All the Things We Do in the Dark

August 15, 2019
A teen loner grapples with buried demons as she stumbles on someone else's secret in the woods. In her latest novel, Mitchell (The Prom, 2019, etc.) again explores the sexual awakening of adolescent identities--this time against the backdrop of childhood sexual assault. Though hesitant to open up to anyone apart from her best friend, Syd, 17-year-old Ava Parkhurst reveals early on that she was raped at age 9 and visibly scarred for life when her attacker traced "a razor blade finger" down her cheek. As if Ava, a good student who strives to live in the present and not fixate on past trauma, doesn't have enough challenges--Syd is keeping secrets from her; her father has moved out, leaving her and her mother on their own; and, for the first time, she's finding herself physically attracted to the daughter of the policeman who, years before, handled her assault case--a walk in the woods one snowy Maine night leads to a harrowing discovery that dangerously tests the confines of Ava's carefully guarded world. Mitchell's roller-coaster confessional narrative runs the gamut from teen melodrama between friends and the throes of first love to reckoning with guarded secrets and the psychological fallout from astoundingly brutal acts. Most characters default to white; her love interest is biracial (white Jewish and Korean). A searing, fast-paced whodunit that addresses sexual assault head-on. (author's note, resources) (Thriller. 14-18)

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November 1, 2019

Gr 9 Up-In Mitchell's latest teen thriller, secrets don't stay buried for long, and the things we do in the dark aren't hidden forever. For years, Ava has struggled with the aftereffects of being sexually assaulted, including a scar on her face that reminds her of it daily. When Ava unexpectedly stumbles upon a secret no one was meant to find in the woods, she has to decide what to do. A part of her knows the right thing is to tell an adult or the police, but the burdens of her own past beg her to keep the secret. An outstanding thriller concept and mystery plot will grab readers who love writing that is dark and emotional, and Ava's internal struggles are authentic and heartfelt. This haunting and mysterious story will keep readers guessing until the final chapters. VERDICT Teens who enjoyed Courtney Summers's Sadie or Kathleen Glasgow's Girl in Pieces will be invested. A standout choice for high school libraries where these titles circulate well.-Elizabeth Pelayo, St. Charles East High School, IL

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