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A review by notlikethebeer
The Beauty That Remains by Ashley Woodfolk
This was... wow. Wow. Absolutely incredible. Honestly, truly breathtaking. A masterpiece. Every single one of those superlatives that has ever been used to describe a book, this one was. And more. Superlatives and praise that haven't even been invented yet will actually be created to talk about this novel.
Okay, yeah, I'm overexaggerating maybe, but not by much. The Beauty That Remains is one of those books you take forever to read, because you just don't want it to end- the kind of book that leaves you not wanting to start another book just yet, because you can't get your head around reading anything that doesn't feature the characters you've fallen in love with.
The Beauty That Remains follows three main characters: Shay, Autumn, and Logan. Each of these characters has some connection to a now-disbanded band, Unraveling Lovely; and each of them is grieving the death of someone close to them. In a lot of ways, the characters are doubly grieving, because they're still coming to terms with the demise of Unraveling Lovely, and the whole in their lives this has left. As well as this, each of three three is dealing with the rest of their lives: school, family, friends, the other little bits that make up the whole. That's something that really stands out about this book, that it shows, without being cliched or overly obvious, the way that life goes on after colossal loss, and the ways that that affects those grieving.
I'm not always a fan of books told from multiple points of view, because I tend to get over-attached to one character and their plot, and am less interested in the others. I was worried that this would happen with The Beauty That Remains; it did to an extent (Logan 5eva), but nowhere near as much as it usually does. Each speaker had their own unique arc, so it felt like as soon as there was a lull in one story, another story swooped in to take center stage (as opposed to all the drama happening at the same time). Another massive strength was that each character's story was so different, and not all of them necessarily fit conventional storytelling. In this way, each speaker provided a compelling aspect to the overall narrative.
To begin with, it's a bit difficult to work out what the connections between the characters are. However, this definitely gets more clear over time, and the ending especially draws them all together. I really liked this approach, I felt that it allowed a wide breadth of stories to be told, and the vague interlinking worked really well to create a rounded world. There was a whole cast of characters, as opposed to just a few, and it became more fun and interesting to see where the links were.
I think if there was one word to sum up this book, it would be 'breadth'- but then that feels like a disservice, because 'depth' would be pretty apt too. What I mean by that is that The Beauty That Remains covers a really wide range of topics, but never just at a surface level. It was so complex, and nuanced, and beautifully explored. Each of the losses were different, and explored differently. I really felt for each character, and the sense of empathy it evoked for situations I'd never really considered was incredible. Shay's storyline particularly stood out to me for this: I'd never really thought about being 'twinless', and how extremely tough and lonely that must be in itself, as well as the grief and loss from losing someone close to you. I was so pleased for Shay when she was introduced to the support group!
This book is really genre-defying, in the most genuine sense of the word, again because of the diversity in the character's storylines: Logan's story felt like a mystery, but neither of the others fit even remotely into this genre. It kinda has something for everyone.
I particularly loved the use of chapter openers. I think this allowed a really good look at what was lost in each character's life, and, for Sasha and Bram especially, gave a really good sense of the characters who were absent from the story. That made the overall emotional impact even stronger, because despite never having gotten to know the characters who had died, I still felt their absence and the grief their deaths had brought.
The copy I have has a quote from Angie Thomas on the front, something along the lines of this book breaking you, then putting you back together. Truer words have never been spoken. This is a TOUGH read. It will have you crying whilst your dinner cooks (or at least... it did me!). It's gritty, it's unpleasant. The characters aren't always likeable. It doesn't shy away from complex topics or difficult feelings. It's intense. But it is so, SO good.
Sometimes it trips me out, how many books there are in this world, and how I will never even read the tiniest fraction of them. And then I read books like this, and I feel so so lucky, that out of all of those books, I got to read this one.
Okay, yeah, I'm overexaggerating maybe, but not by much. The Beauty That Remains is one of those books you take forever to read, because you just don't want it to end- the kind of book that leaves you not wanting to start another book just yet, because you can't get your head around reading anything that doesn't feature the characters you've fallen in love with.
The Beauty That Remains follows three main characters: Shay, Autumn, and Logan. Each of these characters has some connection to a now-disbanded band, Unraveling Lovely; and each of them is grieving the death of someone close to them. In a lot of ways, the characters are doubly grieving, because they're still coming to terms with the demise of Unraveling Lovely, and the whole in their lives this has left. As well as this, each of three three is dealing with the rest of their lives: school, family, friends, the other little bits that make up the whole. That's something that really stands out about this book, that it shows, without being cliched or overly obvious, the way that life goes on after colossal loss, and the ways that that affects those grieving.
I'm not always a fan of books told from multiple points of view, because I tend to get over-attached to one character and their plot, and am less interested in the others. I was worried that this would happen with The Beauty That Remains; it did to an extent (Logan 5eva), but nowhere near as much as it usually does. Each speaker had their own unique arc, so it felt like as soon as there was a lull in one story, another story swooped in to take center stage (as opposed to all the drama happening at the same time). Another massive strength was that each character's story was so different, and not all of them necessarily fit conventional storytelling. In this way, each speaker provided a compelling aspect to the overall narrative.
To begin with, it's a bit difficult to work out what the connections between the characters are. However, this definitely gets more clear over time, and the ending especially draws them all together. I really liked this approach, I felt that it allowed a wide breadth of stories to be told, and the vague interlinking worked really well to create a rounded world. There was a whole cast of characters, as opposed to just a few, and it became more fun and interesting to see where the links were.
I think if there was one word to sum up this book, it would be 'breadth'- but then that feels like a disservice, because 'depth' would be pretty apt too. What I mean by that is that The Beauty That Remains covers a really wide range of topics, but never just at a surface level. It was so complex, and nuanced, and beautifully explored. Each of the losses were different, and explored differently. I really felt for each character, and the sense of empathy it evoked for situations I'd never really considered was incredible. Shay's storyline particularly stood out to me for this: I'd never really thought about being 'twinless', and how extremely tough and lonely that must be in itself, as well as the grief and loss from losing someone close to you. I was so pleased for Shay when she was introduced to the support group!
This book is really genre-defying, in the most genuine sense of the word, again because of the diversity in the character's storylines: Logan's story felt like a mystery, but neither of the others fit even remotely into this genre. It kinda has something for everyone.
I particularly loved the use of chapter openers. I think this allowed a really good look at what was lost in each character's life, and, for Sasha and Bram especially, gave a really good sense of the characters who were absent from the story. That made the overall emotional impact even stronger, because despite never having gotten to know the characters who had died, I still felt their absence and the grief their deaths had brought.
The copy I have has a quote from Angie Thomas on the front, something along the lines of this book breaking you, then putting you back together. Truer words have never been spoken. This is a TOUGH read. It will have you crying whilst your dinner cooks (or at least... it did me!). It's gritty, it's unpleasant. The characters aren't always likeable. It doesn't shy away from complex topics or difficult feelings. It's intense. But it is so, SO good.
Sometimes it trips me out, how many books there are in this world, and how I will never even read the tiniest fraction of them. And then I read books like this, and I feel so so lucky, that out of all of those books, I got to read this one.