Thank you Crooked Lane Books, #partner for the advanced copy of Everything Has Happened in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Published: April 28, 2026
Summary:
A disappearance from the past echoes in the future in this ambitious and wrenching mystery, perfect for readers of The God of the Woods.
In 1986, a child disappeared. Nearly forty years later, a tip line rings.
It’s been almost four decades since Edie Marshall’s little brother, Charlie, vanished on his walk home from day camp. After the case went cold, Edie—who had once dreamed of pursuing a life beyond the confines of her small Vermont town—never left, her dreams disappearing right along with Charlie. In her fifties now, she teaches at her old high school and has returned to her childhood home to care for her ailing mother.
When the long-dormant tip line set up for Charlie rings for the first time in years, Edie assumes it’s a wrong number—but on the other end is Jericho Jenkins, the only person of interest ever identified in the investigation. Jericho believes he’s found something of Charlie’s on his property, and with this news, all the pain and uncertainty of that summer rushes back to Edie, including vivid memories of her best friend, Trill: their shared secrets and the devastating lie Edie told that could have changed everything.
Now Jericho is under suspicion again, Trill is coming home, and her mother’s hope is renewed. Edie’s in the same place with the same people as when Charlie first vanished, but somehow everything is different now, and maybe this time they can discover the truth.
Everything Has Happened is not only a compelling mystery of a missing child but a story of forbidden young love, a deeply moving novel for readers of Rebecca Makkai and Angie Kim.
My thoughts:
I need to shout from the rooftops how much I loved this book!! I have read 2 other books by this author — Rust & Stardust and Keeping Lucy — both of which were 5 stars. And now this one, another 5 star read…I’m obsessed with her writing and will be adding her entire backlist to my tbr immediately!!
This book had a hold on me right from the start. It’s not a book to rush through, but one to read slowly, taking in every word because it’s all necessary. The way the story builds, as each switch from past to present unravels more and more of what really happened that fateful day is haunting, suspenseful, evocative.
Along with the mystery of what happened to the missing boy, the author explores memory, the challenges of growing up, loss, and complicated family dynamics. I especially loved the nostalgia that the author evokes — the past timeline is set in 1986. I was 12, in the 5th grade and remember what life was like back in those days, how simple things were before cell phones and internet.
Secrets play a big role in this book, both in the past and the present and we see the psychological burden this has on the characters, some more than others. It is this that drives the story at times, thus making it more a character-driven story, which I loved. The emotional depth that this story has really pulled at me, keeping me fully invested until I reached the conclusion. I could think of nothing else while reading this until I finished…that’s how involved I became with the story!
I cannot recommend this one, or this author, enough!!
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