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Piękno, które pozostanie
Autumn, Shay i Logan chodzą do tej samej szkoły. Wydaje się, że nic więcej ich nie łączy. Nic poza stratą i muzyką.
Autumn od zawsze wiedziała, kim jest – utalentowaną artystką i lojalną przyjaciółką.
Shay definiowała siebie poprzez więź z siostrą bliźniaczką oraz swoją muzyczną pasję.
Logan z reguły zaczynał pisać piosenki o miłości, kiedy jego własne życie uczuciowe zaczynało odbiegać od ideału.
Kiedy jednak każde z nich dotknęła tragedia, muzyka nagle przestała im wystarczać. Teraz Logan nie może przestać oglądać vloga swojego zmarłego chłopaka. Gniew, żal i poczucie winy całkowicie go obezwładniają. Chłopak wie, że nic nie zdoła cofnąć przykrych słów, które kiedyś wypowiedział. Shay próbuje nie widzieć w sobie odbicia siostry, a pochłaniające ją mrok i ataki paniki stara się ukryć, imprezując z chłopakami na koncertach. Autumn zaś bez końca wysyła wiadomości do swojej najlepszej przyjaciółki, chociaż wie, że już nigdy nie dostanie od niej odpowiedzi.
Mimo wszelkich przeciwności losu, trójkę obcych sobie osób połączy muzyka jednego zespołu. Czy mimo wszystkich problemów znajdą coś, co zdoła ich ocalić? Czy muzyka jest wystarczającą siłą, by udowodnić tej trójce, że piękno nadal kwitnie w tych, którzy pozostali z nami?
Autumn od zawsze wiedziała, kim jest – utalentowaną artystką i lojalną przyjaciółką.
Shay definiowała siebie poprzez więź z siostrą bliźniaczką oraz swoją muzyczną pasję.
Logan z reguły zaczynał pisać piosenki o miłości, kiedy jego własne życie uczuciowe zaczynało odbiegać od ideału.
Kiedy jednak każde z nich dotknęła tragedia, muzyka nagle przestała im wystarczać. Teraz Logan nie może przestać oglądać vloga swojego zmarłego chłopaka. Gniew, żal i poczucie winy całkowicie go obezwładniają. Chłopak wie, że nic nie zdoła cofnąć przykrych słów, które kiedyś wypowiedział. Shay próbuje nie widzieć w sobie odbicia siostry, a pochłaniające ją mrok i ataki paniki stara się ukryć, imprezując z chłopakami na koncertach. Autumn zaś bez końca wysyła wiadomości do swojej najlepszej przyjaciółki, chociaż wie, że już nigdy nie dostanie od niej odpowiedzi.
Mimo wszelkich przeciwności losu, trójkę obcych sobie osób połączy muzyka jednego zespołu. Czy mimo wszystkich problemów znajdą coś, co zdoła ich ocalić? Czy muzyka jest wystarczającą siłą, by udowodnić tej trójce, że piękno nadal kwitnie w tych, którzy pozostali z nami?
399 pages, Paperback
First published March 6, 2018
252 people are currently reading
13854 people want to read
About the author
Ashley Woodfolk
20 books849 followersAshley Woodfolk has loved reading and writing for as long as she can remember. She graduated from Rutgers University and worked in children's book publishing for over a decade. Now a full-time mom and writer, Ashley lives in a sunny Brooklyn apartment with her cute husband, her cuter dog, and the cutest kid in the world. Her books include The Beauty That Remains, When You Were Everything, and the Flyy Girls Series.
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March 7, 2018
The Beauty That Remains is a really solid debut from an author I will be looking out for in the future. I feel like the book was spread a little thin over the three different perspectives, but the strong writing and diverse characters show a lot of promise.
It is hard to write a good book about grief. First, you must convince the reader of the importance of the relationship between the protagonist(s) and the deceased; make them care about a fictional dead person as much as the characters supposedly do. Then you must also, usually, create a compelling story arc out of this grief. What will happen next? Where do the characters go from here? What are we reading for? Books about grief risk becoming "concept books", in that the concept is "this character is sad" but a story doesn't grow out of it.
I think this second point is where the book struggled a little. The Beauty That Remains follows three diverse teenagers as they cope with their individual grief. Korean-American Autumn has lost her best friend, Tavia, in an accident. Black identical twins Shay and Sasha have been torn apart by the end to Sasha's long battle with leukemia. And white Logan develops a drinking problem when his ex-boyfriend and first love commits suicide.
All three narrators have individual struggles, but these start to come together and overlap as the story progresses. Each is linked, in some way, by music, and Logan's old band called Unraveling Lovely.
The author puts a lot of emotion into her characters, especially in the beginning when painting in their backstory and relationship to those who have died. Woodfolk explores what it means to lose a twin - that one person who is so closely tied to you and has been by your side all your life - and what it's like to feel like you could have prevented the death of an ex if only... if only.
It's a timely story, as each narrator uses digital technology in a different way to deal with their grief. Logan watches Bram's vlogs, Autumn sends online messages to Tavia, and Shay turns to blogging about music. About a third of the way in, however, I felt like their emotions, the "concept" of their grief had been explored exhaustively, and that the story grew a little tiresome and repetitive.
Once we had established the hows and whys of the characters' grief, the book stalls, trying to extend these emotions into a family drama and a romance. I struggled with Autumn's story arc the most. It was far less compelling to me than Shay's and Logan's stories, the latter of which reminded me of Adam Silvera's amazing History Is All You Left Me. Autumn's love story with Dante, Tavia's brother, really bored me and was my least favourite part of the book.
A tough subject to tackle and not an instant favourite but, as mentioned above, I am very intrigued to see where this author goes next.
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We all nod. We all get it. There's no way to measure grief;
It is hard to write a good book about grief. First, you must convince the reader of the importance of the relationship between the protagonist(s) and the deceased; make them care about a fictional dead person as much as the characters supposedly do. Then you must also, usually, create a compelling story arc out of this grief. What will happen next? Where do the characters go from here? What are we reading for? Books about grief risk becoming "concept books", in that the concept is "this character is sad" but a story doesn't grow out of it.
