All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

Bryn Greenwood’s novel All the Ugly and Wonderful Things (2016) acknowledges and inverts the features of fairy tales and romance novels to depict a relationship that challenges accepted social values and questions the definition of love itself. Sunk in the depravity and degradation of her father’s drug-dealing lifestyle, eight-year-old Wavy finds her only solace in a questionable attachment to Kellen, a 24-year-old man who is also isolated and longing for some scrap of beauty in a world of squalor. As long as Wavy and Kellen remain alone and unseen, their affection retains a kind of innocence. Once their relationship is revealed, Wavy and Kellen must endure judgment and renegotiate their feelings for one another in the context of public scrutiny. After surviving the scorn and derision thrown at them by society, they forge a life for themselves, redefining family and romantic love. Greenwood’s work looks squarely at a rough, marginal lifestyle without sentimentality or gloss.

This guide uses the 2016 St. Martin’s Press hardback edition.

Content Warning: This book contains scenes of incarceration, drug use, and intense violence, and its plot centers on a sexualized relationship between an adult and a minor. It also discusses suicidal ideation.