Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town (ARC Book Review)

Everyone Dies Famous In a Small Town is an homage and an anthem to all the teens growing up in small towns across America.

“In a small town, you are forever defined by the worst thing that ever happened to you.” 

As a wildfire ravages the West, Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town flows through the stories of nine teens from Alaska to Colorado like a river, connecting the vignettes of their lives in ways they never realize.

The collection has many of the strengths of Hitchcock’s first novella, The Smell of Other People’s Houses, bringing the same moments of powerful prose and depth of fully-formed characters. Because of this, each story is interesting on its own, but even more so in the often unexpected connections that weave them together.

However, almost every single chapter felt too short and, as a result, exposition-heavy. By the time we got to know everything we needed to about the main character of the hour, their role was over and it was time to move on to another, making the whole process feel rushed and somewhat untethered.

“But Lula and her friends seemed to think that by going to college they had cracked some mysterious code that people from small towns could never crack.” 

It didn’t help that many of the stories spent many of their pages looking at the past, which made the passing of time and the setting confusing, sometimes on purpose, but often as a simple oversight of switching from place to place and time to time too often. 

With fewer perspectives, it would have been much easier to settle in. I would have loved a full-length novel from many of the characters and wouldn’t have minded any extra time we could have gotten with them, even if that meant cutting a few of the others. 

Still, I appreciated all the relatability of this book and the messages it had to share, but only enough for a 3 out of 5. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Wendy Lamb Books for an early copy in exchange for an honest review!

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