I think this second point is where the book struggled a little. The Beauty That Remains follows three diverse teenagers as they cope with their individual grief. Korean-American Autumn has lost her best friend, Tavia, in an accident. Black identical twins Shay and Sasha have been torn apart by the end to Sasha's long battle with leukemia. And white Logan develops a drinking problem when his ex-boyfriend and first love commits suicide.
All three narrators have individual struggles, but these start to come together and overlap as the story progresses. Each is linked, in some way, by music, and Logan's old band called Unraveling Lovely.
The author puts a lot of emotion into her characters, especially in the beginning when painting in their backstory and relationship to those who have died. Woodfolk explores what it means to lose a twin - that one person who is so closely tied to you and has been by your side all your life - and what it's like to feel like you could have prevented the death of an ex if only... if only.
It's a timely story, as each narrator uses digital technology in a different way to deal with their grief. Logan watches Bram's vlogs, Autumn sends online messages to Tavia, and Shay turns to blogging about music. About a third of the way in, however, I felt like their emotions, the "concept" of their grief had been explored exhaustively, and that the story grew a little tiresome and repetitive.
Once we had established the hows and whys of the characters' grief, the book stalls, trying to extend these emotions into a family drama and a romance. I struggled with Autumn's story arc the most. It was far less compelling to me than Shay's and Logan's stories, the latter of which reminded me of Adam Silvera's amazing History Is All You Left Me. Autumn's love story with Dante, Tavia's brother, really bored me and was my least favourite part of the book.
A tough subject to tackle and not an instant favourite but, as mentioned above, I am very intrigued to see where this author goes next.
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June 18, 2022
Niestety bardzo przeciętna
April 19, 2018
“For the sensitive among us
sometime the noise
is just too much...”
So good. So so good!
Beautifully written story that follows three characters who are dealing with a loss of a loved one.
The type of story that takes a seat in your heart.
Three amazingly diverse and well developed characters with a distinct voice that you'll find a home in.
Gosh, it was good. It felt fulfilling to read, to follow these characters on their journey of grief and what it does to you soul and the ways manifests in.
And as sad as it was to read, I felt whole and comforted by the end of it and just full of love for love and people and the connections human beings make.
I'm on a high. I loved it wholeheartedly.
sometime the noise
is just too much...”
So good. So so good!
Beautifully written story that follows three characters who are dealing with a loss of a loved one.
The type of story that takes a seat in your heart.
Three amazingly diverse and well developed characters with a distinct voice that you'll find a home in.
Gosh, it was good. It felt fulfilling to read, to follow these characters on their journey of grief and what it does to you soul and the ways manifests in.
And as sad as it was to read, I felt whole and comforted by the end of it and just full of love for love and people and the connections human beings make.
I'm on a high. I loved it wholeheartedly.
July 2, 2020
saddest part of this book was that it didn’t make me cry 😐
May 13, 2018
"If you'd asked me years ago what does love feel like I never would have guessed at our hearts beating, our chests heaving, and the unbearable ache of you leaving. Our hearts beating, our chests heaving, and the unbearable ache of you leaving"
listen, I'm gonna be straight up with you here I only added this to my TBR because Alisha Wainwright narrates one third of this audiobook and I'm super gay for her. (haha jokes I'm gay in general but SHE REALLY HAS A BEAUTIFUL VOICE)
So I generally DON'T go for books about grief? I just .. don't want to be sad? And I fully believe they can be done SO WELL and have so much impact but lots of the time I just don't feel like them. That being said, this book was surprisingly addictive to me. I was surprised by how often I was reaching for this over other books despite it's content. Ashley Woodfolk definitely managed to get me invested in the characters and their development and the trajectory of their grief as they slowly come to terms with whats happened and that's a damn good feat.
The Beauty that Remains follows three different teenagers who are all connected through music, and especially the band Unravelling Lovely to which they are all connected.
🍂 Logan is a gay boy who's ex-boyfriend and first love Bram has committed suicide. Logan has developed alcoholism and doesn't know how to cope with the loss, especially since he feels partly responsible. Logan is the lead singer of Unravelling Lovely but fell out with the band after Bram died
🍂 Shay is a black girl who's identical twin Sasha has just lost her long battle with Leukaemia. Shay doesn't know how to relate to her mum and what to do about the music blog her and Sasha shared. Shay is a fan of Unravelling Lovely and friends with the band members.
🍂 Autumn is Korean-American and is devastated after her best friend Tavia died in a car accident. Autumn feels guilty because she was secretly dating Tavia's brother and was with him the night she died. Tavia's brother, Dante, is one of the members of Unravelling Lovely.
The thing this book did best was make me invested in the characters growth I was definitely rooting for every single character and my need to know what happened to them next is what drove my interest. Shay was my favourite character to follow and Autumn my least favourite (she was so bland compared to Logan and Shay?) but I still enjoyed all of them overall. I liked that each was a very unique character and I love that this book had a strong focus on their hobbies, especially music.
This book did a good job at explaining the backstories of the characters and why their grief was especially palpable but I think that quickly wore off. While I was initially really sad, the grief aspect became a little bit repetitive, especially in Autumn and Logan's chapters. This book wasn't as emotionally impactful as you would have wanted in a book specifically about grief, but it actually kind of worked in this books favour since it meant I wasn't too sad to see what would happen next.
one thing I really utterly hated was the biphobia Logan's ex-boyfriend Bram is bisexual and in my opinion the portrayal was poorly done and quite hurtful. Bram cheats on both Logan and his new girlfriend which totally affirms the cheating bisexual sterotype. Also, Logan remarks how annoyed he is that "Bram isn't even totally gay" which is a really harmful thing to say about bisexual people since bisexual people are constantly fighting for their validity within the queer community. Logan also says this
But yeah, I guess it added insult to injury that it was some basic bitch cheerleader and not another guy. How could I even compete with a girl?” [...] “If it had been another guy, I could have convinced him I was the better choice. But if he wanted a girl, he couldn’t also want me.
I found this line to be both sexist and also biphobic. The implication that a bi person can be swayed from their relationships is harmful, and also the anger directed at bi boys for dating women. Although Logan later becomes friends with the cheerleader, the biphobia itself in any of these examples is never challenged and I found it upsetting to read and I'm still unsettled by it now. I think that this trope, which is really prevalent and quite harmful needed to be more directly challenged on page. I would NOT recommend this book to bisexual people for the bi rep specifically, but I also want to note this IS ownvoices for black rep so by no means do I think people shouldn't read it.
ADD ON: I discussed this book and the bi representation with the author, and I want to make a note that Bram is intended to be both bisexual and also polyam, and him falling in love with multiple people wasn't the same as cheating. I personally didn't pick up on this aspect, but I'm putting this note in here for others information <3
“The number of ifs and what-ifs are infinite, and I keep listing them – trying to convince myself or Dante, or maybe you, that I’m sorry, that life and death are random, that we can’t control anything except how we deal with it all now.”
Overall this is one of those books I enjoyed and mostly liked but that I wouldn't ever reread. I don't have LOTS of strong feelings toward it, but I would totally read another book by this author and actually I would love a spin-off about Shay or Logan.
trigger warnings: suicide, biphobia, drug use, grief, death, car accidents, leukaemia, physical violence
actual rating: 3.5 stars
November 6, 2019
The story of three grieving people who lost the most important person in their lives. But come to think of it, it’s really not just about these three main characters because everyone in the story is affected by the loss of the person they knew. It’s relatably very sad- the panic attacks, anxiety, the fear of everything but especially of death and I could only imagine what it would be like to lose someone so important to you and how to try to feel normal again although I guess at this point, there is no longer normal. But the story does show how these characters process their grief in their own unique ways.
What makes me sad however is that huge possibility of grief spiraling into depression so I’m glad that the story tries to encourage the readers to see The Beauty that Remains even after something as ugly as death. Like how in the process of grief, the characters earned new friends, discovered love, re-established their relationship with their parents, learned to love themselves more and many other beautiful, hopeful and inspiring things that can come out of a sad and painful experience.
It's also interesting to note that although the story is told in three different POVs, the characters’ losses and lives are somewhat interconnected not only by death but also by music and how the music also helps make them feel a little less sad.
What makes me sad however is that huge possibility of grief spiraling into depression so I’m glad that the story tries to encourage the readers to see The Beauty that Remains even after something as ugly as death. Like how in the process of grief, the characters earned new friends, discovered love, re-established their relationship with their parents, learned to love themselves more and many other beautiful, hopeful and inspiring things that can come out of a sad and painful experience.
It's also interesting to note that although the story is told in three different POVs, the characters’ losses and lives are somewhat interconnected not only by death but also by music and how the music also helps make them feel a little less sad.
June 29, 2018
T/W- Suicide, Grief, Panic Attacks, Underage Drinking/Drugs
The Beauty That Remains is a good, emotional and hard-hitting debut novel that I heard about one day on Twitter. The colourful cover really appealed to me, it is really pretty to look at and all of the colours featured go well together. There are three characters Autumn, Shay and Logan, all of their perspectives are featured with one POV per chapter. All of them have faced a form of bereavement but one band's music suddenly brings them altogether as one. It was tough to read at times, you do need to be in the right frame of mind since grief is heavily used throughout the plotline. There was prose and other methods such as emails and blog posts, which added a fresh insight into the lives of the young people included here. I really liked the writing style and the ending was an interesting conclusion and surprising, the best kind of feeling to experience as a reader! I'm really excited to read the author's next novel!
The Beauty That Remains is a good, emotional and hard-hitting debut novel that I heard about one day on Twitter. The colourful cover really appealed to me, it is really pretty to look at and all of the colours featured go well together. There are three characters Autumn, Shay and Logan, all of their perspectives are featured with one POV per chapter. All of them have faced a form of bereavement but one band's music suddenly brings them altogether as one. It was tough to read at times, you do need to be in the right frame of mind since grief is heavily used throughout the plotline. There was prose and other methods such as emails and blog posts, which added a fresh insight into the lives of the young people included here. I really liked the writing style and the ending was an interesting conclusion and surprising, the best kind of feeling to experience as a reader! I'm really excited to read the author's next novel!
January 28, 2018
I received an ARC copy of The Beauty that Remains in exchange for an honest review. Thanks goes to NetGalley, as well as the Delacorte Press for this advanced copy which is expected to be released on March 06, 2018.
The Beauty that Remains is Ashley Woodfolk‘s debut novel, believe it or not. It is sure to be one of the greatest books of 2018 and that’s saying a lot given that we’ve barely walked into February. This is all that a contemporary reader looks for – LGBT awareness, suicide, depression, diversity. I’m still in awe over how deep this book has got to me. The expression and heartbreaking grief of this novel is breathtaking, as ironic as that may sound. Pain, love and struggle after loss spreads the lives of a group of teenagers who, initially seem only similarly by age and loss of a loved one, but it’s this love and loss that bring them together at the end. That, and of course, some good ‘ole rock and roll…
Autumn, an adopted Korean-American teenager, sends her best friend, Octavia, almost every single day telling her how much she misses her and what is going on in her life and mind. This would all be just find and readers are probably wondering where I’m’ going with this. Well, problem is, Octavia is dead. She died just little while ago in a car crash. And this is the only way Autumn knows how to cope with her overwhelming grief. She feels that no one, not even Octavia’s brother’s pain, measures up to her own.
Shay and Sasha, black identical twins are no longer, as Sasha is taken away by leukemia, leaving Shay ‘twinless’. Now Shay finds her sister in her own reflection everyday and struggles to separate who she is from who her sister was. She finds short bursts of comfort in running and kissing Jerome at concerts. She feels herself fading into a dimness where as, just like Autumn, she feels that no one can understand how she feels or help her get through this period.
Logan is a peppy and sparky musician with a love for the guys. With the suicide of his ex boyfriend, Bram, that sparkle in his eyes that once lit up every show is gone. It is replaced by an alcoholic and faded depressed teenager. A boy filled with regrets, anger, unanswered questions and unexpressed feelings. He never got the chance to tell Bram sorry for having told him that he hopes Bram “dies alone.” He never got to make it up to him. And now ? His grades are slipping. He’s in danger of losing his diploma. He’s even responsible for the breakup of his band, Unraveling Lovely.
