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Wednesday, May 21, 2025

What Beauty There Is by Cory Anderson - OPTIONAL

What Beauty There Is
by Cory Anderson
, 362 pages. Roaring Brook Press (Macmillan), 2021. $19. 

Language: R (23 swears 1 'f'); Mature Content: PG13 (teens sleeping in the same bed, creepy night behavior by adult); Violence: R (death, suicide, murders, graphic shootings, violent kidnapping, torture, adult assaulting a minor, graphic violent content) 

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL 

APPEALS TO: SOME 

17yo Jack discovered his mother's suicide, and fearful that he and his little brother Matty will be placed in foster care, buries her behind their barn in rural Idaho. His father is in prison for a robbery. The money was never found, and the drug dealers he stole it from, as well as his accomplice, think Jack knows where it is hidden. They are willing to kill to get that money. 

A gripping and terrible story I had to finish once started. Oh things are so bad for Jack, just when you think it can't get worse it does. A well-written debut novel that kept this reader on the edge of my seat. A lot of violence, but the swear count was low as was mature content which is mostly implied or alluded to. Most of the characters are adults, except for Ava and Jack (17yos) and Matty who is in 2nd grade. I loved Ava's chapter introductions and her perspectives which helped build suspense. The characters are white. 

Lisa Librarian 

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