What happens when you wake up to find your child missing from their crib? After a year of her son’s abduction, Isabelle still struggles with the grief and guilt of that one frightful night. Constantly second guessing herself and what she could have done differently. Can she even trust her memory? Where is her son? Is he still alive? Those are the answers that Isabelle is going to stop at nothing to get.

Thoughts:
All The Dangerous Things was a gripping and heart-pounding book that was hard to put down once you’ve started. Motherhood, insomnia, abducted child, and a complex narrator all packed in one that pulls you in. You’ll want to hold your breath all the way to the shocking ending.
I listened to the audiobook and followed along with the ebook. The narrator (Karrisa Vacker) swept me away and before I knew it, the book was done. The flow was so easy to follow along that it really brought the story to life.

All the Dangerous Things hit every twist and turn perfectly. It was captivating and just plain good!

Isabelle’s life took a drastic turn last year, her sweet little boy, Mason was taken from her home. Since then, she hasn’t had any sleep, literally nothing. She exists on coffee and tracking down any leads she can find to try and get her son back. A podcaster contacts her and she reluctantly agrees to be interviewed. But does he have a sinister agenda of his own?

This story was so good! I loved Stacy’s first novel and her follow up did not disappoint! It flowed nicely, the past and the present mingled together to form a really great and deep read! The setting was absolutely perfect for the story and the detailed descriptions let your mind picture it as though you’re in the story with the characters. Thriller, suspense, and mystery all mixed together to create a dynamic read that just won’t let you go! Four stars all the way!

Rating: 4.25/5⭐️
Pub day: 1-10-2023

Wow, what a story! It may have had a slower pace at the start but by the time I hit the last quarter of the book I couldn’t put it down!

I thoroughly enjoyed all the little crumbs that were left for us to piece together, one in particular was brilliant. After finishing, I thought back on that particular morsel for days. I also didn’t see the big twist at the end coming, which always makes a mystery better!

At its core, this is a mystery about a kidnapped child but it also tackles the pressures and expectations of motherhood as well as postpartum depression. Because of that, it may not be the right book for everyone. But I think it’s a very impressive sophomore novel from Willingham, and I preferred this one over History of Words!

I did a combination of digital and audio and loved both! Thank you @netgalley & @macmillan for the #alc and @minotaur for the #arc . All opinions are my own.

This was such a fun one to buddy read with some lovely ladies. There are so many themes to discuss with this one, I think it would make a great book club pick!

GASP GASP... oh my goodness have you seen all the raving 5 star reviews for this one?! Kendall had to have her grabby hands get a copy.

Well...... this really pains me to say that I'm always on Kendall outlier island and really really struggled with this.

Isabelle has recently lost her toddler son Mason... it's been a year and she has been exhausted nearly getting any sleep.

Isabelle as a child was always a sleepwalker and in the back of her mind she always wonders if she had something to do with her own son's disappearance.

This book was painfully slow. Willingham has a pattern of using too many words to get to her point... so majority of the book took forever. It just bogged down the story for me and felt the thriller aspect was a complete let down.

I really didn't care much for Isabelle either.... and once again we see here the female portrait of mental health deemed into the light of "she's crazy." I HATE this theme. Especially with the detective and how he portrayed Isabelle to be a women off her rocker.

We also see a story from Isabelle's past as a little girl with her sister Margaret. Isabelle has patterns of sleep walking and are shown that something horrible happened to her sister. But, again no sense of passion or umph to get through the story.

I skimmed the last 40 percent of the book and come on you don't find out exactly what happened with Mason's disappearance until the final few pages. And Please.... all that drama with Ben?! Come on!!

Ugh it's so sad... I feel like so many authors have lost their touch in what constitutes what an amazing thriller is.

Overall, 2/5 stars

Wasn't impressed at all.