Each of these narrators lives are separate but together. Autumn tries to hold it together but breaks. The only thing that ever bring her back to life and helps her to move on without Tavia is the love and support her sister Willow, her parents, and Octavia’s brother as well as Autumn’s crush, Dante are willing to give her. However it is not until Autumnn is ready that any gestures of love from others has any effect. It is she that has to stop sending Tavia emails she knows Tavia will never receive. She has to stop blaming herself and others for her best friend’s death. And Shay also tries to hold it together but breaks. She has panic attacks in unexpected moments. She tries to set herself straight without help but falls down even deeper. It is not until she is “interventioned” by her friends, takes her mom’s advise and joins a support group, and lets her mom back into her life that she can finally move forward. Logan also tries to hold it together but breaks. He doesn’t tell anyone about his feelings of regret. He stays away from Bram’m mom and has a secret hatred for Bram’s ex girlfriend, Yara. Instead, he watches and watches again all of Bram’s vlogs, feeding into his sadness. Somehow, everything he tries to keep away from him is what gives him the strength in the end to pull through.
Autumn, Shay and Logan are separate in their struggles but together in their grief. As the story progresses the stories begin to come together and overlap. Whether it be by romance, by interest, or directly, each character’s life and grief is related by music. I loved this about the stores; music serving as an outlet to mend the character’s hearts, bringing them all together in the end.
The real problem I had was the writing style. The sentence we short and seemed a bit choppy and out of place at times. In places where I would have expected some heavy description or evocative imagery was just flat and banal. I totally get that the writer was trying to leave the language simple and easy to comprehend, as the stories were each complicated in their own right. However, I really felt as though a bit too much was sacrificed for the cause. Also, I didn’t like the way each chapter would end and then bounce to another narrator.
There doesn’t seem to be much holding all three narrators together. As a result, I couldn’t really get what one story had to do with the other until more than halfway through the book. The story itself moved and captivated me in every way possible, so far that I give it 5 stars. However, the non comprehensive and overly simplistic writing annoyed me a bit, so far that reason I’m giving The Beauty that Remains 4 stars, still an excellent rating for a new release that is sure to become a classic in the coming age with all the relevant issues it tackles – race, sexuality, and of course, my personal favorite, mental illness.
The Beauty that Remains is Ashley Woodfolk‘s debut novel, believe it or not. It is sure to be one of the greatest books of 2018 and that’s saying a lot given that we’ve barely walked into February. This is all that a contemporary reader looks for – LGBT awareness, suicide, depression, diversity. I’m still in awe over how deep this book has got to me. The expression and heartbreaking grief of this novel is breathtaking, as ironic as that may sound. Pain, love and struggle after loss spreads the lives of a group of teenagers who, initially seem only similarly by age and loss of a loved one, but it’s this love and loss that bring them together at the end. That, and of course, some good ‘ole rock and roll…
Autumn, an adopted Korean-American teenager, sends her best friend, Octavia, almost every single day telling her how much she misses her and what is going on in her life and mind. This would all be just find and readers are probably wondering where I’m’ going with this. Well, problem is, Octavia is dead. She died just little while ago in a car crash. And this is the only way Autumn knows how to cope with her overwhelming grief. She feels that no one, not even Octavia’s brother’s pain, measures up to her own.
Shay and Sasha, black identical twins are no longer, as Sasha is taken away by leukemia, leaving Shay ‘twinless’. Now Shay finds her sister in her own reflection everyday and struggles to separate who she is from who her sister was. She finds short bursts of comfort in running and kissing Jerome at concerts. She feels herself fading into a dimness where as, just like Autumn, she feels that no one can understand how she feels or help her get through this period.
Logan is a peppy and sparky musician with a love for the guys. With the suicide of his ex boyfriend, Bram, that sparkle in his eyes that once lit up every show is gone. It is replaced by an alcoholic and faded depressed teenager. A boy filled with regrets, anger, unanswered questions and unexpressed feelings. He never got the chance to tell Bram sorry for having told him that he hopes Bram “dies alone.” He never got to make it up to him. And now ? His grades are slipping. He’s in danger of losing his diploma. He’s even responsible for the breakup of his band, Unraveling Lovely.
Each of these narrators lives are separate but together. Autumn tries to hold it together but breaks. The only thing that ever bring her back to life and helps her to move on without Tavia is the love and support her sister Willow, her parents, and Octavia’s brother as well as Autumn’s crush, Dante are willing to give her. However it is not until Autumnn is ready that any gestures of love from others has any effect. It is she that has to stop sending Tavia emails she knows Tavia will never receive. She has to stop blaming herself and others for her best friend’s death. And Shay also tries to hold it together but breaks. She has panic attacks in unexpected moments. She tries to set herself straight without help but falls down even deeper. It is not until she is “interventioned” by her friends, takes her mom’s advise and joins a support group, and lets her mom back into her life that she can finally move forward. Logan also tries to hold it together but breaks. He doesn’t tell anyone about his feelings of regret. He stays away from Bram’m mom and has a secret hatred for Bram’s ex girlfriend, Yara. Instead, he watches and watches again all of Bram’s vlogs, feeding into his sadness. Somehow, everything he tries to keep away from him is what gives him the strength in the end to pull through.
Autumn, Shay and Logan are separate in their struggles but together in their grief. As the story progresses the stories begin to come together and overlap. Whether it be by romance, by interest, or directly, each character’s life and grief is related by music. I loved this about the stores; music serving as an outlet to mend the character’s hearts, bringing them all together in the end.
The real problem I had was the writing style. The sentence we short and seemed a bit choppy and out of place at times. In places where I would have expected some heavy description or evocative imagery was just flat and banal. I totally get that the writer was trying to leave the language simple and easy to comprehend, as the stories were each complicated in their own right. However, I really felt as though a bit too much was sacrificed for the cause. Also, I didn’t like the way each chapter would end and then bounce to another narrator.
