Summary | Excerpt | Reading Guide | Discuss | Reviews | Beyond the book | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
A Novel
by Bryn GreenwoodA beautiful and provocative love story between two unlikely people and the hard-won relationship that elevates them above the troubled Midwestern 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
1
AMY
March 1975
My mother always started the story by saying, "Well, she was born in the backseat of a stranger's car," as though that explained why Wavy wasn't normal. It seemed to me that could happen to anybody. Maybe on the way to the hospital, your parents' respectable, middle-class car broke down. That was not what happened to Wavy. She was born in the backseat of a stranger's car, because Uncle Liam and Aunt Val were homeless, driving through Texas when their old beat-up van broke down. Nine months pregnant, Aunt Val hitchhiked to the next town for help. If you ever consider playing Good Samaritan to a pregnant woman, think about cleaning that up.
I learned all this from eavesdropping on Mom's Tuesday night book club. Sometimes they talked about books, but mostly they gossiped. That was where Mom first started polishing The Tragic and Edifying Story of Wavonna Quinn.
After Wavy was born, Mom didn't hear from Aunt Val for almost five years. The first ...
Here are some of the comments posted about All the Ugly and Wonderful Things in our legacy forum.
You can see the full discussion here.
As you were reading, did you find yourself wishing that Wavy and Kellen's relationship would remain platonic? What do you think would have ultimately happened to Wavy and Kellen if the relationship had remained platonic?
I was hoping their relationship would remain platonic until the threat of legal action ceased to be an issue. However, for Wavy, sex was a natural extension of male-female relationships. With the adults in her life, sex was always present, spoken ... - kdowney25
Considering their backgrounds, how likely are Wavy and Kellen to succeed in creating a healthy relationship and a "normal" family?
After everything they both have been through, both separately and together, I have no doubt that they will have a successful marriage. They took care of each other, relied upon each other, and made decisions that they thought would help the other. ... - kdowney25
Did you view Wavy as a child or an adult? How about Kellen?
Good question and good responses. Both were childlike but also acted as adults. They complimented and supported each other helping to heal the abused parts of their lives. - cm28015
Did your views change with regard to what constitutes the nature of consent and, in the author's words, "a child's right to "bodily sovereignty?"
Yes it did. I never thought before that a 13 year old should have the ABILITY to consent. I make the exception for Wavy. I have a friend who is angry over her 18 year old wanting bodily sovereignty. The 18 year old is a foster child and my friend... - celiap
Do you sympathize with Amy's point of view? Did you ever do something you considered risky because you were afraid of missing out?
I think Amy thought a fun bit of fresh air had come into her life. She was up for adventure and Wavy brought it to her. She enjoyed the thrill of sneaking out and seeing a different life. When I was her age I might have done the same thing. - Rosieglitter
This is about what trust looks like. What love looks like. And it's about what family can mean and look like to those who live on the periphery of love. This is a brave story to tell. One that brushes up against what most would consider immoral and indecent behavior. It was hard to read emotionally, and I am glad I did...continued
Full Review
(807 words)
This review is available to non-members for a limited time. For full access,
become a member today.
(Reviewed by First Impressions Reviewers).
The age of consent, according to western law, is the age at which a person is capable of agreeing to engagement in sexual activity. Stephen Robertson, in his article "Age of Consent Laws", states: "Narrowly concerned with sexual violence, and with girls, originally, since the 19th century the age of consent has occupied a central place in debates over the nature of childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, and been drawn into campaigns against prostitution and child marriage, struggles to achieve gender and sexual equality, and the response to teenage pregnancy."
According to Robertson, the first age of consent statute appeared in 1275 in England, and was part of a rape law. Called Westminster 1, the statute declared "ravish[ing] a maiden ...
This "beyond the book" feature is available to non-members for a limited time. Join today for full access.
If you liked All the Ugly and Wonderful Things, try these:
Exploring the psychological dynamics of the relationship between a precocious yet naïve teenage girl and her magnetic and manipulative teacher, a brilliant, all-consuming read that marks the explosive debut of an extraordinary new writer.
From a powerful new voice in suspense fiction comes the unforgettable story of a young woman facing the most difficult choice of her life: family loyalty, or freedom.