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A review by misscalije
The Beauty That Remains by Ashley Woodfolk
5.0
I picked this up because the cover was so damn beautiful. I decided to buy it because of the description in the flap and the accolades on the back. I stuck with it because the writing was tight.
The Beauty That Remains proves that you can take a story that seemingly has been done before and make it new and fresh. I’ve seen and read about teenagers uniting and living their life through a band. But I’ve never read about these teenagers, dealing with grief over the loss of loved ones, where every piece is intricate and unique.
Woodfolk knows how to write to young adult readers and share with them how people process grief differently over the loss of differing relationships. Autumn loses her best friend and finds escape in her brother. Logan loses his ex-boyfriend and initially finds escape in booze. Shay loses her twin sister and finds escape in running away.
I had to give the fifth star to this one because, although I was never quite in tears, the way that Woodfolk positions her characters to interact with each other made me feel the hurt along with them. Each character has their own voice. I could feel, for example, Shay’s realizations and grief over watching her mother take out an extra mug for tea and then realizing that the daughter that likes tea is dead. Details like that are worlds I could walk in.
I also wouldn’t have picked this book up if there had not been a queer character in it (that’s just the person I am right now). I enjoy the peripheral details that showed how Logan was exploring gender expression, and how that contrasted with Bram’s more masculine expression. It provided a nice subtle spectrum of gay representation without becoming the story.
I recommend this book highly and cannot wait for more from Ashley Woodfolk.
The Beauty That Remains proves that you can take a story that seemingly has been done before and make it new and fresh. I’ve seen and read about teenagers uniting and living their life through a band. But I’ve never read about these teenagers, dealing with grief over the loss of loved ones, where every piece is intricate and unique.
Woodfolk knows how to write to young adult readers and share with them how people process grief differently over the loss of differing relationships. Autumn loses her best friend and finds escape in her brother. Logan loses his ex-boyfriend and initially finds escape in booze. Shay loses her twin sister and finds escape in running away.
I had to give the fifth star to this one because, although I was never quite in tears, the way that Woodfolk positions her characters to interact with each other made me feel the hurt along with them. Each character has their own voice. I could feel, for example, Shay’s realizations and grief over watching her mother take out an extra mug for tea and then realizing that the daughter that likes tea is dead. Details like that are worlds I could walk in.
I also wouldn’t have picked this book up if there had not been a queer character in it (that’s just the person I am right now). I enjoy the peripheral details that showed how Logan was exploring gender expression, and how that contrasted with Bram’s more masculine expression. It provided a nice subtle spectrum of gay representation without becoming the story.
I recommend this book highly and cannot wait for more from Ashley Woodfolk.