There doesn’t seem to be much holding all three narrators together. As a result, I couldn’t really get what one story had to do with the other until more than halfway through the book. The story itself moved and captivated me in every way possible, so far that I give it 5 stars. However, the non comprehensive and overly simplistic writing annoyed me a bit, so far that reason I’m giving The Beauty that Remains 4 stars, still an excellent rating for a new release that is sure to become a classic in the coming age with all the relevant issues it tackles – race, sexuality, and of course, my personal favorite, mental illness.
need
February 12, 2018I've heard there are gay, black and latino characters in this book, i'm already crying.
October 31, 2021
I read this book in large part because I love Ashley Woodfolk’s second novel
When You Were Everything
with all my heart and more. I do not think The Beauty That Remains possesses the same magic as When You Were Everything. However, it feels nice to see how authors can grow and develop in their talent and abilities.
The Beauty That Remains follows three teenagers each struggling with grief. I appreciated how Woodfolk portrays grief in all of its nuanced messiness, through the characters’ feelings of guilt, anger, sadness, and eventually some semblance of healing. Of the three characters, I felt most invested in Logan’s storyline as I felt that Woodfolk did a particularly effective job rendering his emotions in an immediate, poignant way. She includes several winning elements in the book, such as a positive and realistic portrayal of therapy as well as a central emphasis on art as a way to cope. The Beauty That Remains features a diverse cast of characters though the book does not treat their diversity in a tokenizing or fetishizing way.
However, the three narratives never fully coalesced for me. In some ways I feel that they distracted from one another. Instead of ever getting to really immerse ourselves in a character’s grieving process, we toggle back and forth between three different perspectives. While Logan’s point of view still managed to resonate with me, Autumn’s and Shay’s felt more flat, which is unfortunate given the painful losses they have suffered.
Overall, an okay debut novel and I feel so glad that Woodfolk’s second book turned out to smash my heart into smithereens in the best possible way.
The Beauty That Remains follows three teenagers each struggling with grief. I appreciated how Woodfolk portrays grief in all of its nuanced messiness, through the characters’ feelings of guilt, anger, sadness, and eventually some semblance of healing. Of the three characters, I felt most invested in Logan’s storyline as I felt that Woodfolk did a particularly effective job rendering his emotions in an immediate, poignant way. She includes several winning elements in the book, such as a positive and realistic portrayal of therapy as well as a central emphasis on art as a way to cope. The Beauty That Remains features a diverse cast of characters though the book does not treat their diversity in a tokenizing or fetishizing way.
However, the three narratives never fully coalesced for me. In some ways I feel that they distracted from one another. Instead of ever getting to really immerse ourselves in a character’s grieving process, we toggle back and forth between three different perspectives. While Logan’s point of view still managed to resonate with me, Autumn’s and Shay’s felt more flat, which is unfortunate given the painful losses they have suffered.
Overall, an okay debut novel and I feel so glad that Woodfolk’s second book turned out to smash my heart into smithereens in the best possible way.
October 21, 2018
This book spoke to the deepest parts of me.
I loved every word, devoured every page and I’m so glad I picked it up.
full review: https://thebookishword.wordpress.com/...
I loved every word, devoured every page and I’m so glad I picked it up.
full review: https://thebookishword.wordpress.com/...
February 20, 2018
Dark, edgy and filled with emotional turmoil and the heavy feeling of loss, THE BEAUTY THAT REMAINS by Ashley Woodfolk tells the tale of a group of teens individually dealing with the loss of a loved one either through illness, suicide or a deadly accident. These are their stories, their reflections on the past, and their attempts to heal and give up the ghosts of guilt that haunt them. In the end, these seemingly individual struggles will find their healing through music and a band that, in a sense also died.
Ashley Woodfolk has given realism and life to her tale by not shying away from social issues that often carry stigmas, suicide, depression and LGBT awareness in an age group where hormones rage and emotional maturity has not been reached. Guilt also is a heavy them throughout this story. There is guilt of words said in moments of hurt and anger, guilt for surviving and guilt for not having done something, believing events would have played out differently.
Three deaths, the survivors left behind in pain and overwhelming grief, unable to move on as they rehash events, isolating themselves from both receiving and giving support.
Well written, heart wrenching and emotionally draining throughout, Ashley Woodfolk tells young adult readers it is okay to “feel”, yet unhealthy to not move forward. Certainly a book that will resonate with any reader who has loved and lost without finding a black and white road to closure, because just maybe, there is none, but life and love will go on as those lost will always be a part of those who survived.
Written in an edgy and slightly disjointed way, the atmosphere created seems to mirror the emotional turmoil being lived.
I received a complimentary ARC edition from Random House Children's/Delacorte Press!
Publisher: Delacorte Press (March 6, 2018)
Publication Date: March 6, 2018
Genre: YA Literature & Fiction
Print Length: 336 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com
Ashley Woodfolk has given realism and life to her tale by not shying away from social issues that often carry stigmas, suicide, depression and LGBT awareness in an age group where hormones rage and emotional maturity has not been reached. Guilt also is a heavy them throughout this story. There is guilt of words said in moments of hurt and anger, guilt for surviving and guilt for not having done something, believing events would have played out differently.
Three deaths, the survivors left behind in pain and overwhelming grief, unable to move on as they rehash events, isolating themselves from both receiving and giving support.
Well written, heart wrenching and emotionally draining throughout, Ashley Woodfolk tells young adult readers it is okay to “feel”, yet unhealthy to not move forward. Certainly a book that will resonate with any reader who has loved and lost without finding a black and white road to closure, because just maybe, there is none, but life and love will go on as those lost will always be a part of those who survived.
Written in an edgy and slightly disjointed way, the atmosphere created seems to mirror the emotional turmoil being lived.
I received a complimentary ARC edition from Random House Children's/Delacorte Press!
