Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

  • A Novel
  • By: Bryn Greenwood
  • Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie
  • Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (1,159 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Thousands of incredible audiobooks and podcasts to take wherever you go.
Immerse yourself in a world of storytelling with the Plus Catalogue - unlimited listening to thousands of select audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

By: Bryn Greenwood
Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

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 stargazing 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.

©2016 Bryn Greenwood (P)2016 Audible, Inc.
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Girl Next Door cover art
Exquisite Corpse cover art
The Troop cover art
Run on Red cover art
It Ends with Us cover art
Jane Eyre cover art
Don't Let Me Go cover art
Bastard Out of Carolina cover art
The Life We Bury cover art
Virgins cover art
Archer's Voice cover art
Romeo and Juliet: A Novel cover art
The Light of the Fireflies cover art
Razor's Edge cover art
Hopeless cover art
Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass cover art

Critic reviews

"Jorjeana Marie was meant to narrate this gripping story, which takes place in meth country in the Midwest. Neglected, abused 8-year-old Wavy Quinn is stargazing when she unintentionally causes Jesse Joe Kellen, an ex-con employee of her drug-dealing dad, to crash his motorcycle. Marie grippingly portrays this troubled pair who befriend each other after Wavy saves his life. Things come to a head when their relationship is misunderstood. In addition to deftly presenting the lead characters, Marie perfectly renders Wavy's adorable little brother and beloved grandmother. Some chapters are written from other characters' viewpoints over a period of 15 years, and Marie presents those flawlessly as well. Listeners will be eager to hear what happens next, always rooting for Wavy and Kellen." ( AudioFile Magazine)

What listeners say about All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    812
  • 4 Stars
    236
  • 3 Stars
    68
  • 2 Stars
    19
  • 1 Stars
    24
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    813
  • 4 Stars
    181
  • 3 Stars
    46
  • 2 Stars
    10
  • 1 Stars
    15
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    731
  • 4 Stars
    211
  • 3 Stars
    69
  • 2 Stars
    25
  • 1 Stars
    28

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Incredible

This book is amazing. It's one that will stay with me for a long time. It's like a modern day Romeo and Juliet story, only with paedophiles and drugs. I'm going to search for other books by Bryn Greenwood, I hope there are more on Audible.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Worth a listen

Very uncomfortable topic but it got me thinking A LOT. The story took a while to get going but overall it was good.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful. I want to listen again straight away

Heart wrenching story, and I had hope in my heart for Wavy the whole time. It’s rare enough to find a book you can’t stop listening to, but this is a gem.
Wonderfully narrated, perfect for the characters and so respectful of them.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

True emotion which made you think twice about how you would respond with many of the situations

An excellent book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Best book so far this year

I loved it from the beginning till the end. In contrast some other reviews, I did not feel confused about the story.
This is a very unusal love story, full of sadness and hope and desperate love, I will never forget.
The narrator was marvelous. too.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I am still haunted by this book

Very few books have stayed with me like this one. It is disturbing, confusing, heartbreaking and frustrating all at once. All the characters are complicated as are their relationships with each other. There were moments where I couldn’t bare to listen but I was gripped right to the end. I’m not sure i can say I “enjoyed” this book it but I was compelled to keep going right to end.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

What a brilliant book!

This is an equally tragic and beautiful book. The main character will stay with me for a long time! If you’re open minded you’ll really understand and love it too!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Challenges So Many Assumptions

This beautifully crafted book challenges the reader to confront their own moral assumptions through the judgements and easy prejudice levelled against the main protagonists.

As a therapist specialising in working with adults sexually abused as children, I found the book to be a cautionary tale about the need to actually listen and stay in my clients frame of reference. Perception governs experience.

If you enjoyed this book, I recommend “Where the Crawdads Sing”, which, while less mortally challenging, is beautifully written.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love story with teeth

Something different but very worthwhile. Love is complicated and here it is shown at the extreme of that.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Favourite book of the year so far!!

I loved this story because of the discomfort I felt while reading not despite of..

This author gave us a story that is original not only in it's content but in the way it's written as well.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful