Cover Image: Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town

Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town

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Member Reviews

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

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Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town a series of interconnected. short stories.

The stories were well written and unique. I was completely hooked on reading about them and how they all connected to each other.

I would definately reccomend this book and would be interested in reading more of her work.

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Some of the best writing I've encountered in. Long time and I'm so serious. Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock's pen game is unmatched.

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Unfortunately Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town was a DNF for me. I just wasn't enthralled by it. I tried and I don't know if it was a case of right book at the wrong time but I just was bored by it. Sorry.

Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock is available now.

For more information regarding Faber & Faber (@FaberBooks) please visit www.faber.co.uk.

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Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town is an interesting series of short stories which are all inter-connected, so well written and the characters are so unique and well they ‘characters’ , great book you can dip into as and when you want

.

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I loved this YA collection of short stories based on teenagers living in small towns across America. Think nothing happens in small towns, think again!

We go from small snowy towns in Alaska, to isolated beaches to small landlocked towns in Colorado. Each chapter is an individual short story that has links to the others through the characters, which I absolutely loved! Some of these were quite subtle, I probably missed a few, this gives this book a ton of re-read value in my eyes.

Each story has different characters and all of them are interesting and unique. I loved all the stories equally.

This book is so engaging and easy to read, I read this over 3 nights as I just didn't want to put it down! I can't wait to read Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock's previous book, The Smell of Other People's Houses. I definitely recommend this book but will point out some trigger warnings for sexual abuse and pedophilia.

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This is one of those wonderful books you kick yourself over taking so long to read. Interweaving the stories of small town America teenagers, all individuals but linked through the people they cross paths with as well as events that are far wider in impact than any of them realise. The characters are such perfect creations, they are vibrant and relatable, their stories compelling. You get a good feel for small towns, Hitchcock manages to bring out all the best and worst elements with warmth and understanding. You can feel both the young peoples frustrations, the questioning, but also the love and warmth. It's a thoroughly absorbing book and very smart. I loved it!

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A beautiful novel, made up of a number of interwoven (somewhat subtly sometimes!) short stories. I found the town and surrounding areas well described and claustrophobic, and the range of characters and protagonists relatable and real. I loved the writing style, and this book will stay with me for a long time.

I will look for more of Hitchcock's work immediately!

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I will eat up anything set in Alaska and in a small town. That paired with the beautiful writing style were my favourite parts of this book. Though some stories definitely worked more for me than others I mostly enjoyed it overall. I just wish it felt a bit more cohesive as a whole.

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I wanted so much to love this book after adoring Hitchcock's first novel, but just couldn't get to grips with the fragmented nature of the text.

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Unfortunately this was a DNF.
I didn't DNF because I wasn't enjoying it, not by any means, but instead it just wasn't the right time for me to read it as I fell into a massive slump. However I'm definitely going to pick this back up again at some point in the future.

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I enjoyed reading this collection and loved how they all linked together.

Angry starfish - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ grief/loss, jealousy
Pigeon creak - ⭐️⭐️ teen love, cheating, crash
Sea-shaken houses - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ two friends, mystery of their fathers, severed foot washes up on beach and one friend leaves (character in pigeon creak story) and then a man turns up who’s been poisoned by sea fish and lost memory.
Parking lot flowers - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ picks up hitchhiker who disappears at a rest stop and leaves her bag. Ben on a trip to find Conrad who disappeared (guy from last story who was poisoned and lost his memory)
The right kind of people - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ delia (hitchhiker from last story) abused by priest and no one believes her. Finds out that brother is also being abused along with a long list. Reports him and seeks revenge/threatens him. Burns his robes.
Basketball town -⭐️ robe burning started wildfire. Lilian gone to Alaska for camp and cousin feels abandoned/left out even though she plays basketball and couldn’t go anyway. Town is basketball mad and even with the fire still trying to go ahead with games by wearing masks. Chat between mother and daughter about the love of the game and doing what you love.
Alaska was wasted on us - ⭐️⭐️ two girls (Amy and Fiona) go to work at a camp for summer. Bitterness/misunderstanding surrounding boys and losing jobs. Little girl poppy has invisible friend and trauma after losing a loved one.
The stranger in the woods - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ evacuated due to forest fires. Sister was given money by a stranger who came out of the woods and almost abducted at 6 years old. Girls going missing. Coyote Jones (radio) charged. Discussing priest and the fire his robes started. Jenny meets Nate (firefighter) - potential relationship to be formed?
There’s gas in the tank, Louise! -⭐️⭐️⭐️ two girls - one planning to sneak out to the Carson’s house. Then coyote Jones announces the wildfire and Addie wants Louise to prepare to evacuate but she doesn’t believe her. Louise is imagining Addie is still here and that she still has a boyfriend and taking pills. Nate and her sisters intervene and get her help. Addie kidnapped girl who’s body was found two years later. Louise blames herself.

