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A review by richardrbecker
We Are All the Same in the Dark by Julia Heaberlin
dark
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
4.25
As long as you don't mind character development overshadowing the plot until it becomes surprisingly passive for a thriller, We Are All the Same in the Dark will fit nicely in this year's reading list. Julia Heaberlin serves up three characters for us to relish (and then miss as we change perspectives): Wyatt Branson, a haunted loner who is suspected of his sister's disappearance a decade earlier; Odette Tucker, a one-legged local police officer who is deeply connected to Wyatt; and Angel, a one-eyed girl who found on the side of the road as if tossed out in a grave of spent dandelion wishes.
All three of these characters are amazingly well-wrought, so much so that it's almost annoying when we never hear from them again. This is especially true of Wyatt. His bit is painfully too short.
And then you'll quickly forgive Geaberlin because Odette is a tenacious protagonist despite her own scar connected to the disappearance of Wyatt's father and sister all those years ago. Some people think the loss of her leg is all Wyatt's fault, too, while others believe she is harboring a secret because the pair of them once dated. The truth is somewhere in the middle, with Odette carefully balancing her own belief in Wyatt's guilt or innocence, even after all these years.
The story concludes with Angel, a one-eyed runaway who Wyatt rescues roadside, and Odette temporarily takes in her custody to sort out who she is and where she comes from. By the time we pick up on her perspective, Angel's rescue and circumstances to be given a new identity are ancient histories, but her connection to Odette is not. She has one more thing to do to repay a lifelong debt to her savior.
The writing and the characters will certainly stay with you, a five-star psychological fiction right up to the end. But it's in the end, that I stripe one star away as the climax creeps up so silently that it doesn't read like a climax at all but an underwhelming explanation of events over the course of thirty years that few, if any, would see coming or even care about. As long as you don't read it for the end, We Are All The Same In The Dark is still worth savoring.
All three of these characters are amazingly well-wrought, so much so that it's almost annoying when we never hear from them again. This is especially true of Wyatt. His bit is painfully too short.
And then you'll quickly forgive Geaberlin because Odette is a tenacious protagonist despite her own scar connected to the disappearance of Wyatt's father and sister all those years ago. Some people think the loss of her leg is all Wyatt's fault, too, while others believe she is harboring a secret because the pair of them once dated. The truth is somewhere in the middle, with Odette carefully balancing her own belief in Wyatt's guilt or innocence, even after all these years.
The story concludes with Angel, a one-eyed runaway who Wyatt rescues roadside, and Odette temporarily takes in her custody to sort out who she is and where she comes from. By the time we pick up on her perspective, Angel's rescue and circumstances to be given a new identity are ancient histories, but her connection to Odette is not. She has one more thing to do to repay a lifelong debt to her savior.
The writing and the characters will certainly stay with you, a five-star psychological fiction right up to the end. But it's in the end, that I stripe one star away as the climax creeps up so silently that it doesn't read like a climax at all but an underwhelming explanation of events over the course of thirty years that few, if any, would see coming or even care about. As long as you don't read it for the end, We Are All The Same In The Dark is still worth savoring.