We Are All The Same in The Dark by Julia Heaberlin

We Are All The Same in the Dark by Julia Heaberlin
UK Publication – August 2021
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: [★★★★]

This ARC was provided by Penguin Michael Joseph UK (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

One word review – Delicious. Two word review – Darkly Delicious.

Synopsis from Goodreads: It’s been a decade since Trumanell Branson disappeared, leaving only a bloody handprint behind. Her pretty face still hangs like a watchful queen on the posters on the walls of the town’s Baptist church, the police station, and in the high school. They all promise the same thing: We will find you. Meanwhile, her brother, Wyatt, lives as a pariah in the desolation of the old family house, cleared of wrongdoing by the police but tried and sentenced in the court of public opinion and in a new documentary about the crime.

When Wyatt finds a lost girl dumped in a field of dandelions, making silent wishes, he believes she is a sign. The town’s youngest cop, Odette Tucker, believes she is a catalyst that will ignite a seething town still waiting for its own missing girl to come home. But Odette can’t look away. She shares a wound that won’t close with the mute, one-eyed mystery girl. And she is haunted by her own history with the missing Tru.

Desperate to solve both cases, Odette fights to save the lost girl in the present and to dig up the shocking truth about a fateful night in the past–the night her friend disappeared, the night that inspired her to become a cop, the night that wrote them all a role in the town’s dark, violent mythology.

In this twisty psychological thriller, Julia Heaberlin paints unforgettable portraits of a woman and a girl who redefine perceptions of physical beauty and strength.

My Thoughts: I loved this book, from the very first page I was physically transported to small town Texas where nothing and no-one is quite as they first appear.

The story is told from 3 different viewpoints all exploring what really happened the night Trumanell disappeared. The author manages to keep the reader in suspense until the final reveal. The story is atmospheric at points claustrophobic but always intense.

I loved the strong female characters and the diverse representation of physical disabilities. The author clearly did a thorough job researching the particular disabilities that her characters are overcoming and I really appreciated that research and the way the characters are not held back from doing what they want while also recognising that the way they do this is slightly different from someone with no disability.

My one issue with this book? The massive book hangover it has left me with. This is one of those books where I wanted to read faster to know what happened while at the same time wanting to read slower so it didn’t have to end.

Who would like this? If you like your mysteries dark, creepy and atmospheric this is definitely for you.

We want to hear from you! Have you read this book? What did you think?