All the Ugly and Wonderful Things: A Novel Hardcover – August 9, 2016

I don't know where to begin. The writing in this book is so beautiful. I felt like I was cocooned in a safety blanket in the early first half of the book. Whenever Kellen and Wavy were out in the meadow, I felt that summer heat or the autumn breeze, and if I just closed my eyes I'd be able to see the stars along side them.For a book to give me that much feeling is something magical. Let me live in it forever. Which, the book pretty much lets me do. For it's not just some "hey look at the pretty stars" thing. Nope. It's naming and mapping and it's brought up countless times throughout the book. The stars are as much a part of them (Kellen and Wavy) as their love is. Hearing it repeated while going through all the ups and downs of their life makes it a constant comfort. Wavy even studies to be an astrophysicist. Like come on.If that doesn't get you going than maybe it'll be the characters. They're all a bit quirky and hold interest. It feels like if you just peek through the blinds long enough you'd learn everything there is to know about them. The info and details come in snippets and you're collecting as you go. Wavy, however, is by far the strangest. Which is why I love her. She has quirks and issues and bows to no one. Then Kellen comes and just seeing her grow emotionally and mentally is the best thing. A+ development.Which brings me to the romance of this book. There's a lot of talk of normalizing age gap relationships and I'm not going to sit here and argue for what is right or wrong. This is a story and in this story, for these two people, this relationship works. Are they an exception? You bet. But I know older married brilliant couples who have similar age gaps and I'm not looking down my nose at them. In this case, it's worth asking the question, "what would happen if this couple met when they were younger?" and well tada.Their love starts super innocent. It builds from trust and understanding. Grows more beautiful and don't for a second think Kellen doesn't know he shouldn't do this. He goes through so much sht for Wavy and Wavy fights for him like I've never seen her fight for anything else. It's special and it hurts to see them have to fight for it.The only thing keeping this book from a glowing five stars (I was really close to giving it five stars too) is mainly for the end chapters. The ending is fine! It was just how we got there that felt a bit rushed? Anticlimactic? It was kinda just given to us instead of feeling really deserved. Not saying there was no hard work given. Maybe it was because I really wanted to have someone slap Brenda with her ignorance. So kudos to Wavy being more mature than me i guess, haha. Still, it could have had some more tension.Also, there's some pretty odd jump cuts in the writing. For instance Wavy was at the hospital, and I kid you not, within a sentence runs out of the room, mentions a carnival that was down the street and now suddenly we're there. However, there weren't enough to distract me and I know it was more to cut out unneeded details. Still a little odd though. That and all the different people who narrate the chapters. I don't know if I needed all these outside voices...though it can be refreshing at times. Amy's voice was my favorite.All in all this book is worth the read and the praise. Seriously give it a chance.

The book was excellent and I found myself thinking about it occasionally throughout the day (always a sign that it's an excellent read that lingers). I know that the subject matter was touchy for many who left reviews. However, life isn't perfect for many people in this world. Both Kellen and Wavy were products of horrible abuse. When the book starts out, Kellen is only a young man of like 23. After the life, he has led and his childhood, it's amazing he still has a caring heart and even considers caring for Wavy. Honestly, without Kellen, I shudder to think of what would have happened to Wavy - even though her life was far from good. Nonetheless, love knows no age. The legal age of consent is different in each state so I don't have problems with their relationship because everything has to be considered - lifestyle, the individual person, etc. I was also happy with the book's ending. Very well written and definitely deserving of 5 stars.

In this world, nothing is black or white. And this story ins a great example of this. This book. I loved and hated the story. It made me uncomfortable. It made me angry. In the end… I was left speechless.The story is told from many of the characters’ point of view. One major complaint about this is many were written in first person while some were written in third person. I did enjoy reading all the perspectives and that made me ruminate on the story more. Another complaint was there was some explicit detail of sexual activity between a minor and an adult. I feel some of that detail could have been left out.However, the story was well written and thought provoking.

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.

Good book, good story, although some aspects of the writing of the author bothered me. The dialogs are not very natural, and sometimes the characters are too caricatural. Besides that, sometimes the story is resolved with little or no explanation. The dramatic structure is well played and well distributed throughout the book. The main character, Wavy, is well constructed and we do feel very sympathetic to her. We feel the romance and we, of course, end up wanting them to stick together.

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

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.

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.

This book deserves all of its accolades. I’m not going to write anything enlightening that doesn’t repeat many of the great reviews left before mine. But I am writing to add further counterweight to the close-mindedness of the reviewers who wish for the book to be taken off shelves.The writing flows beautifully and draws you in from the start. The characters jump from the pages and evolve in front of you. The author creates a world that is very real but that many of us writing reviews have never and will never experience first hand. The story is about choices made in a context where you’re picking from the worst possible outcomes. Context rules the plot here. Many are forgetting this is happening 45 years ago. Many don’t know what it’s like to raise a sibling at 8 years old, or to become the primary homemaker at 10. Children who never get to experience childhood do exist. Their stories are indeed sad. But erasing their experience from literature because we are too offended by realities we’re too lucky not to experience is nothing but the voice of privilege trying to shelter itself from the ugly.Kudos to the author for being brave and giving us what literature is supposed to compel - pathos. This is not a story you’ll forget.So to those who are taking dramatic photos of a destroyed book, or calling for it to be banned, I hope my generation and those after me never get to live in a world where your limited and limiting perspective determine what others can write.