User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Wowwww! This book hurt each bone in my body! My heart is ripped by tiny little razor blades! So intense, so heartfelt, so deep, so effective: it shook me to the core.
Those beautiful young characters are like Atlas carrying the entire world on their shoulders. Their pain, their struggle, their loneliness, their resilient, their inner strength blew my mind away!
Jack’s mother committed suicide: hanged herself in her room and the poor young son Jack buried his own mother, then took care of his little brother alone, lying to him their mother went to a trip. Their father is in the prison from theft and his partner Bardem is still looking for where he hid the money bag.
Jack’s path crosses with Ava: other MC of the story. Her mother was forced to leave the house when she was a little girl, witnessing her father Bardem wash the blood from his hands in the sink, telling her scary real crime stories and terrifying life anecdotes about not trusting or loving someone.
She knows her father wants the money and she realizes Jack and his brother escape from their house. In fact it’s not their house anymore: because it’s auctioned and they were forced to leave the place in two days. After being attacked by his own father at his visit in prison, he put himself on the radar of Bardem. He also gets attention of officer Doyle who get suspicious because of absence of their drug addict mother ( she’s buried beneath the ground) , he informs them to call child services.
Jack cannot lose his brother: they need a safe place to stay! But when all of the accomplices of his father coming for the lost money, it’s hard for them to survive.
Matty connects with Ava and brings her into their life. As soon as Ava drags into their mess: she realizes she needs to make a choice: finding the money for her father or helping the brothers. As she starts having feelings for Jack, she cannot make an objective decision.
This book is remarkable mash up of Winter’s Bone, Road Winter with Liam Neeson’s Cold Pursuit movie vibes. Both Jack, Ava and little Matty were well crafted, deeply layered, resonating characters. Especially final third part of the book was action packed, stunningly heart pounding, nail biter, gut wrenching!
I think there will be sequel of the series and I cannot wait to read more about the characters.
Even though the book is so dark, pessimist, so intense, I got truly intended by deeply emotional narrations of the characters. Especially those words of Ava:
“ What you put in your heart will make you heart. But it will be the most spectacular kind of hurt. It will light you up and burn you. It will knock you down. It will break you apart. And it will make you different.”
It is impossible not to root for the amazing, sad, dedicated love story of Jack&Ava and wish to see they get through all those struggles, reach to their own happy ending.
Those delicate, sensitive, tough kids broke me so hard! That’s why even their story made me so sad and hurt me so hard, I’m rounding up my 4.5 stars to 5 amazingly poignant, tear jerker, heart pounding, snow storm stars!
Special thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group/ Roaring Brook Press for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.
Rating: really liked it
oh wow. what beauty there is in this book was completely unexpected.
this story exceeded all of my expectations in terms of prose, narration, storytelling, characters, and atmosphere.
its one of those novels that forces you to feel and experience.
jack and matty are everything good in the world personified.
this is a story worth loving.
thank you so much to macmillan for the ARC!↠ 4.5 stars
Rating: really liked it
Cory Anderson writes a beautifully lyrical and unforgettable novel set in a remote small town in the bone-chilling freezing and bleak wintry landscape of the Rockies. 17 year old Jack Dahl is bearing burdens no teenager should have to carry, his mother has been floating away from him and his younger brother, Matty, for some time with her opiate addiction, and has taken the final step to leave her family and life, by choosing to hang herself. His father, Leland, is incarcerated in prison for the robbery of a pawn shop, in reality the financial proceeds of the drug trade. Jack is left with no good choices when it comes to survival, he has barely any food or money, but he is willing to do whatever it takes to protect the adorable and vulnerable Matty, under threat of being taken away by social services. He buries his mother in the hard frozen ground, leaving him with sore, bloody and blistered hands.
Ava Bardem is the daughter of a father, Victor, a cruel, merciless and sadistic killer, whose love has wrapped Ava tightly into a cage where no-one is allowed to get close to her. When Jack helps her, the new girl, out of a distressing scenario at school, she tells him to stay away from her, harbouring secrets of a past that connects them. Left with no other options, Jack decides to seek the elusive briefcase of money hidden by his father so that he can financially provide food and a home for Matty, but can he trust anyone? This makes him the target, stalked by of a number of bad guys, including Victor, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on the loot, as the murder of a correctional officer is followed by a rising tide of dead bodies. Sheriff Doyle aware the boys are in desperate danger races against time to find them. As Jack's life hangs by a thread, the only person there for him and Matty is a Ava willing to burn the house down to keep them safe.
