4.5*
I feel sick! What a book! It’s going to stay with me a long time. Some really interesting themes covered, clever twists & loves the authors note too.
I struggled to read it to begin with so switched to audio & glad I did that!
Full review to follow on my insta the.readinglife.

It’s been a year since Mason, disappeared from his bedroom. Since then his mum Isabelle Drake hasn’t had a full night of sleep. Everyone else has moved on – the detectives, the press, her husband Ben – but Isabelle can’t rest until she finds out the truth.

Teaming up with true crime podcaster Waylon Spencer, Isabelle goes over her son’s case with him. But Waylon has motives of his own and as long-forgotten memories of Isabelle’s past resurface, doubt begins to cloud the night Mason went missing as she realizes she has been sleepwalking again.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. The story was gripping and had me up past midnight as I couldn't put it down! The story flips between the present, her early days with Ben, and her childhood, which all culminate in an interesting twisted ending.

I received this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Although the book was well written, it’s just a storyline that has been written quite a few times before in varying takes on the plot. I guess every plot has been written, every possible outcome used. So maybe it’s a bit harsh of me to only give this a 3/5 but it didn’t wow me.
Baby Mason was taken from his cot in the middle of the night a year ago. A year in which his parents marriage has broken down, and his mother Izzy has taken to the speaking circuit for true crime enthusiasts to retell her story and hope that new information can come to light, On a chance meeting on a plane, Waylon Spencer offers to have her on his true crime podcast. After thinking about it for a while Izzy rings him and agrees. She finds he is staying at a hotel and invites him to move into her guest room.
Izzy is wracked by guilt as she cannot say for sure she didn’t do something to Mason. She has a history of sleepwalking and doing things in her sleep she is unaware of. Her sister Margaret died when they were younger, drowned in the marsh, in the middle of the night and Izzy awoke to find she was in different pyjamas with wet footprints and towels on the floor.
Told in 2 time lines I sometimes found this a bit muddled but the back story explained Izzy’s state of mind. With lack of sleep and getting nowhere is Izzy slowly unravelling? Or is there more than meets the eye to what’s going on.

#AllTheDangerousThings. #NetGalley

’I had come to think of him as a library book, entering my life on rented time. Something that I could enjoy for a few hours, curled up and comfortable, devouring as much of him as possible before our time was up.’

Wasn’t sure what I was going into with this one, I’ve never read anything by her before. But I went in with high hopes and I ended up quite enjoying it.

Told over dual timelines - which you know I'm a sucker for, it kept the storyline interesting and kept the mystery and intrigue throughout. The pacing was a little slow for me, but that might be down to the very character driven, plot. That said, I wanted to know what was going on the whole time so it kept me hooked. So much so, I read ahead of the buddy read because I just couldn’t wait any longer for answers.

The story really builds up well to an explosive ending, after all the wait the ending was unexpected to say the least. There were some serious plot twists that I did not see coming. It all really added to the story and made it a much better read for me!!

On the whole, I would recommend and I’m looking forward to trying more of Willingham’s stuff!

This book goes from slow burning to fully ablaze! I was hooked straight away, and the more twists and turns it took the harder it was to put down! A great read.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc ebook.

A very very slow book so confusing with nothing happening for most of the book, full of similes which was so unnecessary and didn't add anything to the book.
So definitely not for me even though the books description sounded brilliant.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC
posted to Goodreads.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Harper Collins for approving me for an ARC of this book. After enjoying Flicker in the Dark last year I was excited to see what this one was like.

This one is certainly up there as binge-worthy! I listened to the audio and was practically glued to my headphones throughout the day, I couldn’t get enough and had to know what happened to Mason. How can a baby possibly vanish in the night with no trace?

Let’s start with our protagonist Isabelle. As a mother, I sympathised with her hugely. I kept asking myself what I would do if I were in her shoes and the thought of going through her situation was unbearable. I felt the frustration bubbling when she would take new leads to the police only to feel that it wasn’t important, her own investigation into the disappearance of Mason was thorough.

