All The Ugly And Wonderful Things

As you all know, I am a big supporter of the public library system. I try to make it at least every week, and it's a place both of my small children are usually pretty excited to go to.

You should also know that I generally have a list of books (mainly accumulated through Pintrest, which may or may not come as a surprise) that I am slowly working through by ordering them from said public library. (Of course, I am adding books faster than I can possibly read! But, I will never run out of reading material, which I suppose is kind of the point!) ANYWAYS! Without really knowing what All The Ugly And Wonderful Things was about, I put it on my order list from the library. If I remember correctly, it had shown up on numerous lists.

The simplicity of the cover spoke to me when I picked it up last week, so I pretty much dove in blindly after barely glancing at the synopsis on the cover of the novel. I personally don't think anyone summing up this book could really do it justice. I was trying to explain it a little to my brother over the phone the other night, and just all of the layers of messed up that the main character was exposed to alone means you can't properly explain without giving the whole story away.

While the narrative changes between many characters throughout this novel, it never becomes convoluted or in any way difficult to follow.

Wavy is a girl who comes from a difficult upbringing. She barely speaks (and even then? Only to a select few.). She will not eat in front of anyone. You can't touch her. Her drug addled, abusive parents have gone above and beyond to give this child what most would consider an unbearable existence. A life she is briefly rescued from when her mother winds up in prison. As most heart wrenching stories go; she doesn't get that reprieve for long.

Time passes as she lives in the middle of nowhere in a rundown farm house with a mother that doesn't take care of her, and her younger brother (who her mother birthed in prison). The resilience of this child is incredible. She is cooking meals, cleaning, and basically mothering a child at the young age of six. And then? A bright spot when she meets Kellen after he crashes his motorcycle near their property one night.

After that point, most of this missive follows Wavy and Kellen's relationship as it grows and changes. She is merely eight when she meets Kellen; a burly biker covered in tattoos. He is in his early twenties and develops a soft spot almost immediately for this strangely beautiful child. He cares for her and it deepens in a nearly heartbreaking way. You would think a book that is primarily a love story between these two would be absolutely repulsive. I found myself rooting for their love... seemingly the only light in either of their dreary worlds.

I must truly applaud Bryn Greenwood on this work. I feel this is one of those novels that will stick with me for some time.