All the Ugly and Wonderful Things: A Novel

Speechless. This book made me gasp, cry, and laugh. Impossibly beautiful. It's not often that I write a full review anymore. If I do, it has to be that the book REALLY moved me. Shook me to my core. And, boy, did this story do just that. I love a story that is controversial, taboo, out of the box, and one that is thought provoking. Not in a shock value type of way, but in an authentic way. I know that this book has had its fair share of controversy surrounding it and I am not even going to give voice to any of that. Because there is no way (in my mind) that anyone could interpret what happened in this book as anything but beautiful. To me, Wavy and Kellen are lovers who will love each other for hundreds of years. Soul mates. That type of love that knows no bounds, and cannot be limited by age, race, sex, or any other dividing factor that society imposes upon us to tell us who we can and cannot love. I think old man Cutcheon said it best: "You know," I said. "I married Paola when she was fourteen. And I was twenty-six. Her parents had eleven kids and they was glad to get her settled." Kellen's reply to that was that those were "different days," and they were. Now, because of 1% of the population who is disgusting, sick, and perverse, ALL love that looks like this is filthy and wrong, right? Well, I disagree. I don't like generalizing ANYTHING. Because in my experience, life always comes with exceptions. Anywho, I digress. Back to the book. Wavy is a quiet girl. Smart way beyond her years. Resourceful. Her parents are...jeez, I don't even know what freaking word to use. Her parents (if Liam was even her real dad) are a hot mess. This girl had to fend for herself AND care for her younger infant brother basically from the time she was a small child. Because of some of the deranged things her mother polluted her mind with, she's hyper vigilant of people and germs and pretty much anything. The only thing she takes comfort in is sneaking out at night and watching the stars. And it's on a night like this, when she's lying under the stars, that she happens to meet Kellen. Well, she saves his life actually. I have to say that the writing in this book is some of the most exceptional I've ever read in my life. And that is saying a lot. I've read some great stuff. The way that it is narrated is completely brilliant as well. I don't see another way to have told this story. There are many, many points of view. Probably close to 10 or more. But, all of them are geared toward Kellen and Wavy and how THEY see them. So then when you read Wavy and Kellen's POV, it is SOOOO much more revealing. For example, if you read Kellen's description from Wavy's POV, you would think that he was the most beautiful man who ever roamed the earth. When, in actuality, he is very average looking. Simple. Over-weight. Not super attractive—hardly even swoon-worthy BBF material. But that's not how Wavy sees him. That's just one example. The book is FILLED with things like this. Showing them to you. Brilliant. It's also freaking funny in places that it really shouldn't have been. I seriously almost peed my pants from laughing so hard when Wavy gave her deposition. So freaking wrong, but I laughed my ass off. Basically, Kellen is the only person who gave a shit about Wavy and her brother, Donal. Her parents are the epitome of the word neglectful. And then some. If it weren't for him, she probably would be dead. And vice-versa. They saved each other. "Thanks, but I just came to get Wavy." Kellen looked at me for a second, not long enough. Liam [her dad] made me feel invisible. I needed Kellen to see me." And for those of you who are squeamish about the underage thing, just know that this book is just not like that. It's not written in an in your face, taboo for the sake of being taboo way. It's raw and unapologetic and honest. Yes, lines are crossed. Big ones. SOME things happen when Wavy is thirteen that any OTHER thirteen year old probably wouldn't be emotionally ready for, but it is consensual and if anything, she is the one pushing for it. I have two girls. I get it. But for me, this book never rubbed me the wrong way. Yes, she was 13, BUT the girl was pretty much an adult mentally by then. Based on the hard life she had led. At least, that is the story that I read. Of course, it is open for interpretation and not everyone will feel the same way. That is the beauty of reading. Me? I was so rooting for these two to get their HEA. But, fret not, the very controversy that this book is getting is ironic because it's what happens in this story. People vilify Kellen. They think he's a monster, a pedophile. They want to beat him up, keep him from a job, keep him from living any type of normal life. They don't want him to exist. Just like many did not want this book to exist. I pretty much felt like Wavy's roommate, Renee, who was one of my fave secondary characters of the book, by the way. Chick was hilarious! "I wanted a fairy tale ending for Wavy, because if she could find happiness, there would be hope for me, too." This was one of my top 5 reads of 2016 so far. I think it should be made into a film. I don't have enough wonderful things to say about it except that I highly, highly recommend it.

