Keeping in mind how challenging this topical matter is, I think one of the important themes in the story is that life is not perfect, with ideal things that happen in every place. All the ugly and wonderful things people had done in the last two thousand years”. How numbers worked together to explain the stars. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that she probably knows some stories that are eerily similar. Clearly she wrote this absolutely breathtaking story with some deep understanding of the “have-not” American culture. Greenwood herself comes from a Kanas family with a history of drug dealing. One thing I also felt was notable is that Ms. Most certainly, it defined for me why the little girl continues to love him through her lifetime while also harboring a very deep mistrust for other individuals in her life. I think that Kellen’s kindness and care were fundamental in how I felt about his relationship with Wavy. But I found myself struggling with a concept that I’m definitely going to mis-quote: “It only takes one person believing in a child to make them believe in themselves”. If you know something is wrong, it can be difficult to accept a story that some have said romanticizes it. This topic makes readers extremely uncomfortable, myself included. The relationship that Kellen and Wavy have is illegal, because it’s pedophilia due to their significant age gap.

One of the first things that must be mentioned right away is that this book is extremely controversial. Please note that there may be some spoilers ahead here. Let me say, I’m glad I got to this fascinating story, because it is well worth the read. I just had no idea what it was, and I passed it over for “book club reads” and other recommendations. Somehow, I kept passing over it – I’m not sure if it was the book’s unobtrusive cover, or the fact that the title belies nothing. My Review:Īll the Ugly and Wonderful Things has been on my To-Read list for a while. As she grows up with him as her only caring figure, they begin to have a relationship that crosses lines and brings controversy to the local town and has direct and terrible consequences.

Taking care of the massive Kellen quickly pulls the giant man into Wavy’s orbit. One night, her life changes when one of her father’s thugs crashes his motorcycle beyond her home. Wavy takes on the childcare of not only herself, but also her new brother. But tragic events lead to her going back to live with her drug-abusing and mentally ill mother.

At a young age, the anamalistic Wavy is sent to live with her grandmother when her mother is incarcerated for drug crimes. Born to criminal drug-dealer parents, Wavy is used to fending for herself. All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood is the story of a young girl named Wavy, and her life in the very broken part of the Midwest.

All the ugly and beautiful things book