All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker is a dark moody mystery. It spans a wide range and captures life and the choices you make. This is a melancholy mystery that is also filled with heart and hope. The simple plot is a boy interrupts a kidnapping of a girl and is instead taken. This event changes the lives of the boy who was taken. It affects his best friend who was in love with him. It also impacts the girl who was almost taken and the small town itself. All the Colors of the Dark starts in the 1970s and ends in the late 1990s. The mystery is fairly long at 600 pages. However, the pages fly thanks to the book’s small chapters. These chapters average two and a half pages. The pace is even throughout the book.

The mystery is a slow burn but filled with so many twists and turns. The book hooked me from the beginning and I never let go. The ending was very satisfying and connected all the threads brilliantly. The book has moments of pure joy, tear-jerking moments, frustrated character choices, surprising character connections, and humor. Early on I could tell this is a good book. Chris Whitaker has achieved something that deserves a slow clap. Everything works in this book. If there was no mystery I feel I would still be captivated with the characters. I felt every character’s death deeply and was very affected by the character’s sometimes bad choices. All the Colors of the Dark is as of right now my top book of 2024. Two years ago I was blown away by Whitaker’s We Begin at the End. In my opinion, this book is the opus. All the Colors of the Dark is in the Read with Jenna book club for the Today Show. All the Colors of the Dark was published on June 25, 2024.

Plot Summary: Patch is a teenager who wears an eye patch due to a birth defect. His mother to cheer him up would show him pirates to normalize his defect. He becomes enamored with pirates and considers him one. Patch is a good kid but he steals just like pirates do, he wears a knife at his waistband. His best friend is Saint a teenage girl who has a teenage crush on Patch. Saint is Patch’s only friend and keeps him on track and helps him with bullies. Patch will stick up for himself but he’s not great at fighting. Patch on a walk in 1975 watches an abduction take place. A kidnapper is trying to take Misty, Patch’s crush whom he’s never talked to. Patch not thinking just reacting grabs his knife from his waistband and interrupts the kidnapping. The man two times bigger than Patch wrestles him and stabs Patch with his knife. Patch tells Misty to go with his last strength. Misty goes to the cops and tells them everything. Saint at the police station for a different reason overhears. Saint beets the police to the site and finds only the bloody knife but not Patch. Was Patch taken or dead? This event will define the town. Saint will not give up trying to find Patch when everyone else will. Misty deals with the survivor’s guilt that will define her. All the Colors of the Dark is a mystery that spans 20-plus years with lots of twists and turns. When one mystery is solved another pops up. The plot summary described above is only the first 10% of the novel.

What I Liked: The storytelling in this book is incredible! The story had so many twists and turns. So many great moments. The story is full of emotion. It was an emotional roller coaster of sometimes sadness, sometimes joy, and a lot of hope. I love how spanning the story is and how the characters learn and grow over time. I think the novel did a great job of time-stamping whatever decade it was in through music, clothing, and hairstyles. The descriptions were perfect I never had a hard time visualizing what Whitaker was writing. The characters were written so well. All the characters were memorable no one was a throwaway character. I did not agree with all the character’s actions but I felt the actions were perfect for the character. I love how Patch learned to identify as a pirate since he grew up with one eye. The eye-patches designs were so clever. The ending was done very cleverly it was satisfying both on the story and an emotional level. I love what Grace represented and how it all played out in the end.

What I Disliked: The length was a little long. There’s one point in the story where all the characters are directionless. They are trying to find where there are compass points in life. I felt the length of the story. The moment doesn’t last for too long, but I felt it. There’s one point in the story where one character starts robbing banks. This occurs at a time when there were little to no cameras. The success rate and the identity of the criminal would have to make headlines. Some big news organizations would have to pick it up. That moment felt a little unbelievable that everyone wouldn’t know about it and who was doing it.

Recommendation: So far All the Colors of the Dark is my favorite book of 2024. I don’t know if anyone will beat it. I have some good reads coming up, but it is a clear front-runner. So I recommend everyone to read this excellent book. It is both a compelling mystery and a great story about life and the choices we make. It asks the question will one incident change the course of your life? The main plot of the story is about child abduction. If you cannot handle that, then this book is not for you. Otherwise, you have to check out this book!

Rating: I rated All the Colors of the Wind by Chris Whitaker 4.8 out of 5 stars.

Ranking: I have loved all of Chris Whitaker’s books. I rated them all 5 stars. However, one is better than the other. I ranked all the books I have read of Chris Whitaker’s from favorite to least favorite: 1) All the Colors of the Dark, and 2) We Begin at the End.