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I loved this book. If you're looking for a book to get you out of a reading slump, I think this book might be the one to go to. Being a collection of short stories, I think there's something for everybody in here. I love how the author intertwined the stories in the end while still keeping them largely independent of each other. The writing was beautiful and I feel that the author was very successful in creating different plots and atmospheres to immerse the reader into.

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What a clever novel. At first glance, a collection of short stories about the lives and loves of teenagers in rural America, yet each story is cleverly interwoven with the others. I became completely absorbed in the writing and really felt like I knew these characters. An excellent read.

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As Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock’s second novel, I was so incredibly excited to be transported back to Alaska.

Hitchcock has such an amazing way with words which doesn’t just paint a picture of the story, it brings the story directly to you; you can touch, taste, smell every part of it.

I honestly can’t express how much joy reading more from Hitchcock brought me; both Everyone Does Famous in a Small Town and her debut - The Smell of Other People’s Houses - will be definite rereads for me.

The novel, much like her first, is written from a multi narrative perspective and maintains a strong sense of mystery throughout.

The reader is left to piece to puzzle of the story together, right until the very end.

Hitchcock ingeniously creates stand alone stories, which slowly weave themselves into a complete narrative.

This book left me feeling like I’d received an all encompassing, warm hug which I never want to be released from.

Suffice to say, I am going to wait in eager anticipation for more from Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock.

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Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town is an interesting and extremely well-written series of short stories which are all connected in some way. The characters in each are all unique and have depth to them that makes them intriguing to get to know. This a a great book for reading when you are commuting to work, due to it being split in to short stories or before bed when you just want something short to read.

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Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town is a collection of stories based in rural North America connecting the lives of everyday people through unique storytelling. A breathtaking tale of small-town life and how every action affects someone else in so many different ways. The writing was spectacular with a seamless change in perspective that made the novel so beautiful. The way Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock manages to create so many different voices and make them so distinct is a feat in itself. However, the story was slow to start and hard to keep up with, the only thing that moved the stories on was the mystery of how everyone was connected. A well-written book with a meandering plot, a calm contemporary read for the more casual reader.

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This is a beautiful collection of short stories. What I hadn't expected is that all these stories are connected in some way.

They all take place in small towns in the US and the cast of characters are related in some way, either by trauma or by passing.

The stories are all thoughtfully told. Bonnie-Sue takes her time and focuses on what's important about these people. There's no fluff, there's just beautiful, painful and heartwarming stories in this collection.

I'm sad I read this book on my Kindle. There are so many paragraphs and sentences I wanted to mark and annotate. I will pick up a physical copy as soon as it's out so that I can take it all in one more time because this short story collection really deserves that.

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Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for an eArc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Meet the teenagers who live in the small towns across these states, separated by distance, but whose stories are woven together in the most unexpected of ways.

This short story collection feels vast and expansive, whilst also being able to hone in on the main characters and make the reader really feel invested and get a great sense of knowing who each of the characters are.

I love the storytelling and the different voices.

I loved how the characters were interconnected.

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The first thing I want to say about this book is that the title really drew me in. It is beautiful. Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town is a short story collection about characters whose lives are somehow woven together, not always directly, but in a small way. It focusses on the young people in small towns and communities in Alaska and America, with characters and events that flow thorough each of the stories, linking them all together.

We see stories about Wildfires, grief, forgetting, sexuality, abuse, betrayal, murder and everything in between. It tells the stories of young peoples whose lives have been changed, moulded buy these events and things that have happened to them.

My favourite story was The Right Kind of People, along with the last one in the book (which the name escapes me), but I enjoyed all of them for their own peculiarities and intricacies. It takes you on an emotional rollercoaster, and you form attachments to these characters, which is not so easy within a short story. I loved how you got to find out what was behind characters that would normally be side-characters and not explored.
The only downside to this collection for me was that I just wanted more. I got so engrossed in every story that I wanted more from it, but really, that isn't even a downside. It's a sign of good storytelling and knowing when to end your stories, leaving the reader aching for more.

I feel as if some of these stories will stick with me for a while, which usually isn't the case with me and anthology collections, but this was something different. I look forward to reading anything else from Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock in the future.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

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