Thanks to Netgalley and Minotaur books for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

Pub date: 1/10/23
Published to GR: 12/18/22

title: all the dangerous things
author: stacy willingham
genre: thriller
pages: 336
rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🧠 my thoughts:
first, this book comes out January 10th!!! sign up for BOTM to get an early copy or pre order it today!!! ok next! stacy is an immediate auto-buy author for me!! i really enjoyed her debut and i really enjoyed this one! i had high expectations going into this book and it didn't let me down! i will say this wasn't the most out of the box thriller BUT it was well written, had a great plot structure, and was very enjoyable! final thoughts: if you have children, i do not recommend reading this while your husband is away for work for the week because it will cause extreme paranoia lmao

👍🏼 what i liked:
not a single character is reliable in this book and I LOVED that.. i was so suspicious of everyone!! i also loved how creepy this book was, it all seems like things that COULD very well happen in real life which also end up creeping you out. also the sleep walking????????? MAJORLY CREEPY TO ME. i loved the past and the present voices, and the alternating plots. i thought both plots were interesting and i was invested in both. i was on the edge of my seat until the end

👎🏼 what i disliked:
i would say the plot of this book isn't overly creative (past gave me verity vibes, present gave me little secrets vibe/the perfect marriage vibes) even tho you stay interested. you kinda feel like you've read this before, or seen it done before HOWEVER it is still really fun to read. lastly, parts of this book get a little slow (a slow burn, if you will) especially around the middle. It does pick back up, though!!

✅ RECOMMEND?: i would! if you're craving something suspenseful creepy, this is it. over all, this is a solid thriller that is enjoyable! if I had to pick between this and flicker in the dark i would pick flicker but you certainly would not be wasting your time with this one. it's a great sophomore novel, and i think that's a big accomplishment!!

Read this if you like: Unreliable narrator, child abduction cases, slow burn, fast paced stories

Isabelle Drake's toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night a year ago. She and her husband were asleep in the next room. With little evidence and few leads for the police to chase, the case quickly went cold. Isabelle cannot rest until Mason is returned to her. Isabelle's entire existence now revolves around finding him. She's lost her husband, she never sleeps.

She agrees to be interviewed by a true-crime podcaster but his interest in Isabelle's past makes her nervous. His incessant questioning paired with her severe insomnia has brought up uncomfortable memories from her own childhood. It's making Isabelle doubt her recollection of the night of Mason’s disappearance, as well as second-guess who she can trust.

Wow. The twists, the turns, the unreliable narrator. I was questioning anything and everything. This book is very fast paced but a slow burn as far as the story unfolding. I could not put it down. I loved it. I highly recommend you pick this up on the 10th!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and St. Martin's Press for the gifted e-book ❤️

What a pleasant surprise. I honestly DNF'd this book in November. Had a really hard time getting into it, but chalked it up to a "me" thing because I absolutely LOVED Flicker in the Dark. I ended up picking it back up today and literally didn't turn it off until I was done. (Grabbed the audio to finish) Stacy Willingham knows how to do atmospheric. Loved it and would highly recommend.

This was incredible!

The twists and turns are guessable, but one of them got me, for sure.

So well written.

I love stories with unreliable narrators. And essentially that’s what Isabelle is. Mostly. But you can’t help but side with her.

As things began to unravel, my guess as to what really happened was far off. I didn’t expect the happy ending we got. And the justice that was brilliantly served.

This is going to be a favorite for a while.

I'm super sad that I didn't absolute love this book. I definitely think a lot of people will love it, it just felt a little overhyped for me. The twists were definitely there, I guessed one big one though. I found some spots in the book kind of slow and I had a hard time with the MC. Probably because I don't have children maybe. Either way it was well written and definitely well thought out, just wasn't a hit for me.

Thank you netgalley for the earc in exchange for an honest review.

Amazing book and I loved the author’s note letting us know that while she isn’t a mother herself, that she understands the expectations for women to always been drawn to motherhood. I think the book did drag at times, but overall, it was truly enjoyable.

