*Thank you to BookishFirst for this copy of What Beauty There Is in exchange for an honest review*
Wow! What Beauty There Is by Cory Anderson is heartbreaking and at certain points very overwhelming I loved it. Set in rural Idaho the story centers around brothers Jack and Matty Dahl. They have nothing and are on the brink. Their mother is dead of a drug overdose and the scene where Jack had to bury her in the Snow was gut-wrenching.
Their father meanwhile is in prison for stealing during an armed robbery. Jack is out of options and is desperate. He tries to get a job but to no avail. People around town know the name Dahl and it does not reflect well. It also doesn’t help that he is a high school student with no skills. He and Matty are in a dire situation. They are running out of money. He needs to find something or someone to help.
He knows is only has one option left to use to turn to his father for help. He went to prison for stealing a large amount of money and Jack knows that his father knows where that money his hidden. His father however, is not receptive to the idea nor is he sympathetic to his son. The only thing he seemed to concerned about was the fact that his wife died. Although it is not like he had any real empathy he was just concerned about himself.
Rejected Jack has no where else to turn to and no one except maybe one other person his uncle Red. In the meantime he is dealing with trying to raise Matty who has become literal skin and bones. Although everything is falling apart Jack knows he has Matty and therefore hope. Ava Bardem is hiding secrets of her own and prefers to keep to herself. Victor Bardem has taught his daughter one thing - a hated of others.
He robbed that connivence store when she was 10 but unlike most people she has no one else. Jack and Ava’s world would soon collide after a chance encounter at school and would become in the end catastrophic. Ava has presented a life line to Jack when she agrees to help him find that money all the while hiding who she really is from him. But does Ava really have her new friends best interest at heart? Or is the influence of her father still too strong?
The turning point in the story I think is when Jack and Marty’s uncle Red was shot and killed while suddenly wanting to help them secure the money they so desperately need. On the run so to speak with Ava turns shocking for Jack when he realizes who she really is and then Ava is “kidnapped” by her own father and his gang. Was Ava’s kindness all a ruse from the start? Did she really befriend the brothers to help them or was she really doing it to help her father get the money for themselves? I cannot wait for the second book!!
Wow! What Beauty There Is by Cory Anderson is heartbreaking and at certain points very overwhelming I loved it. Set in rural Idaho the story centers around brothers Jack and Matty Dahl. They have nothing and are on the brink. Their mother is dead of a drug overdose and the scene where Jack had to bury her in the Snow was gut-wrenching.
Their father meanwhile is in prison for stealing during an armed robbery. Jack is out of options and is desperate. He tries to get a job but to no avail. People around town know the name Dahl and it does not reflect well. It also doesn’t help that he is a high school student with no skills. He and Matty are in a dire situation. They are running out of money. He needs to find something or someone to help.
He knows is only has one option left to use to turn to his father for help. He went to prison for stealing a large amount of money and Jack knows that his father knows where that money his hidden. His father however, is not receptive to the idea nor is he sympathetic to his son. The only thing he seemed to concerned about was the fact that his wife died. Although it is not like he had any real empathy he was just concerned about himself.
Rejected Jack has no where else to turn to and no one except maybe one other person his uncle Red. In the meantime he is dealing with trying to raise Matty who has become literal skin and bones. Although everything is falling apart Jack knows he has Matty and therefore hope. Ava Bardem is hiding secrets of her own and prefers to keep to herself. Victor Bardem has taught his daughter one thing - a hated of others.
He robbed that connivence store when she was 10 but unlike most people she has no one else. Jack and Ava’s world would soon collide after a chance encounter at school and would become in the end catastrophic. Ava has presented a life line to Jack when she agrees to help him find that money all the while hiding who she really is from him. But does Ava really have her new friends best interest at heart? Or is the influence of her father still too strong?
The turning point in the story I think is when Jack and Marty’s uncle Red was shot and killed while suddenly wanting to help them secure the money they so desperately need. On the run so to speak with Ava turns shocking for Jack when he realizes who she really is and then Ava is “kidnapped” by her own father and his gang. Was Ava’s kindness all a ruse from the start? Did she really befriend the brothers to help them or was she really doing it to help her father get the money for themselves? I cannot wait for the second book!!