All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

I picked this book for my library book group. I am now kind of dreading the discussion. Many reviewers on the amazon page see the relationship in the book as pedophilia. And yet The Book of the Month readers picked it as The Book of the Year for 2016.

In reading the book, I kept seeing Wavy as a lost abused child. The grownups who were supposed to care for her put her into abusive conditions. Kellen was also a victim of abuse. He is only takes care of her - protects her and gets her to school. Is the relationship “right”? No. Was I totally comfortable reading this book? No. But it all happens in a very broken world. Kellen and Wavy have a loving connection. They see each other as family. Is it an abusive relationship? I didn't think so.

Oh well - if anyone shows up for the discussion, we will have an interesting talk.