When the Stars Go Dark

There's nothing exactly wrong with this book, but the story is nothing special. There is a buildup to when reveals start happening, and then everything seems rushed to finish. One of the main characters suggests the culprit and is rebuffed for it - only to have the protagonist come to the same conclusion two pages later. It needed some work.

Heavy Read but Good


This story expresses the point of view of Anna Hart who is a seasoned missing person detective in San Francisco with far too much knowledge of the darkest side of human nature. When tragedy strikes her personal life, Anna, desperate and numb, flees to the Northern California village of Mendocino to grieve. She lived there as a child with her beloved foster parents, and now she believes it might be the only place left for her. Yet the day she arrives, she learns that a local teenage girl has gone missing.

The crime is scarily similar to a crime that occurred during a pivotal time in Anna's childhood. The unsolved murder of a young girl touched the town and changed the people who lived there forever. When past and present collide, Anna realizes she was brought back to her hometown for a reason and that her upbringing and life experience gives her insight into how the victims are selected and how they come in contact with this killer. As Anna becomes consumed with the history and needs to save these girls, she must come to terms with the fact that to help others she might need to help herself by letting others in.



Intertwining together actual cases of missing persons, trauma theory, and a hint of the metaphysical, this propelling and deeply affecting novel tells a story of fate, necessary redemption, and what it takes, when the worst happens, to reclaim our lives and come to terms with the fact that we are not meant to live life alone.

What I enjoyed with this novel is that when it begins we are immediately caught up in whatever Anna is running from. You can feel that she is running from love and heartbreak and all this information is given to the reader in little pieces. I enjoyed meeting characters from her past and her time in the system and how the author used that as a way to connect her to the victims she is trying to save. What was also well done was the cast of supporting characters in the town. What I love most and why this is such a high-rated four- star read for me is the fact that the author blends Anna's past and present so beautifully that by the end of the book I feel like the character comes out as a whole person. The transition is beautiful and shows how having community and faith in yourself is important to make an impact in helping others.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review. This was one of those books that I had a really hard time placing between four and three stars. While there were many things that I liked, there were just as many things that either irritated me or just put me off to the story. I originally got the arc a while ago and even though it took me a long time to finally read it, I am definitely glad that I did because even if the story wasn't the most exciting, there are some really deep truths about assault victims and I found the novel to be extremely moving in that regard. I would still recommend this book but know that it's not your typical thriller mystery but if you want to be profoundly touched then it just might be for you.

First of, When the Stars Go Dark is about a missing persons' detective, Anna Hart, who flees from her current family life after a tragic accident back to her childhood home, which stirs up a lot things she left behind and then she is forced right back into her job when a girl goes missing and she can't resist her need to help find the girl. I thought the plot was okay and this is one of my first tropes like this but the story progressed rather slow and I don't think it had to be this long. Things were revealed too slowly for me, especially because I prefer things coming to light all throughout the novels that I am reading, not just at the end. That is what I mean when I say that it's not your typical suspenseful thriller, the unfolding of the story definitely didn't keep me holding onto the edge of my seat.

Secondly, the characterization was probably the thing I enjoyed the most about this book because we really get a good look into Anna's psyche and what makes her tick and we really understand what compels her to be so immersed and obsessed with her job. The writing style definitely helps with that because even though it's more drawn out than I'd prefer in my thrillers, it is also very deeply profound and gets Anna's soul across beautifully. Not something I would expect from a thriller but I enjoyed that aspect of it.

Thirdly, the writing style is beautiful and flowing but a little bit too much for me, especially in a thriller, which I am used to being fast-paced and exhilarating. For this reason, I found it to have progressed extremely slowly. I did enjoy all the deep truths in regards to assault victims, which I haven't pondered that deeply myself yet, I just wasn't prepared for it and thought I was going into something completely different.

In conclusion, even though this book wasn't my favorite, I think readers who enjoy long flowy sentences and an abundance of descriptions would really enjoy this one. However, if you are looking for a fast-paced, mind blowing, shocking thriller, I did not find this to be it.