Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town

This was a collection of short stories, but ones that were interconnected with each other in one way or another. For example, one story would be about a girl, and then the next about her sister. Or her best friend. And there were certain characters that were focal points in some stories and mentioned in passing in others. I listened to this on audiobook, and I think I might've seen the connections a bit more closely if I'd read it physically, just because I wasn't always 100% conscious of the characters' names. However, I really did like the way the stories were interwoven! It made it a lot more interesting, tbh.

I really enjoyed Hitchcock's writing and got really invested in the characters' lives. I did, in some stories, wish I got a bit of a satisfying ending, but I also knew that it wasn't unusual for short stories to not offer that, so it didn't make me mad or annoyed or anything. I definitely want to read more by this author! I would advise you to check out the trigger warnings before going into the book, though. There was a lot about sexual abuse of children in some stories, particularly sexual abuse by religious leaders.

Content Warnings

bexh's review against another edition

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emotional funny sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

gladiator_fox's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

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tara_m's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

juliezantopoulos's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I adore Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock's The Smell of Other People's Houses and this book felt a lot like a love letter to that novel. I don't think it tied together the storylines quite as well as Other People's Houses did, though. I saw the threads, but there were SO many characters that keeping everything straight for really difficult. Still, the stories held up on their own beautifully.

There was a content warning at the start of the book, but frankly, I'm not sure it was enough. It says:
"One of the many story strands in this novel is connected to sexual abuse (not graphic), which may be a sensitive issue for some readers."

I'm not sure how "non-graphic" it is. It's not necessarily off screen and is told in a way that the reader feels very present during the abuse. I will also say that the book covers the loss of a sibling, abduction, trauma, grief, cheating, and sexual abuse of children by adults (specifically clergy).

Content Warnings

rockatanskette's review against another edition

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reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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whatellisreadnext's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective relaxing sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

'𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦,' 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳. '𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.'

Meet the teenagers who live in small towns, separated by distance, but whose stories are woven together in the most unexpected ways. Through the spread of a wildfire, or the priest who has moved from state to state, or by the hunt for a missing child.

Short story collections are a rare outing for me, but I quickly became wrapped up in these small town stories. I'm not going to lie, I bought this book mainly because the cover reminded of Edward Hopper's Nighthawks painting, and I just bloody love a small town setting.

I'm gutted I had to read this one around working, I think the best way to experience this book would be in one sitting, because all of these stories are subtlety interconnected. And even though towards the end I loved picking up on all the little links, I bet there were so many buried in the text that I didn't pick up on, because I had responsibilities so couldn't just keep reading. Adulting sucks.

Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town covers so many different topics, and it felt like the perfect depiction of small town life. Some of the stories dig deep, Hitchcock definitely didn't holdback when it came to dark subject matter, but she wrote about such difficult situations so beautifully.

I think if you love small town vibes as much as I do, you'll really enjoy the endearing cosiness of these stories, and how they all subtlety interconnect🧡

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