The writing was great, the family dynamics and story was engaging, and each character played an important role, but as soon as I realized that the boundaries between adult and child were crossed and then continued throughout the rest of the book with many of the background characters seemingly not phased, I couldn’t help but be disgusted right until the very end. Not once did Kellen explain to young Wavy why things were so inappropriate. He publicly said and did inappropriate things in front of other characters and no one protected Wavy and even justified his actions and words. I don’t care that he took care of her in so many ways…he helped her believe that being a child- 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 years old- was perfectly acceptable to do some very adult things just bc of the already severely messed up life she was unfortunately experiencing. That’s manipulative and an attempt at justifying what was CLEARLY illegal, morally corrupt, and self-serving. As an adult, it is your responsibility to ALWAYS do the right thing for a child. Kellen satisfied his own sick needs and rationalized it by calling it love and care. Well I thought this book was incredibly emotional and difficult to walk away from, it felt at times more like gawking at the scene of an accident,; it totally doesn’t feel right, but you just want to find out what happened. I would recommend this book, but it definitely needs a huge trigger warning for many things especially pedophillia, sexual content, child abuse, child sexual and emotional abuse, child neglect, and drugs. It’s so uncomfortable, creepy, and just disgusting through so much of the story. Just be prepared before you start reading this. I can’t get over the justifications right to the very end…

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things is a book I won't soon forget, and I was kind of surprised-everyone told me to just go into this story blind and not to read anything about it, so I did. This tells the story of 8 year old Wavy, and her friendship with a man named Kellan who is in his twenties, but it is so much more than that. Wavy lives with her crazy mother, and her father who cooks meth for a living, surrounded by his gang of thugs, and his girlfriends, even though he is married. When Wavy is 8, her mother has another baby, her brother Donal, and Wavy takes care of him-not her mother or her father. These children are not really looked after, Wavy is afraid of anyone's touch, and she never speaks. Wavy can talk, she chooses not to. Wavy's crazy mother has told her everything she puts in her mouth is filthy so Wavy is very small for her age. She hardly eats anything and only when no one is looking. Into this disaster comes Kellan one night when he wrecks his motorcycle after he saw Wavy coming out of the bushes and he thought she looked like an angel, he looked back and ruined his bike and got really messed up for about 6 months. He keeps thinking about the little girl who did not speak but saved his life, and he comes looking for her one night and they become fast friends. This is when Kellan starts taking care of Wavy and her brother, when he sees the parents are not even concerned about anything like food, clothes, shoes, going to school, but once Wavy starts getting older, the lines become blurred at times, as she develops feelings towards Kellan that she is too young to be thinking about, and he feels the same way about her. The way the author tells this story is amazing and it will make you feel sadness for these children, even for their mother, but especially for Kellan, who like Wavy was abused as he grew up, and this is the first time he is experiencing someone loving him! I do not want to say anything else except you should read this book. Watch how the scenes unfold and all the ugliness of the world seems to hit on this poor family, and at the same time some find love for the first time also. I gave this book 5***** stars and just want to thank the author Bryn Greenwood for this awesome read, and the skill she displayed writing it!

Die Geschichte von Wavy und Kellen ist wirklich einzigartig, herzergreifend, überraschend, schockierend und fesselnd bis zur letzten Seite. Ich habe tatsächlich noch nichts Vergleichbares gelesen und lange nicht mehr so sehr bei einem Roman mitgefiebert. Immer wieder denkt man "Nein, bitte bitte lass das jetzt nicht passieren" und dann passiert es doch. Man muss echt auf alles gefasst sein und damit meine ich ein paar wirklich hässliche Dinge, für die die Beschreibung Drama eigentlich gar nicht ausreicht. Man wird bis in die Grundfesten erschüttert. In diesem Buch steckt so viel Schmerz und gleichzeitig Liebe, so viel Gefühl und Glück, dass man trotz kontroverser Themen Sympathie für die ausgefallenen und echt speziellen, doch dadurch gerade wahnsinnig realistischen Charaktere entwickeln muss. Gleichzeitig werden die eigenen Wertvorstellungen in Frage gestellt und man wird zum Nachdenken angeregt. Noch lange nachdem ich das Buch zu Ende gelesen hatte, ging mir die Geschichte nicht mehr aus dem Kopf. Fazit: Absolut lesenswert, ein Must-Read!

