My heart is broken right now, and I want to cry, but omg, this book is beautiful!
emotional hopeful inspiring sad
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I love a book that stays in my head hours after I finished it. This book was beautiful and lyrical and sad and haunting. The twist at the end I honestly did not expect and I am usually pretty good on picking up on those things. Everything Beautiful is Not Ruined is a wonderful read. I recommend it to anyone who wants to see beauty rise from the ashes of buried dreams.

A beautiful, beautiful book. Granted, I was weirdly super emotional last night and feeling like - pardon my french - utter crap, but this story was special and strong in ways I wasn't exactly expecting, so it's safe to say the tears I cried could've easily been less of a PMS issue and more of a reaction to Ingrid's journey. The way Younge-Ullman shaped this book was incredibly gripping, alternating between Ingrid's present at the camp and her past, and the little bits of information that were presented on each chapter altogether snapped the story into focus with an unstoppable force. By the end of the book, not only everything made sense, but it could also be seen that it was okay that, before one point, it didn't; what mattered, really, was the path towards self-acceptance that the members of the camp, individually, took throughout the book - especially Ingrid's, who, besides being the main character, was initially opposed to the whole endeavor, which made the shift in her mentality all the more perceptible and emotional. Overall, this was an impactful and delightful surprise of a read.

Work in a high school library and my goal for this year was to find some YA that I could soldier through and maybe even enjoy. This is one of them.

As an aside, I try to read YA through the eyes/mind of a teen/ya, but with a somewhat critical eye towards the quality of the writing. Either YA did not exist when I was growing up, or I skipped right over it to adult writing, so much of it seems rather lame. Does nothing to challenge the reader (and I mean challenge on a YA level, develop vocabulary, etc. And, please, don't say that books can just be entertaining because God knows I read enough Victoria Holt in the sixth grade that I could have ghostwritten books for her by high school. I'm working on it.

I received an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. (Thank you so much!)

There are so many reasons that I loved this book. I just hope I can express them all in a review appropriately.

First of all, this book is very Canadian! (#ReadTheNorth) The author is Canadian and the main character spends the majority of the book in Ontario. The part of the book that is spent in the woods is set in Northern Ontario and the main character lives in Toronto for a lot of the book. I absolutely love supporting Canadian authors and reading about books set in Canada so this factor sort of made this book an instant favourite of mine.

Everything Beautiful is not Ruined is an absolutely gorgeous book. It made me laugh, cry and feel happy. The main character Ingrid is the daughter of an opera singer so she spent her children traveling around the world with her mother. But when her mother can't sing anymore, they settle down in Toronto, where Ingrid has to learn how to be a normal girl. This book is told in flashbacks of Ingrid's childhood to present day, where she is doing a survival camp to prove to her mother that she can handle the real world of plays.

I think that the portrayal of mental illness (specifically depression) is so accurate that it's heartbreaking. Reading about Ingrid's time at Peak Wilderness was pretty cool. I've never read anything like that experience so I was absolutely glued to this book to find out what would happen next. The flashbacks were fun because Ingrid plays Dorothy in a Wizard of Oz production so reading about her passion for acting was really inspiring. I also really loved that this book was about family. Ingrid never knew her father but gains one when her mother starts to date this guy, Andreas. I thought Ingrid's relationship with him was really sweet. The romance part of the book was kind of unconventional which was great to see. And the plot twist at the end? I should have seen that coming, but I didn't!

If you love books about family, mental illness, Canadian settings and show business, you will probably love this book as much as I do! I feel like if you loved [b:Exit, Pursued by a Bear|25528801|Exit, Pursued by a Bear|E.K. Johnston|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1449491313s/25528801.jpg|45316429], you might like this book as well.

4.5/5 stars.

TW - suicide, suicidal ideation, sexual assault, alcoholism, mental illness, depression, death of a parent

nora022's review

2.0

Tyvärr var den vackra titeln bättre än själva handlingen. Blev lite besviken. Stundtals bra men inget särskilt. Kanske riktad till yngre läsare än mig själv?
emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Great story about a teenage girl and her relationship with her mom and her self realization.