Title: All the Ugly and Wonderful Things
Author: Bryn Greenwood
Series: Standalone
Release Date: August 9th 2016
Synopsis
As the daughter of a
drug dealer, Wavy knows not to trust people, not even her own parents.
It's safer to keep her mouth shut and stay out of sight. Struggling to
raise her little brother, Donal, eight-year-old Wavy is the only
responsible adult around. Obsessed with the constellations, she finds
peace in the starry night sky above the fields behind her house, until
one night her star gazing causes an accident. After witnessing his
motorcycle wreck, she forms an unusual friendship with one of her
father's thugs, Kellen, a tattooed ex-con with a heart of gold.
By
the time Wavy is a teenager, her relationship with Kellen is the only
tender thing in a brutal world of addicts and debauchery. When tragedy
rips Wavy's family apart, a well-meaning aunt steps in, and what is
beautiful to Wavy looks ugly under the scrutiny of the outside world.
Kellen may not be innocent, but he is the fixed point in Wavy and
Donal's chaotic universe. Instead of playing it safe, Wavy has to learn
to fight for Kellen, for her brother, and for herself.
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Review by Iza
Oh this book!
It was beautiful.
It was sad.
It was ugly, so very ugly.
But in the end, it was worth it all.
I knew what I was doing when I picked this book up to read it. I was 100% aware of it. I read reviews, detailed ones, to see if it contains something I can't handle. I want to say that this story is NOT about a pedophile. A grown man does NOT fall in love with a little girl and have sex with her. He does not molest her. He doesn't do anything. He simply loves her. First, it's an innocent type of love that later blooms into something beautiful; into something people want to make ugly. Because yes, people don't understand. People see what they want to see.
Believe me, just think of Lolita by Nabokov. Now that is a book about a man well in his prime falling in love with thirteen-year-old girls, Dolores being one of them. But All the Ugly and Wonderful Things is a story that is real, with beautiful and ugly parts. It's a story you can imagine playing out in real life. Hence its ugliness.
Our heroine, Wavy is probably one of the strongest female characters I've ever encountered. She could have easily gone down the wrong path - God knows, she doesn't have good role models in her life - or even commit suicide, but she didn't. Instead, she held on. For herself, for her little brother. For Kellen.
Oh, Kellen! You know, we readers are spoiled by authors. The guys we read about, our heroes, are always perfect. Tall and well-built, rich, handsome, smart, perfect. Kellen? He's REAL. He's tall, yes. He has well-defined arms. But he's not a genius. He has a belly. Girls only sleep with him when they have nobody else to sleep with. But the author is a genius! Ms. Greenwood does an amazing job of portraying him, of showing us how Wavy feels about him. She looks up at him, he's like this god to her. And it made me cry. Their connection is so very strong, it's almost tangible.
I really can't express how much I loved this book. I started it early in the morning and finished it the same night. I read all day because it's one of those unpotdownable books. It's one of those books you either hate or love. It all depends on you and how you look at things.
I cried, I melted and grinned while reading this book. I can see this book being reread many times, throughout my life. I'm going to have a really hard time finding something to get me out of this funk.
Bravo, Ms. Greenwood! You're awesome!
5+++ "I love you all the way" stars.
It was beautiful.
It was sad.
It was ugly, so very ugly.
But in the end, it was worth it all.
I knew what I was doing when I picked this book up to read it. I was 100% aware of it. I read reviews, detailed ones, to see if it contains something I can't handle. I want to say that this story is NOT about a pedophile. A grown man does NOT fall in love with a little girl and have sex with her. He does not molest her. He doesn't do anything. He simply loves her. First, it's an innocent type of love that later blooms into something beautiful; into something people want to make ugly. Because yes, people don't understand. People see what they want to see.
Believe me, just think of Lolita by Nabokov. Now that is a book about a man well in his prime falling in love with thirteen-year-old girls, Dolores being one of them. But All the Ugly and Wonderful Things is a story that is real, with beautiful and ugly parts. It's a story you can imagine playing out in real life. Hence its ugliness.
Our heroine, Wavy is probably one of the strongest female characters I've ever encountered. She could have easily gone down the wrong path - God knows, she doesn't have good role models in her life - or even commit suicide, but she didn't. Instead, she held on. For herself, for her little brother. For Kellen.
Oh, Kellen! You know, we readers are spoiled by authors. The guys we read about, our heroes, are always perfect. Tall and well-built, rich, handsome, smart, perfect. Kellen? He's REAL. He's tall, yes. He has well-defined arms. But he's not a genius. He has a belly. Girls only sleep with him when they have nobody else to sleep with. But the author is a genius! Ms. Greenwood does an amazing job of portraying him, of showing us how Wavy feels about him. She looks up at him, he's like this god to her. And it made me cry. Their connection is so very strong, it's almost tangible.
I really can't express how much I loved this book. I started it early in the morning and finished it the same night. I read all day because it's one of those unpotdownable books. It's one of those books you either hate or love. It all depends on you and how you look at things.
I cried, I melted and grinned while reading this book. I can see this book being reread many times, throughout my life. I'm going to have a really hard time finding something to get me out of this funk.
Bravo, Ms. Greenwood! You're awesome!
5+++ "I love you all the way" stars.
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