O livro tem uma narrativa interessante pela perspectiva de vários personagens. Mas o enredo se torna quase um livro de romance barato, qdo entra em detalhes sexuais do relacionamento dos personagens. E, o tema relacionado à pedofilia pode não agradar alguns leitores, pois a autora tenta justificar os atos de um adulto em relação à uma menina de 14 anos por causa de amor.

My first thoughts before opening this book was hmmn not sure this will be for me, then I started to understand and accept how this situation could come about in the way it did, does this make me weird or a freak... probably and I'm so not sorry, love love love this story! The writing is incredible, the emotions it stirs wow what a roller coaster.

I'm not sure if I have ever felt so many different emotions, so powerfully, when reading a book. Anger. Hatred. Overwhelming sadness. Indecision. I'm still not sure how I feel about this book and some of the things that happened. I just know that I have to get my thoughts out by writing this review. That rarely happens immediately after I finish a book. Sorry this review is long, I have a lot to say. I don't even know what to classify this book as. I can't say it's a beautiful love story. I can't, and I won't. It's raw. It's gritty. It's actually quite disturbing at times. And it's fascinating. It's fascinating because it will push the boundaries of everything you believe about love. About right and wrong. I'm just going to put this out there in case you didn't catch on from the blurb. This is a story of an abused, young girl, Wavy. She begins what is a very important friendship with an equally damaged and lonely, adult man, Kellen. Wavy is damaged from the abuse she has suffered, in so many ways. It's infuriating and heartbreaking to watch what she goes through. Kellen comes along and protects her. He takes care of her in all the ways her parents don't. Ultimately, that friendship turns to love. When she's still very underage. I'll just leave it at that. All I will say is that this story does span many years. By the time it's all said and done, Wavy is an adult. BRAVE. Wow. This book was brave. After finishing, I have so much to say but that word keeps coming back to me. To write a detailed story like this, with the abuse Wavy suffers, the life she's forced to live as a child is hard enough. But my god, to add that kind of “love story.” So BRAVE. I need to be clear, I don't think it's brave because readers will have some big epiphany that what happened should EVER be tolerated in our society. And I can't say this was a story that needed to be told to open the readers eyes, or to make them learn some important lesson. It's brave because it IS wrong. As humans, we know this is wrong. But the author made me believe that no matter how wrong, these two saved each other from a fate MUCH WORSE than what would have become of them had they not had each other. She made me ask questions I never thought I would ask myself. She made me answer those questions in a way that I never thought I could. Ever. And probably never will again. SMART. So smartly written. This is what made this story. The lack of cheap plot tricks to make the reader fall for Kellen was so brilliant. She never tried to make you fall in love with him or to find the “forbidden” angle sexy. It was never meant to be romantic or sexy. This book is told in multiple POV's from many different characters. From Wavy, Kellen, family, and friends. Those multiple POV's allowed the reader to feel angry. To feel heartbroken. To decide for yourself whether their relationship was right or wrong. The author never forced what she wanted you to feel down your throat. Crazy as it may seem, in the end, I felt okay with where these two ended up. A product of everything HORRIBLE they had ever been through, especially Wavy, they were able to give each other something that no one else could've ever given them. No one. And she made me believe that they both deserved to have that. How the author made me believe that, I have no idea. As a mother of a nine year old girl, I'm still baffled that she was able to do that. REAL. Despite all the madness, these characters felt very real to me. If you can make it far enough in the book, you will root for these characters to triumph over everything. It's just a matter of if you will root for them to do so together. Either way, I have no doubt that readers will feel very strongly, one way or another, about this book. Here's the thing, I can't say I loved how this book made me feel. What I can say is that is was brilliantly written. It made me feel so much. It made me ask so many questions. It is a book that I will continue to think about for a very long time. It deserves no less than five stars for that. It is NOT for everybody. I don't think everyone will be able to read this one. But, if you ever want to push yourself outside of your comfort zone, this is the book to do that with.

Excelente libro. Una historia que te envuelve, te hace pedazos el corazón y te lo vuelve a pegar.... una y otra vez.