What Beauty There Is
A Novel
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4.0 • 8 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A 2022 William C. Morris YA Debut Award Finalist, What Beauty There Is is Cory Anderson's stunning novel about brutality and beauty, and about broken people trying to survive—"Intense, brutal, and searingly honest," perfect for fans of Patrick Ness, Laura Ruby, and Meg Rosoff.
To understand the truth, you have to start at the beginning.
Ava Bardem lives in isolation, a life of silence. For seventeen years, Ava’s father, a merciless man, has controlled her fate. He’s taught her to love no one. But then she meets Jack.
Living in poverty, Jack Dahl is holding his breath. He and his younger brother have nothing—except each other. With their parents gone, Jack faces a stark choice: lose his brother to foster care or find the drug money that sent his father to prison. He chooses the money.
Suddenly, Jack’s and Ava’s fates become intimately—and dangerously—linked as Ava’s father hunts for the same money as Jack. When he picks up on Jack’s trail, Ava must make her own wrenching choice: remain silent or speak and fight for Jack’s survival.
Choices. They come at a price.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the mountains of Idaho, quiet Jack Dahl, 17, and his little brother, Matty, live alone. With their mother dead and their situation precarious, Jack makes a tough decision: to avoid losing Matty to Child Services, he sets out to find the stolen drug money that landed his father in prison. The cash is well hidden, though, and he's not the only one looking for it: when a vicious, unnamed drug dealer and Jack's father's merciless former associate, Bardem, catch wind of Jack's hunt, they set their sights on him. Bardem's daughter, Ava, finds herself drawn to the brothers—but to save them, she must break away from her controlling and abusive father. Alternating between the third person and Ava's first-person reflections in a fully realized rural setting, Anderson's starkly atmospheric thriller illuminates ways in which cycles of poverty and incarceration can disenfranchise children. Supporting characters, however, especially the two primary villains, suffer from indiscrete renderings, and a character "disfigured" after an attempted scalping is unfortunately named "Red." Ages 14–up.
Customer Reviews
Heartbreakingly beautiful.
This book rocked my entire world. Upon seeing the cover, it instantly drew me in but the story line hooked me. From page one, I knew this was going to be a unique plot line that was sure to hook me! This story mostly follows Jack, his brother Matty and Ava (a deep female character with complexities which quickly grew to become my favorite character in the book!). We see the struggle of these characters bond to the past, relationships between mothers & fathers, to family.. loyalties and most of all - the struggle of simple survival. I’ve never read a book that was written quite as this was one and it was very welcomed. It was a definite page turner and I read it in one day! I literally could not put it down. I hate marking inside my books but there were so many tragically beautiful, quotable lines in this book I had to keep a small journal nearby to write them down for future use. Cory Anderson is sure to become a very beloved author with a long career ahead of her. I loved the book so much that I followed her on Instagram to ensure I didn’t miss any news on follow up books or novels. I’m so happy I read this and already recommended it to my huge book club, friends and family. You will NOT regret reading this story!