A review by katymul
The Beautiful Something Else by Ash Van Otterloo

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I really am obsessed with Ash Van Otterloo's work. The pacing is impressive, and they manage to make me care about problems small, large, catastrophized, and ill-considered all at once. Each disaster feels of a piece somehow -- leaving the water running in a garden all night inextricably tied with a mother in rehab who doesn't want to see you after all, past and present and family dynamics playing through one another. Most of all, I appreciate the way that healing and processing trauma are allowed to be messy for all of the characters. Nothing is presented as an endpoint or destination but a piece of life ongoing. This is a found family built on sheer determination to heal as individuals and community, to protect one another from the cruelties of the world and your own inner voice of self-doubt. It's a beautiful story, and yes, it's also something else.