REVIEW: All the Wicked Girls

Book: All the Wicked Girls
Author: Chris Whitaker
Genre: Mystery, fiction, crime
Source: BonnierZaffre
Rating: 5/5












I highly enjoyed this book, I was drawn into the story immediately and it never let go, keeping me gripped to the very end. 
Everyone loves model student Summer Ryan, she's a ray of light in the struggling small town of Grace, Alabama, especially compared to her troubled sister Raine. Then Summer goes missing, after several girls also went missing in Briar County and never found the residents aren't sure whether the same person nicknamed "The Bird" is responsible for Summer's disappearance. Her sister throws herself into finding her, supported by a most unlikely ally. But maybe there was more to Summer than meets the eye.....





"Raine sometimes complains that nothing exciting is ever gonna happen in Grace again. Daddy told her careful what you wish for." 



I found myself reading this book so slowly as I was savouring each page/chapter and character instead of my usual rapid read and that is because each page is a literal work of art.

This is a crime story with a difference, a beautifully plotted, genuinely absorbing set of character studies, worked into a wider story of missing girls and religious fervour. If you try to put All the Wicked Girls into a genre box you’ll fail miserably because there isn’t one. I guess crime novel suits it as much as anything else would but when I was attempting to describe it to someone at work the other day I ended up tongue tied. It is deliciously dark but so intensely traumatic I don’t think I’ll ever get over it. Maybe Chris won’t either but I hope so because seriously he needs to write forever. Tall Oaks was amazing, add to that quality x 1000 with what is sure to become a trademark touch of insanely creative genius and you’ll be close to All the Wicked Girls.







All The Wicked Girls might sound like a book that is just about one girl’s search for her missing sister, but it is not. As I read many pages I was quoting sentences aloud to anyone who would listen. There is a very distinct style to Chris Whitaker’s writing. He has captured the essence of this small Southern town with all the characters and nuances you would expect to find.

All The Wicked Girls is a novel that you will become one with. The characters’ emotions will become your emotions ; Tragedy, grief, sorrow, regret, yet also, hope, self-discovery and atonement.