Book Genre: Abuse, Adult, Adult Fiction, Coming Of Age, Contemporary, Dark, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Romance, Sociology, Young Adult

The only person that cared for Wavy was Kellen. He's older, he's a biker that has done some bad things. But in this world that Wavy lives in, he's an angel. He takes her to school, he buys things she needs for school and just everything. When Donal gets a little older he tags around a little bit too. But he doesn't get treated as bad as Wavy. They meet when Wavy is eight and Kellan has an accident in his engine and the connection is instantaneous. He is an adult and she is a girl and although it ends up being a love story, it is not so in its beginnings. He realizes how lonely and helpless Wavy is and takes it as a responsibility. Wavy's life is difficult and Kellan is the only good thing in it. The controversy with readers is the relationship. I get that the relationship Wavy chooses seems wrong, but just look at her life: her parents, exposure, and experiences are not what most would consider "normal" and she's not able to enjoy her childhood as it is. Instead, she's having to live like an adult and she experiences adult situations at a very young age. Because she doesn’t have anybody— a nonexistent family and no support from anyone —Kellen becomes her family and they fall in love. This story is not pretty. The truth is that it is not for everyone. It is the story of Wavy and Kellan, two people with difficult homes and child abuse. Yes, it is a love story, but not in the beginning. The story and the characters got in my head and under my skin and I don't see them leaving anytime soon.

Book Summary

I will give the author props for writing a controversial book that will stir up dialogues about abuse, consent, and sex. I'm sure it will draw inevitable comparisons to LOLITA, too. But I actually think I liked LOLITA better than this because Humbert was so unambiguously the bad guy, and that wasn't quite as clear in this book. Maybe that makes it a more compelling read for some, but that was what turned me off of it, and it disturbs me a little how many people are shelving this as "romance." Did you plan the controversial age gap between Kellen and Wavy, or is it just something you had to write?

Feeling dead was better than when my heart hurt. Sometimes I thought it might burn through my ribs while I was asleep, and smolder in the sheets until the whole house caught fire.” And, even though she had a really shiteous childhood, I appreciated that - while still difficult and believably tragic - Greenwood didn't make it SO over the top tragic that it made me roll my eyes. But Wavy’s mom Val is his wife, what time she isn’t lying in filth or stoned out of her mind. She tells Wavy her thoughts on men and food. And passes on her fear of germs. (They will get in you) At the end of the book we could not judge Wavy and Kellen, we just accepted it and all The Ugly and Wonderful Things.Ugly and wonderful really are great descriptors for this story. The best thing about it is the completely unsentimental storytelling that, with its constant switching between perspectives, as well as alternating first and third person, beautifully presents a dark tale of childhood, family and abuse. As the weather got colder, I wanted to stay at home in bed, but when Wavy got up and dressed, I did, too. If I didn’t go, she would go alone. Half of my fear was that something would happen to her. The other half was a fear that she would have adventures without me.