All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

Not sure what I think about this so I'm going with 3 stars. I didn't find it to be either romantic or distasteful...just mostly sad even with its hopeful ending. I give Greenwood credit for writing a story that had such ambiguous morality. I was sure I would come away with it in indignant anger for glorifying child sexual abuse. But it just wasn't that black and white. I guess I come down more on the side of “Ick” than “Awww,” but considering I worked with child sexual abuse victims for 6 years I'm surprised I can be even that charitable.

I like Greenwood's style of employing multiple narrators so the reader can see diverse views on the same events, and characters such as Amy and Renee really came alive for me. The novel certainly isn't for the faint-hearted, but it definitely displays humanity in all of its “ugly and wonderful” aspects. I won't soon forget it.