A review by minimicropup
What Never Happened by Rachel Howzell Hall

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Restless, dubious, instinctive. 
 
Our MC (an obituary writer) was the sole survivor of a family massacre as a teen and is returning to the community where it occurred to care for their elderly aunt and fix the house they inherited. 
πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ Set in Avalon on Catalina Island, California, USA, mostly in March 2020 with snippets of June 2001
 
πŸΊπŸ• Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags: 
πŸ˜€ The writing style is very show, not tell. We are thrown in the story and have to figure it out as we go with stream of consciousness bits from Colette, our MC. It can be jarring at first but over time I found it effective for making us feel like we are getting to know her in a natural way, like when meeting someone for the first time. Since it is a character driven story if could be hard to stick with if you don't like Colette or care about what happens to her (and it could be awhile before you figure that out!)

πŸ€” On a similar note, the suspense is largely from Colette's mindset and interpretations...seemingly innocuous interactions or observations make her feel on edge and then we start to feel that atmosphere and come to see the threatening undercurrent around her too. Again, it kind of relies on caring about what happens to Colette though, otherwise could be hard to stay engaged. 

πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ I predicted the culprits and there is a bit of convenient blindness to Colette about people in her life (like she over analyzes some while implicitly trusting others). I think it's largely explained by her PTSD and loneliness though. 

πŸ˜• There was a hit of villain monologue describing the nasty scheming in great detail, but It wasn't like that character just flipped personalities suddenly so it didn't feel too contrived. That could also make it predictable early on for some.

πŸ˜°πŸ˜” This was s surprisingly sad and stressful read for me! I was rooting for Colette as our reluctant hero and the isolation was building around her. From lack of support and being on an island where getting on or off is so dependent on the weather, to the grief and early COVID anxiety. Then Colette has to face threats, stalking, direct and systemic racism. It was anxiety-inducing, I had to take breaks but wanted to keep reading. 
 
Mood Reading Match Up: 
  • Psychological thriller character study interwoven with the experience of systemic racism, trauma of survivor's guilt, and being Black in America
  • Family and friend drama with a can-they-make-it-work, stuck-together romance  
  • Serial killer who-to-trust murder mystery in an isolated-ish island small-community setting
  • Themes and commentary on prejudice, racism, conscious and unconscious bias, and entitlement
 
Content Heads-Up: Murder. Death of family. Alcohol use. Racism (prejudice, slurs, systemic, persecution). COVID-19 (pre-pandemic uncertainty, early lockdown). Ageism. Poisoning. Confinement. Violence (weapons). False accusation. Home invasion. Threats/stalker. Domestic abuse/toxic relationship. Mental health (PTSD, anxiety, panic). 
 
Format: Kindle Unlimited
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