I also found Saint much more interesting than Patch. I think this book would have benefitted from significant editing and condensing. I’m sympathetic to the trauma the author suffered in real life but it was much too drawn out and some parts really didn’t make much sense to me—why Patch would suddenly start robbing banks, why Saint’s husband would suddenly turn abusive and violent.
Obviously this book struck a chord with someone because I believe rights to the story were sold for TV or movie.
Agree with all the comments about this book. Not surprised the rights have been sold and it will become a tv series or movie. Seems like Whitaker may have watched too many American productions, and he crammed all of those cinematic moments, and themes, into this overly ambitious novel.
I did enjoy reading it, once past the child abduction horrors, and wanted to know where this train ride was going. Apparently, all over the country, zig zagging plot lines, and ridiculous coincidences, But, I wanted to know how it ended, even though the middle really went off the tracks, and I rushed to the ending.
Like Mary13: many things seemed off, and knowing Whittaker grew up in England, explains some of this,
I really disliked the foul, misogynistic language of Patch’s daughter. She wasn’t just precocious, her comments were out of character for a young girl.
I’m glad for the happy, even though ridiculous, ending, after going through all those pages of Misery, at least Everyone found “ grace” ……….
Similar reactions. Why did he feel the need to set this book in the US. I assume he figured that it would be easier to explain all the long distance traveling, but he got so many little details wrong. The one that really aggravated me was referring to plants that would not be blooming at the same time.
I also could not figure out why Grace never reached out to Patch. She says I gave you the clues, I knew you’d find me eventually.
Agree that the ending was 100% unrealistic and unsatisfying to boot.
Maybe the script writers will clean up the story so it’s more cohesive and sensible. There are lots of limited series productions that are better than the books they are based on.
I would say especially for a young girl in the 80’s. Today, the cursing comes a lot easier for pre-teens and teens, but not so much back then (at least in my memory). Also, Whitaker joins the ranks of writers who can’t write a child’s dialogue. Charlotte sounded the same at 6 as she did at 16. I can hardly fault the author because it seems to be a really tough skill to master.
I am so-so on the book. I agree with much of what has been said so far. I think that ultimately, the author, wanted to create a book about love. A very distorted kind of love but definitely love. I am very glad that it was not graphic.
To say something positive about the book. I liked that it had many chapters with some very short. It made it easier to stop reading before I went to sleep. I did not stop after a gruesome chapter. I detest books with long chapters.
I’m glad you brought this up; it bothered me. Jimmy was a sweet and affectionate boy and young man, until suddenly … he wasn’t. There were signs early on that he was conservative and traditional, but that is not by any means an indicator of an abusive nature. He had loved Saint since childhood and appreciated her idiosyncracies. The change in character seemed to be necessary as a plot device, but didn’t really follow.
That said, I do feel the need to tread carefully here, as I have never been the victim of abuse, unlike Chris Whitaker. Maybe that sudden, out-of-the-blue violence was what it was like for him. It does sound like it in his essay.
I agree. That’s one of the things I liked about All the Light We Cannot See. I know that’s really structure rather than writing, yet the whole package determines how enjoyable it is to read a book. I find shorter chapters more pleasant – just a personal preference that has nothing to do with the content or difficulty level.
Not to sound like a broken record, but my thoughts about the book pretty much echo what everyone else is saying. My main issue is the book is much longer than it needs to be. I read on a Kindle, and I kept thinking the page count feature was broken! And then to finally finish, only to have it be a totally unsatisfying ending. Gr-r-r!!!
This is the million dollar question, because it’s the premise on which the entire book is based. If Grace wanted to be found, why on earth didn’t she just tell him her name and address?
So I’m enjoying the book–with some qualifications, which in scanning the comments I gather a lot of others share. One of which is the length, and I’m not quite done, so see you tomorrow! 
I am SO relieved!
I struggled to finish this book, did not like, was irritated, hated the flowery show-offy writing, did not buy into all the coincidences, did not appreciate having plot points sprung on me at the last minute! And I gave up too much valuable time slogging through it.
But I really wanted to finish so I could discuss with y’all. And I was afraid I would be in the minority, trashing a book that many loved.
I should have had more faith in this group. I am so glad to read that others shared my frustrations!
(I, too, liked the brief chapters. But that’s pretty low praise.)
So I’m totally standing in a corner alone. Loved the book. Yes, to its flaws but I loved the book.
Yay! We have an outlier! Every discussion needs one.
(sounds like @buenavista might be in your camp)
It is definitely an unusual book. It had a lot of tropes in it. The too many coincidences are too much for me and the salty and vulgar things Charlotte said from the time we are introduced to her made you wonder what she had been exposed to.
I don’t regret reading the book but wish there were a better editor assigned to make it a less repetitive and meandering read.
It is weird to write about areas of the country you’ve really not spent much (or any) time in.
I was planning to read the book again reluctantly for the discussion. The first time was challenging enough. Based on how popular the book is, I felt like an outlier for not liking it. 
Glad to know I wasn’t the only one.
I completely agree with what everyone else has said. It was a book with many issues, too dark, too lengthy, and too many errors, a book that would have been tossed aside unfinished except that I couldn’t. Credit enough to the author that he was able to keep it interesting enough to make me continue.
I really wanted to like the book. After having to wait 8 months for it, it was obvious many did. I think it’s hard to like a book when you don’t enjoy the main characters. I didn’t like Patch. That was the first hurdle.
I did like Saint, but found it baffling that a smart young woman like her would be fixated on Patch, or would (despite her misgivings) marry a guy just because her grandmother desired it.
There is probably enough in the book to unpack and discuss but I’m hesitant to delve into the murkiness again. It’s a story that has stayed in my head even if I have forgotten the specifics.
From the bit of reading I’ve done, it seems that Chris Whitaker finds the U.S., with its gun laws (or actually lack thereof) and its police / FBI structure to be better suited to the sort of thriller he likes to write. His other novel, We Begin at the End, was also set in the U.S., with another gun-toting outlaw (of sorts) as the main character.
About All the Colors of the Dark, he said:
I didn’t want to be an Englishman setting a novel in America. I wanted someone to pick up the book and not give a second thought to me, only to my characters. And I knew that simply wouldn’t happen if I didn’t commit, if I didn’t devote years of my life to truly understanding my setting. Nothing pulls you out of a story faster than spotting a mistake, and luckily for me I get to work with the most talented copyeditors and proofreaders. My US safety net. And now, as I gear up for publication of my new book, I know that I still make mistakes, but they lessen with each story, and I work harder at it than I ever have. https://www.waterstones.com/blog/chris-whitaker-on-writing-an-american-epic-as-an-englishman
I’m glad he realizes that “nothing pulls you out of a story faster than spotting a mistake.” I think he should hire the CC Book Club to edit his next novel. We would do an awesome job. 
I see that there are two covers as well, one with the British spelling and one for the American audience (my library book):
I also read Whitaker’s We Begin at the End and loved it. Five stars on Goodreads. 
I was really irritated that our narrator described in great detail how Saint stayed away from her grandmother so she wouldn’t see that her husband had beaten her, but didn’t bother to mention that she stayed away for NINE MONTHS to hide having a baby as well. It’s one of the reasons I don’t read a lot of thrillers is because the narrators often cheat by not telling the whole story. It’s one thing for a first person narrator to lie, but that’s not what we had here.
Didn’t she go out of town after her husband beat her? I can’t find it now, but I thought that she did for a case.
