Review of Day One by Abigail Dean

*Day One* by Abigail Dean (2024). Published by Viking.

If you’re new here and found this blog through the mysterious powers of the Internet, welcome! My name is Ashley, and I’m a dedicated reader and movie watcher who thought to turn this website into a little digital archive of sorts.

I was watching and reading so much that I wanted to keep track of it all, so I began blogging as a way to keep these books as memories somewhat forever.

That said, I recently fell into a period of unemployment, and this blog was a solace for me. Not only was it a way to make a little bit of money when there was nothing else coming my way really, but I found, after getting my finances in order, that I enjoyed sitting down to write blog posts when I had nothing else to do in my day.

I’ve been dubbing this period as funemployment while I look for a job, but the job market isn’t looking too great right now. Regardless, I spend a lot of time in my local library, and because I am such a big fan of simple living, I enjoy the little moments where I can find a book for free here or there, while also supporting such a critical aspect of my community.

It was in my local library branch that I was wandering through the new fiction section on a warm Saturday afternoon. It was only a few weeks before I found out the terrible news that my visa had no come through, and I was going to lose my job, but I was looking for something to read. I found a copy of Day One in that section, and was really interested in it because of the synopsis on the book jacket.

So I picked it up to read, and got through the entire book when I had a free afternoon. I tore right through this book; I usually get through a book about this length over the course of a couple of days, but I managed to finish this one over the course of a few hours.

Let’s get into the review! I don’t want to ramble too much. I know introductions can be a little long, so I don’t want to keep going on.

After a school massacre in England, two characters deal with the ramifications and obsession about it.

This is a novel about an event that ripples through every characters’ lives: the Day One massacre. Set in the suburbs of England, in a town called Stonesmere, there was supposed to be a school play slash assembly situation at the local school. What happened next is a tragedy: people were gunned down and killed by one person, who committed an insane act of violence against everyone in the room.

One of the main characters in the novel is Marty, who is the town’s golden girl. Her mother was a teacher at the school, and one of the victims in the massacre. The novel opens with the wake for her mother, which is one of many happening throughout the town, especially as many of the victims were schoolchildren.

What happens after the massacre forever alters Marty’s life, but when she gives statements to the press, it marks the beginning of unravelling the small, tight knit community that the town once was. We learn to start questioning Marty’s motives and story throughout the course of this novel, as well as understanding her reasons.

Our other main character, who the chapters alternate to, is Trent. He didn’t grow up in the most ideal conditions during his childhood, and with his mother he tried to get into the tight knit community of Stonesmere. He wants to go back, but when the massacre occurs, he falls deep into conspiracy theory groups on the Internet and becomes quite the sleuth.

Eventually he will cross many lines in order to uncover what he thinks is the truth, including getting involved with an organization that’s actually pretty sleazy at the end of the day.

As we go through each chapter, we see how these characters commit to their causes, and how the other people in the community are actually grieving for everyone and everything they lost. We think for a moment that they might not be able to overcome this, but only some might be able to do so in the end.

That said, there’s some controversy inside of the world of this novel that’s seriously worth exploring when it comes to how we handle these issues. I found it gripping because of how the world has become today. People are willing to latch onto conspiracy theories about shooters, and there are people even worshipping some of the original school shooters.

Overall Thoughts

I really enjoyed this novel because of how it dealt with its themes. There’s a tiny hint of mystery going on behind the scenes, and we start to get the full picture of what happened that day the further we get into the book’s plot and the characters’ experiences.

The writing itself is quite splendid throughout. I was really absorbed by the world the author created throughout, as well as how the characters were fleshed out. I could understand their motivations, even if I did not agree with them at times, and thought that this was well done.

I recommend reading this if you can stomach it. I know these are sensitive issues, and that it might not be everyone’s cup of tea (in the sense of whether they can mentally handle it or not), but I think that you should pick this one up if you’re interested in the plot.

Go to your local independent/indie bookstore or library branch to pick this book up—I highly recommend it!

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