Anderson's writing is poetic, an artful if heartbreaking emotional rollercoaster of darkness, pain, despair and tragedies, young lives for whom hope is in short supply, where the poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley, is railed against, how is it possible for either Jack and Ava to be masters of their own fates and the captains of their souls? This was a superb and atmospheric read, so memorable, of uncommon intensity and vibrancy, although I found it difficult to continue at times, the never ending threats to life that hit Jack, Ava and Matty, but there are the rare shards of light, love and hope to delight in. This may well not be a book for everyone, but I loved it. Highly recommended! Many thanks to Penguin Random House for an ARC.
Rating: really liked it
2021 F.A.B. Bookclub pick # I.❤️. F.A.B.
Okay, this was a pretty good YA thriller. 🤗 There was some angsty love, crimes, hidden treasure. I was on the edge of my seat, that whole last half. 😱 It was pretty fast paced. Overall, a great read. 👍 I just felt like it ended a bit too soon and left too many things unanswered. 🥸
Rating: really liked it
"This is one small story in an infinite number. But it is mine." Jack and Matty have only themselves. They have lost everything. Left with only two options, Jack must decide: lose his younger brother Matty to foster care or find the drug money his father hid and went to prison for. Jack chooses the money. Will it be the right choice? How will Jack hold things together for both.
Ava Bardem goes to school with Jack yet lives in isolation. She is her father's "Little Bird" and for seventeen years her father has ruled her life. He has taught her not to love or trust. Now, Victor Bardem, her father, is hot on the trail of the money that Jack is looking for. What should Ava do? Should she remain silent or help Jack and Matty.
Both Ava and Jack make choices in this book. Will they make the right ones?
This is a beautifully written book. I just loved the italicized sections. It is also a dark book with heavy themes. An older sibling trying to keep a younger one out of foster care is a theme we have seen before and sadly exists outside of out book pages. This one couples that with tension and a sense of dread. I felt for the brothers and their plight. The odds are stacked against them. With so much to lose, how will they come out on top? What Beauty There Is is the first book in a series and I am curious to see what will happen next. Although this book is dark, it also has lightness in the form of love between the brothers, Jack's sense of duty, the relationship between Jack and Ava.
My three-star rating means that I found this book to be good. I look forward to the next book in the series.
Thank you to Roaring Brook Press and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
Rating: really liked it
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DNF @ p.186There's nothing really objectively wrong with this one and a lot of my friends enjoyed it. I just didn't like the narrative style. It had a dreamy, sort of fragmented style of story-telling and kept switching POVs. I think it's YA and for a YA it's pretty dark, which I don't personally have a problem with, but it is kind of odd reading the YA equivalent of
Fargo that's being told in a dreamy, Maggie Stiefvater style of prose.
I also kind of felt like I was just waiting around for something to happen. The villain was pretty chilling but he didn't actually do much. Loved the opening and the idea behind this and the cover is GORGEOUS, but the execution failed me. You might feel differently.
Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!2 stars
Rating: really liked it
I don't have many words to describe the experience of this book because it's left me quite speechless. the essence of it feels like a classic but it's also no frills, unpretentious, and so real and raw in how it presents itself. the writing is really something to marvel at and it's amazing how much Cory packs in three, two words, sometimes even one. Seriously, I could read her descriptions of the snow falling and the wind rustling through the Idaho pines all day long. But what really gripped me and kept me racing through the pages were her characters. Ava, Jack, Matty, and holy smokes BARDEM. They're all written in such a way that I had a hard time believing that they didn't actually exist. The dialogue is fitting of a screenplay. The details down to every thread and wisp of smoke and leap of pulse were enthralling. And don't get me started on that ending. Highly, highly recommend; you'll come away from this book seeing the world in a different way.
Rating: really liked it
Oh the feels. Death, suicide, child abuse, hunger, so much hardship and yet it was beautiful. Jack a teen, is stronger than most adults, when his mother commits suicide he is alone, his father in prison. He struggles to keep his brother with him, hiding their mothers death from authorities. Desperation drives him to his father who stole money and stashed it somewhere near just to feed his brother. His father is not a nice man, and Jack doesn’t get the help he wants. What he gets is even more hardships.
