All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood is a compelling and controversial story that delves into the complex relationship between Wavy, a young girl growing up in a troubled environment, and Kellen, a mechanic involved in her father's illicit activities. The novel explores themes of love, survival, and redemption as it follows the evolution of their unconventional bond over the years. The writing style is raw and gritty, offering multiple perspectives that provide a deep insight into the characters' motivations and struggles.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
This book contains high levels of content warnings, including child abuse, sexual relationships with minors, substance abuse, and violence.
Has Romance?
The book features a significant romantic relationship between the main characters, marked by its complexity and controversy.
From The Publisher:
- A New York Times and USA Today bestseller
- Book of the Month Club 2016 Book of the Year
- Second Place Goodreads Best Fiction of 2016
A beautiful and provocative love story between two unlikely people and the hard-won relationship that elevates them above the Midwestern meth lab backdrop of their lives.
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. A powerful novel you won't soon forget, Bryn Greenwood's All the Ugly and Wonderful Things challenges all we know and believe about love.
31 Books Bringing the Heat this Summer -Bustle
Top Ten Hottest Reads of 2016 -New York Daily News
Best Books of 2016 -St. Louis Post Dispatch
Ratings (34)
Incredible (11) | |
Loved It (17) | |
Liked It (5) | |
It Was OK (1) |
Reader Stats (79):
Read It (35) | |
Currently Reading (1) | |
Want To Read (39) | |
Did Not Finish (1) | |
Not Interested (3) |
2 comment(s)
First off: WOW. This has to be my favorite book I’ve read this year. This book was so hauntingly addictive. I read it over the course of one Sunday. This book challenged me in a lot of ways, especially morally. I was at once both disgusted yet charmed and starving to know the fate of Wavy and Kellen. I even found myself rooting for them.
Problematic and repulsive? Yes. Beautiful and enchanting? Yes. Should anyone under the age of 18 read this? Absolutely not. Actually, wait until 25 when your brain is fully developed, then read this.
I kept turning the pages but what a strange and uncomfortable plot
What can you read after
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things?
About the Author:
BRYN GREENWOOD is a fourth-generation Kansan, and the daughter of a mostly reformed drug dealer. She earned an MA from Kansas State University and continues to work in academia as an administrator. Her essays and short fiction have appeared in The New York Times, Chiron Review, Kansas Quarterly, Karamu, and The Battered Suitcase. Bryn is the author of Last Will and The Battered Suitcase. She lives in Lawrence, Kansas.
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