Reviews with content warning for Vomit - All of the ugly and wonderful things

Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

All of the ugly and wonderful things by Bryn Greenwood

8 reviews

rowan27's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

It's so hard to write a review of this book, but I felt it necessary. This book doesn't feel good to read. It's hard. It's heavy. One of the heaviest and most difficult books I've ever read. It's a lot. It took me a long time to get through.

If anything, I'd say this book is about humanity and the effects of trauma and abuse through generations. It's about how morals can change and become blurred in different circumstances. About the difference in ethics and morality depending on those circumstances.
And it's about what can happen if people just turn a blind eye and don't intervene when they should and what can happen if they intervene too late or not at all.

This book was so well written. It felt real. It made my heart ache, and there were so many points I wanted to stop reading, but I needed some sort of conclusion. I'm glad I finished it, but even at the conclusion, it left me feeling hollow and empty.

I felt the author dealt with extremely heavy subject matter in a very real way, from the viewpoints of multiple parties involved. Even though the author didn't stray away from any of the subjects involved, I could tell that they were careful about how they told the story. It didn't stray from crossing those hard lines, but made it clear how difficult those lines were to cross. It felt like reading a true story, one that I'm sure, unfortunately, several people could relate to. One that ended in a real way, with unresolved issues entangling the lives of the characters. Complicated and messy.

Some can argue that it romanticizes horrible circumstances. That it glorifies the relationship of these characters. I can see that argument. But beneath it all and more than that, to me, it felt more like a retelling of someone's life. The things that make people messy and human. It's complicated, and I think that's the point.

I can't recommend this book to anyone because of what it deals with. There is no way I would insist anyone should read it. But I can say that it is very good.

Content Warnings

shemcgee's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Potential spoilers!
I would not consider this a romance. This is a beautifully written but terrible story. Our FMC Wavy is a young girl from an abusive family who forms an unlikely friendship with her father's associate that turns romantic while she is still underage. It's heartbreaking and while some have said they found themselves rooting for this unlikely couple to make it, I found myself grieving the life Wavy deserved. She didn't get what she deserved as a child, so I can see thinking that she should get what she wants as an adult, could even understand wanting that for her. However, I still think that the author wanted you to realize that while Wavy was extremely smart and mature for her age she still wasn't grown when they entered into the beginning of a sexually intimate relationship. She knew what she wanted, but should not have been granted it at that age because she wasn't old enough to understand consent. I have no doubt that Kellen loved her, and protected her in many ways, but not in every way. He still did the wrong thing by taking advantage of her. I know it's been a common occurrence throughout the ages for men to marry girls while they're in their early to mid teen years, and there have been many points throughout history when it's been considered normal; however, normal doesn't mean right. Kids need a chance to be kids. Wavy never got a chance for a safe childhood so in some ways it's like she never really grew up. She experienced so much trauma. So did Kellen. I don't think the author was trying to make you sympathize with or understand pedophilia, I think she was just trying to tell a story of two very complicated people in who loved each other in complicated ways that were definitely not always the right ways. They found a way to be a bright spot for each other in the darkness, and yet I think if anything, the author has shown us that sometimes, love just isn't enough to make a situation right. You might find yourself wishing for peace for them, but wondering if they do get peace, will that be enough for either of them to heal? Both of them are broken, albeit in different ways. Definitely a book that makes you think and certainly not a book for everyone. A troubling read that I would read again.

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happilywilted's review against another edition

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dark emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

What a horrendous read. I hated every second of it. I wanted to like it, I really tried. It was good writing, and drew me in, but had a terrible romance plot that I could've done without.
The only characters I didn't dislike were Donal, Leslie, and Darrin, the guy that Renee dates at the end.
I spent the whole book wondering if the author was for or against grooming and sexual abuse, as she writes the perspective of both supporters and people against the two main characters being together, but at the end of the book on the authors note she talks about how making them not platonic was the only option and tries to justify it in some way.
Every page made me deeply uncomfortable in a way that I haven't felt since I read Lolita in 2019, which isn't surprising, because the author recommends Lolita as saying it is similar. Horrid.
I hated Kellen so much, as he was a groomer and child molester. I could’ve done without reading the descriptions of his smell, his sweat, and the graphic sexual descriptions of him, an adult, touching Wavy. I had bought this book back in October after it had somehow gotten in to my TBR pile on Goodreads, and I bought it having read no spoilers, just seeing that it was a "beautiful and provocative love story". Well, it was provocative, but it wasn't anywhere close to beautiful or a love story. It was a story about a groomer who sexually assaults a child and makes her think that the relationship they had was a family and safe. But really, he was a creeper.
I despised reading Amy saying that Wavy wanted him to touch her, as if that excuses what he did to her at thirteen. Also, the judge taking back the protective order because Wavy said she was a "real person". As if being real excuses a pedophile and allows him to contact his victim.
I mean, they met when she was eight. When they first met, he was described as a giant and I was confused because I assumed this was the guy in the love story, and wondered how a child could be giant, when much to my chagrin I found out he was around twenty years old. I wish the age gap could've been at least just four years if she wanted him to be arrested for what he did to further the plot.
I almost DNF'd, but since I owned the book, I wanted to give it a chance, but every page of people ignoring the grooming and allowing it to continue pissed me off and made me almost throw the book across the room. Also, mama didn't raise no quitter.
Thankfully, now I'm done, and can attempt to scrub my brain clean of this frustrating and uncomfortable read.

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