Publisher: Delacorte Press (March 6, 2018)
Publication Date: March 6, 2018
Genre: YA Literature & Fiction
Print Length: 336 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com
August 14, 2018
3.5 ★
This was a really solid read! The writing and plot really captured me on the first page, so much so that I finished this book in two sittings total. The writing is incredible, and I loved the slow-moving plot and bittersweet nostalgia. I enjoyed reading about the three main characters' struggles after the deaths of their loved ones, and I also appreciate the diversity that was so flawlessly included within these characters. Autumn is adopted and Korean, Logan is gay, and there are also so many other secondary characters that were from different diverse backgrounds as well. I liked the different experiences that Autumn, Logan, and Shay went through, in terms of grief as well as romance.
My only reservation I have is that the three voices sounded so so so similar that I had to go back and check who was talking because I couldn't differentiate between each of the characters' minds. Especially because characters start appearing across all three POVs so there was a lot of overlap. However, I do want to point out that I liked how the three characters seem separated and their experiences seem distinct, but as the novel progresses, they come together to cope with the deaths of their loved ones.
Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
This was a really solid read! The writing and plot really captured me on the first page, so much so that I finished this book in two sittings total. The writing is incredible, and I loved the slow-moving plot and bittersweet nostalgia. I enjoyed reading about the three main characters' struggles after the deaths of their loved ones, and I also appreciate the diversity that was so flawlessly included within these characters. Autumn is adopted and Korean, Logan is gay, and there are also so many other secondary characters that were from different diverse backgrounds as well. I liked the different experiences that Autumn, Logan, and Shay went through, in terms of grief as well as romance.
My only reservation I have is that the three voices sounded so so so similar that I had to go back and check who was talking because I couldn't differentiate between each of the characters' minds. Especially because characters start appearing across all three POVs so there was a lot of overlap. However, I do want to point out that I liked how the three characters seem separated and their experiences seem distinct, but as the novel progresses, they come together to cope with the deaths of their loved ones.
Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
September 23, 2019
3.5/5 ⭐
MAJOR TW: grief, death of a loved one, mental illness
This is a short book but it is packed with gut-wrenching emotions. Please be careful in case you feel any of the trigger warnings posted just above could affect you because this book deals with death and grief in its rawest form. In it we follow three main characters: Autumn, Shay and Logan. The diversity in this book is really impressive and I liked this aspect.
The three main characters have fairly recently lost a relative or a friend and they are all broken with grief. At first I was wondering why these three different characters are part of the same story but they actually all have something in common: music. Music is their escape from the real world and honestly I could feel that. This book really hit me. I am lucky enough to not have lost any of my loved one but I was terribly sad for the characters and their struggles in this book. The beginning, especially, got me.
It was interesting (I honestly don't know if that's the right word for it considering the circumstances...) to see how each character tried to deal with grief in their own way. Logan binge watches Bram's vlogs, Autumn sends emails to Tavia and Shay takes over her sister's music blog. I believe the voice that affected me the most was Logan's. I don't want to reveal anything but I found his struggles especially hard to read. I thought his arc was particularly well done.
To conclude, please make sure you are in the right set of mind before starting this book if you are interested in it. It talks about tough topics so definitely be careful with the trigger warnings. I liked the fact that this book is about grief and how to deal with it because there was still an underlying sense of hope within it. As another reviewer pointed out, I also could have done without a bisexual character being a cheater, that's definitely a negative point for me... Overall it was a good book though. It is highly emotional so keep the tissues close to you if you are interested by it.
My Bookstagram
MAJOR TW: grief, death of a loved one, mental illness
This is a short book but it is packed with gut-wrenching emotions. Please be careful in case you feel any of the trigger warnings posted just above could affect you because this book deals with death and grief in its rawest form. In it we follow three main characters: Autumn, Shay and Logan. The diversity in this book is really impressive and I liked this aspect.
"We all nod. We get it. There’s no way to measure grief."
The three main characters have fairly recently lost a relative or a friend and they are all broken with grief. At first I was wondering why these three different characters are part of the same story but they actually all have something in common: music. Music is their escape from the real world and honestly I could feel that. This book really hit me. I am lucky enough to not have lost any of my loved one but I was terribly sad for the characters and their struggles in this book. The beginning, especially, got me.
It was interesting (I honestly don't know if that's the right word for it considering the circumstances...) to see how each character tried to deal with grief in their own way. Logan binge watches Bram's vlogs, Autumn sends emails to Tavia and Shay takes over her sister's music blog. I believe the voice that affected me the most was Logan's. I don't want to reveal anything but I found his struggles especially hard to read. I thought his arc was particularly well done.
To conclude, please make sure you are in the right set of mind before starting this book if you are interested in it. It talks about tough topics so definitely be careful with the trigger warnings. I liked the fact that this book is about grief and how to deal with it because there was still an underlying sense of hope within it. As another reviewer pointed out, I also could have done without a bisexual character being a cheater, that's definitely a negative point for me... Overall it was a good book though. It is highly emotional so keep the tissues close to you if you are interested by it.
My Bookstagram
March 17, 2018
I'll keep this brief
Pros
1. Timely discussion on grief and its effects on our youth. Timely and necessary, this book welcomes a discussion often ignored.
2. Diversity. LGBT characters (One main character, Logan, is gay; his ex-boyfriend, along with a smattering of minor characters); one black girl; one Korean-American girl; one Latino boy; multiracial characters scattered throughout the tale.
3. Well-written in mechanics.
However...
Cons:
1. A thin plot spread thinner via three perspectives. None of which carry enough girth for the story's oft heaviness. In all honesty, despite understanding each character's pain, I did not connect to any of them. Sad, given that when a story offers two or more perspectives, I tend to lock on to at least one.
2. Three deaths hitting all three of them? Had one death hit all three in various ways, I believe the story would have been stronger, offering the characters the girth necessary to hold my attention. Otherwise, the key component of these characters were the deaths of their loved ones, who offered more personality than the ones we're supposed to invest our time (Autumn is a snorefest; Logan and Shay, in retrospective order, could have been the two perspectives to keep upon final edit)
3. The lack of connectivity. I assumed that they were all heavily connected to each other, instead of in passing - excuse the pun. Not enough connection, which makes this story feel as though I'm reading three different drafts of three different books.
4. The book needed life in the discussion of death and grief. What is offered is chapter after chapter of depression served on dry toast.