"All the Dangerous Things: A Novel by Stacy Willingham" is a captivating story that delves into the depths of danger and intrigue. From the first page, readers are taken on a thrilling journey filled with suspense and unexpected twists. Willingham's vivid descriptions and compelling characters make this novel a must-read for anyone looking for an exciting and thought-provoking story.

I was BEYOND excited to get an ARC of All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham. I read A Flicker in the Dark earlier this year and loved it. I am pleased to say I loved this one as well.

One year ago Isabelle Drake's son Mason was taken from his crib in the middle of the night while her and her husband slept just down the hall. In that year, the police have found no new clues or leads into what happened or who took Mason. While many are telling her to move on, Isabelle cannot stop trying to find Mason. Struggling with often debilitating insomnia, Isabelle devotes all her time to trying to uncover new information about what happened that night. When she is approached by a true crime podcaster, she agrees to do his show hoping it will bring new information to light. She soon begins to question the reason for his interest in her and begins to examine her own past because she has a continuous feeling that there is something she is missing, just out of reach that could help her find the answers she is looking for.

What happens to Isabelle is every mother's worst nightmare. As a mother of two young toddlers myself, I can imagine the devastation that lives with each day not knowing what happened to her son. Willingham writes in the end that she was nervous writing from the perspective of a mother because she is not one herself, but I thought she did an amazing job capturing the love, but also the incredible challenges. I do not know a single mother that doesn't carry guilt with them. We feel like we aren't doing enough, that we could have done something better, that we don't feel like ourselves but doing things for ourselves increases the guilt. Isabelle struggles with that even before her son is taken. When you become a mother, your identity changes and you have to learn how to be this new person- at least in my own experience. Some of those emotion contribute to the relentless guilt Isabelle feels about the night her son disappeared, but then she starts to wonder if it is more than that.

The book had so many good twists. Even if some of my predictions were correct, there were plenty of surprises along the way. Definitely check this out when it publishes!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

A book with child abduction - I was very hesitant to read this but I enjoyed the author's first book, and I did really enjoy this one as well!. I usually don't like insomnia story lines and the unreliable narrator trope. This part still didn't work for me fully - I just don't love the constant paranoia/hallucination/sleepwalking - it feels very repetitive with the constant reminders of how sleep deprived she is. But, I really liked how the details came together and picking up the breadcrumbs that were carefully placed throughout the book  

This is quite the slow burn, but in a good way! The author creates some good tension throughout the book, reveals some surprising twists in the past and present timelines, and the short chapters made this feel very compelling to keep reading. The last 20% or so the pacing really picks up and it made me much more invested. The main character, Isabelle, is very complex, flawed, messy, and her desperation and refusal to give up on her son was realistic.

Recommend if you like true crime podcasts, alternating timelines, some good twists, questionable characters, and a southern, marshy setting! This was very reminiscent to Little Secrets.

This is the definition of a slow burn book, but in such a nice way. Loved the palpable tension Willingham created. Loved the various twists and how you can never quite place your bets on who did it while the story progresses. And I actually loved the unreliable narrator because it was done in an unexpected and refreshing way. Plus that ending! Not at all what I predicted but so so satisfying. This pulled me in and kept me hooked from the beginning. If you want an addictive and fresh thriller, check this out!

Thank you to Minotaur Books for the ARC!

Isabelle Drake's life is shaken to the core when her young son Mason is taken from his crib in the middle of the night. The dog never barked and her and her husband slept right through it. Unfortunately her marriage did not survive this trauma, but Isabelle is determined to figure out what really happened to her baby boy that night even if her ex-husband is convinced he's dead.

Since she's been a young girl, Isabelle has had trouble sleeping and has been known to sleepwalk. It would always scare her younger sister when they'd find each other in the middle of the night. Isabelle has always been haunted by a traumatic life even and has even wondered if she was the one responsible. Could she have perhaps killed her baby boy during one of her sleepwalking episodes? When her eyelids close, is she really a dangerous threat to others and herself?