We also learn more about Isabelle through a series of flashbacks to her childhood, where it seems secrets run very deep. It was these secrets that made me question her judgement and her story. Throughout the book, we are introduced to several characters, all of whom seemed suspicious at one stage or another but I still couldn’t put all the pieces together to get the answer I was looking for. I trusted no one and held everyone accountable until proven otherwise.

Red herrings, misdirection, knock-me-sideways twists – this book had it all! I was on the edge of my seat wanting to know how everything tied together and I have to say I was not disappointed. This book needs to be at the top of your tbr pile. It’s fast-paced, thrilling and highly addictive.

“Today is day three hundred and sixty-four. Three hundred and sixty-four days since my last night of sleep. …One whole year since my Mason was taken from me, and still, I’m no closer to the truth.”

My thanks to HarperCollins U.K. for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘All the Dangerous Things’ by Stacy Willingham.

Last year I enjoyed Stacy Willingham’s debut novel, ‘A Flicker in the Dark’ so was excited to read her second psychological crime thriller.

The novel’s protagonist, Isabelle Drake, is determined to discover what happened to her young son, who was stolen from his crib a year ago. Everyone else seems to have moved on including the detectives and press. She and her husband, Ben, have separated but she is unable to rest until she knows the truth.

So she travels the country speaking at true crime events to highlight Mason’s case. Returning home from her latest appearance she is approached by true crime podcaster Waylon Spencer, who suggests that they collaborate on investigating her son’s case. Yet it isn’t long until forgotten memories of Isabelle’s past resurface and she also begins to suspect that Waylon has motives of his own.

The story unfolds in the present with occasional flashbacks to Isabelle’s past including the early years of her marriage to Ben as well as her childhood and the roots of her sleep disorders. I know how disturbing an occasional bout of insomnia can be, so I had a great deal of empathy for her situation.

Overall, I felt that the pacing of was good throughout ‘All the Dangerous Things’ with plenty of organic twists along the way. It proved quite a gripping thriller.

I haven’t read A flicker in the dark, but after hearing so many great things about it; I wanted to read her new work by the same author.

All the dangerous things is a very chilling, atmospheric and poignant story overall.

Being a psychological thriller book, it is given to have a very unreliable narrator and to force you to give up disbelief out and just keep reading and find for yourself what’s true and what’s imagined.

Isabelle’s son has been missing for a year now, and her focus is to find him. While attending a true crime convention, she gets approached by a journalist to be a guest on a podcast.

The story is told in dual timelines from now, a mother who suffers from severe insomnia; and from when she was a child and was living with her sister.

Throughout the story I had a chilling sensation that something is not right and I couldn’t put my finger on what.

Postpartum depression is a big mental health issue and there are places and people that aren’t taking it into consideration as it should be.

I think the author has touched the topic with lots of grace and insightful moments in creating a character that could be one of our real friends.

I liked this novel a lot and I think it is a must read story.

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy through NetGalley

Full of suspense and mystery this novel kept me guessing the outcome throughout and there was still an unexpected ending. Every mother must share Isabelle's anguish as she feels feels isolated in her lone quest to find her son. Stacy Willingham skillfully interweaves two sub-stories into the book as we are left wondering what happened to cause the rift with Isabelle's parents and what is the real motive for Waylon's interest.

I did enjoy this book but it was a difficult read because of the subject. A child goes missing, the effects on the family. Mother Isabelle has not slept in a year, she is determined to find out the truth about what happened to her baby.
An incredibly tense story, very immersive and taut.