The pros I enjoyed do not outweigh the cons. With a book with such a heavy subject, one must walk the tightrope of offering light, not at the end of the book, but throughout the story. Unfortunately, I had to give this debut a 2/5.
Pros
1. Timely discussion on grief and its effects on our youth. Timely and necessary, this book welcomes a discussion often ignored.
2. Diversity. LGBT characters (One main character, Logan, is gay; his ex-boyfriend, along with a smattering of minor characters); one black girl; one Korean-American girl; one Latino boy; multiracial characters scattered throughout the tale.
3. Well-written in mechanics.
However...
Cons:
1. A thin plot spread thinner via three perspectives. None of which carry enough girth for the story's oft heaviness. In all honesty, despite understanding each character's pain, I did not connect to any of them. Sad, given that when a story offers two or more perspectives, I tend to lock on to at least one.
2. Three deaths hitting all three of them? Had one death hit all three in various ways, I believe the story would have been stronger, offering the characters the girth necessary to hold my attention. Otherwise, the key component of these characters were the deaths of their loved ones, who offered more personality than the ones we're supposed to invest our time (Autumn is a snorefest; Logan and Shay, in retrospective order, could have been the two perspectives to keep upon final edit)
3. The lack of connectivity. I assumed that they were all heavily connected to each other, instead of in passing - excuse the pun. Not enough connection, which makes this story feel as though I'm reading three different drafts of three different books.
4. The book needed life in the discussion of death and grief. What is offered is chapter after chapter of depression served on dry toast.
The pros I enjoyed do not outweigh the cons. With a book with such a heavy subject, one must walk the tightrope of offering light, not at the end of the book, but throughout the story. Unfortunately, I had to give this debut a 2/5.
March 19, 2018
This book can simply be explained through one word in the title: a beauty. Except it's even more than solely beautiful. This novel was beautiful, emotional, meaningful, raw, honest, and realistic. Even with that list, it isn't enough to describe the pure masterpiece that was this story. Or stories.
First, this novel is filled with grief. I have to say that because as a reader, if you are in the midst of grief, it may not be the particular time to pick up this novel. It's an immensely hard and difficult read and although I'm not currently dealing with a loss it does bring those emotions back.
However, with that being said, in opposition, I could understand how this novel could help a reader in the midst of suffering with a loss. It could help with a reader processing with their emotions in addition to coping with them. Each story that these characters are going through are brutally honest and realistic. I could see any of these stories being an individual's reality and they probably are.
Along with this being realistic in the accounts on grief, this is such a beautifully dynamic and diverse cast of characters. It's the perfect representation of the diversity in the world we live in whether it be through adoption, race, sexuality, etc. The author did an amazing job at integrating each character in their own story and I felt that it truly was a great job in different areas of representation.
If you are a fan of authors similar to Adam Silvera or John Green (along with countless others that are currently not coming to mind) who write beautiful and in-depth novels that truly leave an impact, check this novel out. I am very surprised that this is a debut due to the level of writing and the quality of the novel. I know that I will be keeping my eye on what's to come next for Ashley Woodfolk in the future because this debut was an amazing success!
***Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for sending me a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review***
First, this novel is filled with grief. I have to say that because as a reader, if you are in the midst of grief, it may not be the particular time to pick up this novel. It's an immensely hard and difficult read and although I'm not currently dealing with a loss it does bring those emotions back.
However, with that being said, in opposition, I could understand how this novel could help a reader in the midst of suffering with a loss. It could help with a reader processing with their emotions in addition to coping with them. Each story that these characters are going through are brutally honest and realistic. I could see any of these stories being an individual's reality and they probably are.
Along with this being realistic in the accounts on grief, this is such a beautifully dynamic and diverse cast of characters. It's the perfect representation of the diversity in the world we live in whether it be through adoption, race, sexuality, etc. The author did an amazing job at integrating each character in their own story and I felt that it truly was a great job in different areas of representation.
If you are a fan of authors similar to Adam Silvera or John Green (along with countless others that are currently not coming to mind) who write beautiful and in-depth novels that truly leave an impact, check this novel out. I am very surprised that this is a debut due to the level of writing and the quality of the novel. I know that I will be keeping my eye on what's to come next for Ashley Woodfolk in the future because this debut was an amazing success!
***Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for sending me a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review***
October 27, 2017
There’s not enough words for me to describe how much I loved The Beauty That Remains! So so so breathtakingly beautiful! Tears & smiles for days, this book will stay with me forever. Full review will be posted closer to release date, so hurry up 2018 because this books need to be in my hands NOW! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an e-copy!
March 7, 2018
Oof. Oh my heart, my head, my everything has been put through the wringer with this book. Full review to come.
Update: First published on The Shrinkette
Thanks so much to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Trigger Warnings: Death of a sibling, death of a best friend, death of an ex-boyfriend, suicide, leukemia, alcoholism, mentions of drug dealing, marijuana use, death of a queer character.
Plot: Told from the perspective of three teenagers, all of whom have experienced the loss of a loved one. Autumn lost her best friend, Shay her twin sister, and Logan the boy he loved. They’re navigating grief each their own way, and are reunited by their love for one band’s music.
I often hear about how people find contemporary novels formulaic and clichéd, and while a lot of it boils down to taste, I think some it also depends on the kind of contemporary novels people are reaching out to read. For skeptics of the genre, I invite you to give Ashley Woodfolk’s debut YA novel a shot. It tackles grief in such a profound way while delving into the many complicated and flawed things that make us so human.
