All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

A Novel

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All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

By: Bryn Greenwood

Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie

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About this listen

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.

Bryn GreenwoodJorjeana MarieAudible Studios

Coming of Age

Genre Fiction

Literary Fiction

Emotionally Gripping

Heartfelt

Scary

Thought-Provoking

Tear-jerking

Feel-Good

Coming of Age Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Scary Thought-Provoking Tear-jerking Feel-Good

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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)

Most relevant

I finished this book on the 4th March having listened to it on Audible and it’s taken me 6 days to find the courage and the words to try to articulate a review.

So wish me luck and here goes…. All the Ugly and Wonderful Things was recommended to me by a couple of readers on THE Book Club on Facebook, because a) they know I like uncomfortable and dark books and b) it’s a wonderful book.

It’s unfortunately NOT available on Kindle but I listened to this on Audible narrated by Jorjeana Marie who really deserves a prize for her incredible skills at bringing this powerful story to life and giving the characters a voice that needs to be heard.

The blurb above gives you the basis of the book, a young girl called Wavy, growing up in a brutal and dysfunctional environment with a drug addict for a mother and a violent meth dealer for a father, she has been neglected, ignored and mentally abused by her parents since birth. At the age of 8 she meets Kellen, one of her father’s drug dealers, an uneducated thug with a history of violence. This chance encounter changes Wavy and Kellen’s lives in ways that nobody could possibly understand.

These two unlikely individuals begin a relationship that is pure and innocent, their love and need for each other is so raw and deep that the listener often feels like an intruder. However, their friendship is not understood by anyone else, especially Wavy’s aunt who can only see ugliness and disgust and sparks an event that tears their worlds apart.

The fact that Wavy was only 8 when she met and fell in love with Kellen is an uncomfortable thought, but listening to Kellen explain his feelings and trying to control his emotions only makes the listener love him more.

I honestly can’t recommend this incredible book enough, not only will it go into my Top Ten books of 2021, it will go into my Top Ten Book of ALL TIME.

Extraordinary, beautiful, harsh, raw, breathtaking, heartbreaking and utterly WONDERFUL.

If I could give this book 10 stars, I would.