Isabelle is a grieving mother, suffering a loss no mother should have to endure. She is desperate and grasping at straws to find a single piece of evidence, a key witness, anything to help her son's case, so she agrees to be interviewed by a podcaster, Waylon Spencer, who has experience with solving cold cases.

I really enjoyed this book. The twists were at all the right places and I remained engaged for the majority of the book. I loved the author's debut novel, Flicker in the Dark, so I was really excited to get the chance to read her new book. I have to say that I was not disappointed and I will continue to read this author's future books.

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press / Minotaur Books for granting me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Told in first person, this story picks up as Isabelle is about to give a talk at a convention for true crime fanatics about the disappearance of her toddler who was purported taken from his crib in the middle of the night almost a year ago from her home in Savannah. Occasional chapters flashback to Isabelle’s childhood in 1999 in Beaufort, South Carolina, where she grew up as the daughter of a congressman in an historic home held by her father’s family for generations. Isabelle has problems with sleep both in the past and the present, leaving the reader wondering about her reliability as a narrator and whether she is hallucinating, paranoid and even sleepwalking. She is also struggling with several estranged familial relationships.

I enjoyed the short chapters and found this book a quick and compelling read, but maybe not quite as good as her debut novel. I loved the back and forth of whether Isabelle was guilty or not. I was on the edge of my seat trying to figure it out. There were plenty of possible scenarios running through my head. While I often question why a non-investigative main character is doing investigating, in this case as the mother of a missing child, I found her actions to be understandable and I enjoyed her interactions with the podcaster who approaches her with interest in her story. While I won’t say the ultimate answer surprised me, there were still plenty of “oh! I should have seen that coming” moments that I enjoyed. Recommended.

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for a copy provided for an honest review.

Really enjoyed the author's previous work, so I had high hopes for this one. Happy to say that my expectations were definitely met, if not exceeded.

Isabelle hasn't slept for a year. How could she, when one year ago her son was taken from his crib while she slept? With the case gone cold and no leads to follow, plus the destruction of her sleep schedule and her marriage, Isabelle has nowhere to turn. That is, until she meets a podcaster who's willing to help her investigate the case of her son's disappearance. As Isabelle goes through the case again and again, she begins to remember moments from her own past that make her doubt her own mind and what really happened the night her son disappeared.

Highly recommend for thriller fans and fans of B.A. Paris, Alice Feeny, and Simone St. James.

Thank you so much @Minotaur_Books for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 10 January 2023)

SYNOPSIS | One year ago Isabelle's toddler son (Mason) was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night, but with very little evidence & no leads, the case has gone cold. Isabelle takes it upon herself to continue the investigation because she cannot sleep (literally) until it's solved.

WHAT I LIKED:
- that the MC was an unreliable narrator (without falling into the clichéd trope of being labelled as "crazy" or an alcoholic etc)
- there is a handful of mysteries occurring in both past & present timelines
- the last 100 pages really picked up the pace
- that even though the story largely follows a missing child there is a satisfying happy ending

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- the pacing was quite slow throughout (picks up at about 80%)
- a podcast is mentioned but was very under-utilized in driving the story forward

This was such a fun thriller, I was hooked and had to find excuses to just keep reading this twisty story.
This was a bingeable “popcorn” kind of thriller, I had to know what was going on and just kept turning the pages. Did I have to suspend disbelief or were there recognizable tropes? Sure, but I had so much fun reading - I loved it.
I did enjoy the themes the author picked surrounding motherhood and mothers guilt. I think that in an as realistic way as possible in an engaging thriller important themes of parenting were tackled.
I would recommend this one to anyone looking for a new fresh thriller.

This is a novel that will unnerve you if you are a mother especially. I really enjoyed the psychological nature of the novel and the wondering of reliable or unreliable narrator.