All The Dangerous Things

Initially I found the pacing to be quite slow and found myself losing interest in places but once I hit the halfway mark I was hooked and could not put this down. I did not guess the twist at all.
I would also like to add the audio for this book is so well read would definitely recommend. (I did not have an ARC of the audio just the EBOOK-ARC)

Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Collins UK and Stacy Willingham for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Isabelle Drake's son went missing a year ago, this story covers how her life has been since and he aftermarath of what has happened. There are lots of twist ands and turns along the way and it ways interesting to see how the story unfolded.
It kept me gripped the entire time and I loved finding out more about the characters as the story evolved.
I will definitely be checking out the authors next book!

Isabelle Drakes son Mason was kidnapped a year ago. He was 8 months old & was taken from his cot at night & no one heard a thing! There were no leads for the police but Isabelle was not going to let a stagnated investigation stop. The story tells us about her life today & heartbreak in the past too.
Such a good book. Great characters & I loved Isabelle's determination to get to the truth. Some brilliant twists & turns that keep you hooked. Great ending too.
Highly recommended read.

Tackling the nightmare scenario where a young child has gone missing and the mother is then trying to process what happened, her husband leaving her, and her becoming an insomniac… plus what happened to her younger when they were children and Izzy sleep walked? Is she responsible for either one?

It is a bit of a slow burner, and you can’t say any of the characters are particularly loveable - but it does pull you into the story as time ticks by. I did spot the childhood solution, but not the ultimate modern day ending. Wowsers though… definitely recommend!

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

When Isabelle’s son was taken a year ago her life has changed so much. She doesn’t sleep, her husband has left her and she is distraught. Childhood trauma impacts her day to day and she is a shell desperate for her son, believing he is still alive.
This was such a great read. I enjoyed it on audio and kindle and loved the way it was written. Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

This is a great read. The book is a slow burn, developing the characters, particularly Isobel slowly and carefully. It deals with sensitive topics and preconceived notions of motherhood. There are a lot of twists and turns, some predictable and others definitely not. In all a very well written and good read.

Another great read from Stacy Willingham.
Following an insomniac mother a year after her son has gone missing, a lot of these books felt rather fever dreamy with the addition of possibly an unreliable narrator.
At first glance, it is just a story about a missing child but when you dive a bit deeper it shows how one person's view and guilt of themselves can affect their perception of what they belive to be reality. Overall I enjoyed this, I guess a couple of the major reveals but the ending was mostly impossible to guess until you get towards the end of the read.
Perfect for fans of her other read - similar vibes.

When I read A Flicker in the Dark, just over a year ago, I wrote that I was really looking forward to what the author would write next and here it is!

The Dangerous Things is a novel Hitchcock would have been happy to film, full of unreliable narration, paranoia, the hinterland of exhaustion and self-doubt. It also explores our own willingness to accept stories that suit our own beliefs and offer us comfort, to keep secrets from ourselves and others. It asks us what it means to be a parent.

Some of the twists I did guess at, whilst others made me gasp. A really great thriller that made me stay up long past my bedtime!

With thanks to NetGalley, the author, Stacy Willingham and the publisher, Harper Collins, for an arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the author's debut but feel that All The Dangerous Things is in a completely different league. It's a beautifully written, intense, atmospheric and gripping read that I found completely compelling.

Isabelle Drake's son Mason disappeared from his bedroom a year ago, since then Isabelle's marriage to her husband Ben has broken down and Isabelle is completely focused on the search for Mason. She attends true crime conventions and agrees to a podcast with journalist Waylon Spencer. Throughout all of this Isabelle suffers from extreme insomnia and has not slept since Mason went missing. The novel is told from Isabelle's point of view in a dual timeline- the present day and when Isabelle was a child growing up with her sister.

I loved this psychological thriller and although it started off slowly it completely drew me in and I felt mesmerised by the writing and the character of Isabelle. Isabelle is an unreliable narrator but throughout I believed in her story, the author has created a believable character who experienced trauma as a child and has portrayed her with empathy and sensitivity.

A novel that looks at postpartum depression, grief, guilt and the expectations of women and mothers that I would highly recommend.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.
4.5 stars