Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead

by Jenny Hollander

• ISBN10: 1250890861
• ISBN13: 9781250890863
• Publish Date: 29 April 2025 (first published 6 February 2024)
• Publish Status: Forthcoming
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead is a standalone thriller mystery from Jenny Hollander. Released 6th Feb 2024 by Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 304 pages and available in hardcover, audio, and ebook format. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free. 

This is a lost memory/possibly undependable narrator/trauma trope with a MC who was witness to a brutal event and is trying to piece her recollections together in order to get some closure and progress with her therapy and get on a stronger footing in her relationship with her fiance. The author cleverly uses the therapy sessions as a mechanism to introduce backstory, and does so quite seamlessly. 

The writing is strong overall, witty and well done without being overwrought or clunky. Unfortunately the pacing is very uneven and it's not before about 30% into the book when it really seems to get its feet. There are twists and turns aplenty, but some are bewilderingly unnecessary as motivation (for crime). 

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 8 hours and 32 minutes and is read by Marisa Callin. She has an odd hybrid American/British RP accent which is difficult to define. She reads precisely and enunciates clearly, but some of the character accents are uneven and, frankly, odd. Sound and production quality are very high throughout. 

Three and a half stars. Uneven and patchy in plot and character development. Generally well written and twisty. It will likely be optioned into a movie soon (if it's not already). One can hope the "Hollywood transformation" will even out the bumps. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes. 

[Quirky Cat]

Book Summary:

Nine years ago, Charlie Colbert experienced the biggest trauma of her life. The thing is, she doesn't remember any of it. However, the press has always been eager to hear her side of the story because she was a witness.

Despite this, Charlie worked hard to overcome and escape this tragic moment in her life. But as the ten-year mark approaches, history keeps creeping on her. Worse, it looks like a movie will be made about the horrible event, which will stir the press up all over again.

My Review:

I'll admit it – I picked up Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead because the title sounded SO compelling. I also loved the cover, so that was a nice bonus. That said, I must admit that I felt the title was a bit misleading.

For one thing, Charlie doesn't ever seem to actually be seeking forgiveness. Sure, she's torn up about not remembering and then torn up again when she remembers what happened, but does she seek forgiveness? Eh, no. Instead, she fears what the rest of the world will think.

So that was disappointing. The mystery was interesting, though I didn't like most of the surviving characters (Charlie included). I can't say more on that subject without spoiling a bit of the ending, so I'll move on.

Overall, I would have to say that Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead is a unique read. I don't regret reading it at all, but I do kind of wish that it had lived up to the premise the title promised.

Highlights:
Mystery/Thriller
Unreliable Narrator
Hidden Past
Dark Tragedy

Trigger Warnings:
Trauma
Press/Stalking
Major Tragedy

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[chymerra]

Important things you need to know about the book:

Pace: Medium but does pick up to fast towards the end of the book. After the twist, it falls back to medium again.

POV: 1st person (told from Charlie’s POV in both past and present)

Trigger Warnings: There are scenes involving mental Illness (on page), murder (on and off page), alcohol (on and off page), suicidal thoughts (off page), violence (on page), blood (on page), grief (on and off page), injury and injury detail (on page), child death (off page), death (on and off page), drug use (on page for one scene and never mentioned again), self harm (on page), toxic relationship (on and off page), stalking (off and on page), and toxic friendship (on and off page). If any of these triggers you, I suggest not reading the book.

Language:  Moderate swearing is used in Skater Boy. There is also language used that could be offensive to some people.

Setting: Everyone Who Can Forgive Now Is Dead is set mainly in New York City. There is a brief scene in Nantucket when Charlie tries on wedding dresses. Charlie also remembers growing up in England.

Plot Synopsis (as spoiler-free as I can get):

Charlie Cobert had lived through a horrific Christmas Eve massacre at her exclusive graduate school. Dubbed “Scarlet Christmas,” several of Charlie’s friends were killed that night. Charlie herself could not remember the events up to the massacre and the actual massacre itself. Determined to lose the victim label the press gave her, Charlie slowly got her life back. Now, nine years after those events, she is the editor-in-chief of a major magazine and is engaged to the heir of a huge publishing company. But, when the twin sister of her best friend (who was killed in the massacre) decides to make a film about that night, Charlie starts to unravel. What exactly happened that night? What isn’t Charlie remembering? Will it take Charlie completely falling apart to remember?

Characters:

The main character in Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead is Charlie. I am going to say this upfront: Charlie is not a reliable narrator. Let me repeat this louder for those in the back: CHARLIE IS NOT A RELIABLE NARRATOR.

I didn’t like Charlie, but I felt terrible for her. The trauma she experienced shaped her into the neurotic woman that is portrayed in the book. She kept people, including her fiancee, at arm’s length. She refused to discuss anything to do with that night with anyone. Hell, she even went as far as to get plastic surgery to change what she looked like. So, I wasn’t surprised when she began to spiral. When she started remembering the truth of that night, it broke her. It would have broken me, too.

The secondary characters weren’t as fleshed out as I would have liked them to be. They did add some extra depth to the storyline but that was it.

My review:

The main storyline in the book is split between Now (present-day) and Then (the months leading up to the massacre). The author also includes news articles about the massacre as buffers between the chapters. I was skipping over the articles until I realized that they did hold information in them. So, don’t skip them. You will miss out on stuff.

I wasn’t a fan of the dual storylines. Dual storylines and I have a love/hate relationship. Done right, they are lovely and done wrong, well, they suck. Thankfully, the author did them right in this book. There is a correlation between what Charlie was going through in the present day and what she experienced leading up to the murders. It made the transition between storylines easy, and I didn’t get lost when switching over.

As I stated above, Charlie is an unreliable narrator. Her memories of events leading up to the Scarlet Christmas were skewed. There were holes in them because of her drinking (minor spoiler: she is a blackout drunk). But, as the storyline went on, and the more Charlie’s therapy sessions uncovered the truth, I did begin to wonder if I was getting the whole, unvarnished truth. And now that I have finished the book, I still wonder that.

The mystery/thriller/suspense angle was well written. The author did a great job of building up what was going on with Charlie in the present and what was going on with her in the past. There is also a massive twist in the back half of the book that I did not see coming. Usually, there is a hint, a whisper of things to come, but not in this book. It came out of nowhere and surprised me.

The end of Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead was interesting but not what I thought. I can only get into a little about what happened without spoilers, but I liked what I read. But, it was almost anti-climatic after everything that was revealed.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, NetGalley, and Jenny Hollander for allowing me to read and review this ARC of Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead. All opinions stated in this review are mine.