These kids are put through some seriously hard times. This book is very visually written, I could see and feel it all. I cringed, cried, and cheered, such a great read.
I received a copy of this book from the publishers for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
I am obsessed with this book. Spare, haunting prose, an emotionally intense plot, and a setting that will chill you to the bone, you'll be rooting for Jack, Matty, and Eva through the very last page.
Rating: really liked it
While this was not exactly the adventure story I was expecting (don’t worry, the adventurous hunt for the lost treasure is there) it was so much more beautiful and stuck with me in all the best ways. Jack has pretty much always seen the bad side of luck and the book doesn’t start any differently when he comes home from school to find his mother has hung herself in her bedroom. How father is in prison for a robbery where the stolen money was never recovered. Jack’s next choices are completely focused on his little brother Matty and how best to protect him. In an attempt to keep from losing his brother to foster care he decides he has to find the money as they have left than 20 dollars and they’re losing the house. This noble decision sets Jack off on a terrifying journey as he’s not the only one still thinking about that briefcase of money. Jack trusts no one but when Ava shows up he’ll find himself learning to grudgingly accept help. This book was so well written it read with a poetry that painted the picture with every word. I loved the relationship between Jack and Matty and honestly just their characters. They were delightful, brave, and caring. I’m not going to lie, this book did lead me to tears but it was because the characters were so well written that as they hit bumps and struggles I felt for them. I very much hope that Cory Anderson continues to write as this was exquisite!
Rating: really liked it
Wow!!! I read What Beauty There is By Corey Anderson and did this keep me at the edge of my seat. My heart ache for these boys who's father is in Jail and mother who is addicted to drugs and depressed. All they have is each other and Jack will do anything in his power to make it stay that way.
This was definitely a hard read and you need to be in the right mind set to read this book. Trigger warnings are drugs, suicide, death, stalking, mental abuse. I gave this book an A-
Rating: really liked it
1.5 STARS
I read this book for a blog tour, so thank you to the blog tour organiser, the publisher and the author for letting me take part and for providing me with a free copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
The first thing I have to say about this book is there are a lot of trigger warnings for this book and a lot of scenes get really vivid and graphic. If you want to find out what all the currently updated TWs are for this book, you can find the full list here.
I spent the weekend reading this book, and unfortunately, I just don't think it was the book for me, and I don't think I was the intended audience. There were times where the writing style got good and I actually thought things were getting better, but then it just didn't grab me again. There are some beautiful sentences in this book, but I felt that the writing style and narrative voice were both very jarring and I really struggled with both.
I didn't understand what was happening most of the time and the way it finished left me with a lot of questions and uncertainties. I couldn't identify to the characters and I just really could not get into this book, unfortunately, but that's not to say that you won't, as I know a lot of other readers have been enjoying it.
Make sure to check the trigger warnings out before you pick up this book, as they start on early in the book and just keep coming.
Rating: really liked it
This book is heartbreaking, and intense, and utterly painful. There's so much ugliness and ache in it, and yet... what beauty there is.
What beauty there is in this world.
This book is a masterpiece... but what a broken masterpiece it is. It reminded me strongly of Kristen Hannah's The Great Alone, heavy with themes of survival and raw humanity at its worst... yet without the hope that finds its way into the Hannah's book. There's a sliver of it, but it's overshadowed by the thought that repeatedly makes its appearance throughout the text... the unresolved dilemma of the meaninglessness of life with what beauty there is.
I'm glad I read it. Would I read it again? I'm not sure.
Rating: really liked it
Excellent book, very well written. I so wanted a happy ending but I’m glad in a way that it wasn’t the perfect happy ending for them all. I really hope there’s a sequel and bardem gets what he deserves
Rating: really liked it
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my digital copy in exchange for my honest review. I actually chose this book without reading what it was about...I mean, with a title like that, it should be a great book full of beauty, in my opinion. But, while the story itself was really good, this was not a great pick for me personally. There was not an ounce of beauty in this book...for me. It was quite honestly one of the most depressing books I have ever read...from beginning to end. I really felt for these brothers who could not seem to catch a break...Again, really good in itself and if you love heavy and dark stories, you would probably really like this one. The older I get, the less I like dark and depressing...especially in today's World. We have enough of that.
