Publisher: Constable (Trade Paperback – 13 February 2024)
Series: Standalone
Length: 326 pages
My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars
Debuting author Jenny Hollander presents a memorable first book with Everyone Who Can Forgive Me is Dead, an excellent read that provides a powerful insight into grief and trauma.
Plot Synopsis:
THEY CALL ME THE LUCKY ONE. THEY DON’T KNOW I LIED.
Nine years ago, Charlie Colbert’s life changed for ever.
On Christmas Eve, as the snow fell, her elite graduate school was the site of a chilling attack. Several of her classmates died. Charlie survived.
Years later, Charlie has the life she always wanted at her fingertips: she’s editor-in-chief of a major magazine and engaged to the golden child of the publishing industry.
But when a film adaptation of that fateful night goes into production, Charlie’s dark past threatens to crash into her shiny present.
Charlie was named a ‘witness’ in the police reports. Yet she knows she was much more than that.
The truth about that night will shatter everything she’s worked for. Just how far will she go to protect it?
Everyone Who Can Forgive Me is Dead is an outstanding first book from Hollander, who provides a gripping and intense narrative for readers to get stuck into. Told through the eyes of main character Charlie Colbert, the story quickly engrosses you. Charlie has rebuilt her life after a brutal attack years ago, but when secrets from the past threaten to come forth, Charlie is forced to interact with her fellow survivors once again. At the same time, Charlie also begins reliving the events leading up to that fateful night in her head, desperately trying to remember everything that happened to truly understand everything that she’s been running from.
The resulting story is very good, and Hollander has come up with a gripping, character-driven book that you can really sink your teeth into. The combination of past and present storylines is quite effective, and I liked how you got to see the protagonist’s dark reactions in the present while slowly learning about the events that traumatised her and the people involved. The way in which Hollander reveals all the secrets of the past is handled exceptionally well, and I loved the combination of flashbacks, discussions in the present, and quotes from fictional news articles that hint at what happened. The full events of the past storyline turn out to be far more complicated than you initially think, and the author throws in some incredibly clever twists. I honestly was surprised at some of the more brilliant reveals that come to light, and you really appreciate Hollander’s ability to misdirect the audience into assuming certain things happened. The full reveal and the fallout in the present for the protagonist are pretty amazing, and I loved how everything came together. The reader really comes away feeling satisfied, especially as everyone gets what they truly deserve at the end.
While I loved the intricate story that Hollander pulled together for Everyone Who Can Forgive Me is Dead, I think the most distinctive aspect of the book is the author’s focus on trauma and how different people deal with it. This is mainly done through the eyes of the main character, Charlie, who is forced to continuously live with the trauma, guilt and emotional damage that followed the college massacre. While a lot of this trauma results in a memory black hole for the protagonist, you get to see other aspects of it as the book continues, as she is dragged back into the past and begins to relive all the dark feelings that emerge. The author’s portrayal of how a person would deal with such events, as well as how it would impact their memory, feels extremely realistic, and you can really feel the emotional damage done to Charlie and those closest to her as they try to help. Other characters are also forced to deal with the trauma in other ways, and the different levels of regret, involvement and despair prove to be a captivating part of the book. Throw in a cynical, if realistic, look at how the public idolises dark events, and Everyone Who Can Forgive Me is Dead proves to be quite an emotional rollercoaster. This emotional charge really enhances the impact of the book, and I deeply appreciated how Hollander worked the protagonist’s attempts to remember and overcome her past into the overarching story.
Overall, I found Everyone Who Can Forgive Me is Dead to be an excellent and compelling first novel from Jenny Hollander that is really worth checking out. Thanks to the great blend of personal storytelling, moving emotion, and dark secrets, readers come away from Everyone Who Can Forgive Me is Dead deeply moved, and I look forward to seeing what intriguing reads Hollander writes in the future.
The Unseen Library 