will list some of the darker content of the story at the end of this review for those who would like to go into the story with some caution.) Hitchcock has the ability to write on dark or sad topics in a real and thoughtful way. Each character you meet is fully realized. Whether they are working through relationships with siblings or partners, or they are being directly impacted by the wildfire or abuse, they are much more than just the hardships they face. Hitchcock’s writing is down to earth and humorous, she explores darker themes but writes in a way that makes the characters and their relationships stand out most. I left each story reflecting on the humanity and care these characters and their relationships displayed. Hitchcock deals with the characters and their lives with the complexity they deserve and doesn't write about trauma and unfortunate events just to shock or upset the reader. I’m staying a little vague on what exactly happens in the stories because I think that’s the best way to read a book like this one.

The only reason this book didn’t get a full five stars from me (even though it was close) was that there were one or two moments in the dialogue that I felt were strange (these may have been edited upon release) and I felt like there were a few smaller story lines that could have used a little more closure.

I thoroughly enjoyed Everyone Dies Famous in Small Town. I’m already looking forward to re-reading this because I think I’ll pick up on even more the second time around. I would recommend this story to anyone who likes reading from various points of view or likes to slowly see a story come together through various viewpoints. If you've already read and enjoyed The Smell of Other People’s Houses, I’d also recommend picking this up, Hitchcock does not disappoint!

TW: sexual abuse of minor, drug use, death of a parent (only mentioned), death of a sibling

“In a small town, you are forever defined by the worst thing that ever happened to you.”

I’ve said this before and I will say it again - I absolutely hate character driven novels most of the time but THIS works out so well. Each story is connected with the next and I love that you hear both sides to characters story. Some of these were so sad and hits you right in the heart. The author does hit on a mix of topics and themes. Some stories are about being a camp counselor, playing basketball but then other stories will tap into childhood abuse, grief, and homophobia. I do have to admit some of them were a bit boring but overall, I really did like this and thought it worked well. I would definitely read more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.