The three main characters, along with the secondary characters, are all linked to each other via their connections to a local indie band called Unraveling Lovely. Autumn’s best friend Tavia dies in a car accident while driving to a party, and Autumn is racked with guilt because she was supposed to accompany her to the party and chose not to at the last minute. Her coping mechanism involves spending all her time she can at Tavia’s house, particularly with Tavia’s brother Dante, and emailing her constantly. Her grief seems immeasurable and she doesn’t think anyone else’s, not even Dante’s, can even compare. Shay’s left ‘twinless’ after losing her sister Sasha, who’d succumbed to the leukemia she’d been suffering with since the age of 11. The twins, along with a couple of their friends run a music reviewing blog, and Sasha is constantly reminded of Shay from every queued blog post, and every time someone else, including their mother, looks at her. Like Autumn, she’s in place where she feels nobody can possibly understand what she’s going through. Logan struggles with grief and guilt over the loss of his ex-boyfriend Bram, and blames himself for some things he said to him as their relationship was ending. He feels responsible and struggles with a lot of “what ifs”, wondering if he’d contributed to Bram’s depression and consequent death by suicide. Logan’s depression lead him to alcoholism that resulted in the breaking up of Unraveling Lovely, of which he was a member. Now, he harbors resentment for Bram’s girlfriend Yara and leans on watching Bram’s vlogs as he grieves for the person he loves.
The three teens are narrators of their own stories, and while their losses are separate, their grief brings them together. As the stories develop, we’re shown how their lives overlap and intersect. They each lean on their love for music, even when sometimes it doesn’t seem enough. This is a poignant thread that ties together all of them and the book itself, as the characters otherwise don’t have anything else holding them together. However, the story in itself such an emotional and captivating one, and I think these connections, fragile as they are, just speak to how grieving can be both an individual and universal experience all at once.
The writing style in itself is pretty simplistic- lots of short sentences with strong, distinguishable narrators. I thought this worked well for a story that was fraught with so many emotions and the writing didn’t distract from that. In the end, you’re not left with characters that are completely healed with all their issues resolved and closure experienced, rather, you’re shown the significant effects of the tiny steps taken towards the beginnings of their healing process, with the help of good and necessary support systems. These strong themes of love, loss, pain, and hope will surely resonate with the book’s target audience, many of whom need books like these to feel a little less alone as they navigate a complicated world and tumultuous emotional spaces.
Overall, a phenomenally strong debut offering a perspective on grief that stays with you even after you’ve finished reading the book. If you’ve known me a while you know that I inhale stories that tackle grief, loss, and pain, especially realistic stories, so this book was tailor-made for me and has officially made it high up the favorites-of-2018 list. Fans of Adam Silvera and Nina LaCour, consider this me shoving this book in your hands.
Update: First published on The Shrinkette
Thanks so much to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Trigger Warnings: Death of a sibling, death of a best friend, death of an ex-boyfriend, suicide, leukemia, alcoholism, mentions of drug dealing, marijuana use, death of a queer character.
Plot: Told from the perspective of three teenagers, all of whom have experienced the loss of a loved one. Autumn lost her best friend, Shay her twin sister, and Logan the boy he loved. They’re navigating grief each their own way, and are reunited by their love for one band’s music.
I often hear about how people find contemporary novels formulaic and clichéd, and while a lot of it boils down to taste, I think some it also depends on the kind of contemporary novels people are reaching out to read. For skeptics of the genre, I invite you to give Ashley Woodfolk’s debut YA novel a shot. It tackles grief in such a profound way while delving into the many complicated and flawed things that make us so human.
The three main characters, along with the secondary characters, are all linked to each other via their connections to a local indie band called Unraveling Lovely. Autumn’s best friend Tavia dies in a car accident while driving to a party, and Autumn is racked with guilt because she was supposed to accompany her to the party and chose not to at the last minute. Her coping mechanism involves spending all her time she can at Tavia’s house, particularly with Tavia’s brother Dante, and emailing her constantly. Her grief seems immeasurable and she doesn’t think anyone else’s, not even Dante’s, can even compare. Shay’s left ‘twinless’ after losing her sister Sasha, who’d succumbed to the leukemia she’d been suffering with since the age of 11. The twins, along with a couple of their friends run a music reviewing blog, and Sasha is constantly reminded of Shay from every queued blog post, and every time someone else, including their mother, looks at her. Like Autumn, she’s in place where she feels nobody can possibly understand what she’s going through. Logan struggles with grief and guilt over the loss of his ex-boyfriend Bram, and blames himself for some things he said to him as their relationship was ending. He feels responsible and struggles with a lot of “what ifs”, wondering if he’d contributed to Bram’s depression and consequent death by suicide. Logan’s depression lead him to alcoholism that resulted in the breaking up of Unraveling Lovely, of which he was a member. Now, he harbors resentment for Bram’s girlfriend Yara and leans on watching Bram’s vlogs as he grieves for the person he loves.
The three teens are narrators of their own stories, and while their losses are separate, their grief brings them together. As the stories develop, we’re shown how their lives overlap and intersect. They each lean on their love for music, even when sometimes it doesn’t seem enough. This is a poignant thread that ties together all of them and the book itself, as the characters otherwise don’t have anything else holding them together. However, the story in itself such an emotional and captivating one, and I think these connections, fragile as they are, just speak to how grieving can be both an individual and universal experience all at once.
The writing style in itself is pretty simplistic- lots of short sentences with strong, distinguishable narrators. I thought this worked well for a story that was fraught with so many emotions and the writing didn’t distract from that. In the end, you’re not left with characters that are completely healed with all their issues resolved and closure experienced, rather, you’re shown the significant effects of the tiny steps taken towards the beginnings of their healing process, with the help of good and necessary support systems. These strong themes of love, loss, pain, and hope will surely resonate with the book’s target audience, many of whom need books like these to feel a little less alone as they navigate a complicated world and tumultuous emotional spaces.
Overall, a phenomenally strong debut offering a perspective on grief that stays with you even after you’ve finished reading the book. If you’ve known me a while you know that I inhale stories that tackle grief, loss, and pain, especially realistic stories, so this book was tailor-made for me and has officially made it high up the favorites-of-2018 list. Fans of Adam Silvera and Nina LaCour, consider this me shoving this book in your hands.
January 30, 2018
“We all nod. We get it. There’s no way to measure grief.”
I honestly don’t know what to say besides I ADORED this book. My heart broke in every imaginable way and was healed watching these characters on their journey. I felt their every pain, I laughed with them in their joy, and I was a crying mess multiple times. The Beauty That Remains is a stunning debut about grief, healing, and the things that bring us all together.
Things I Liked
EVERYTHING! (I’m not lying I loved everything about this book)
This book is so emotionally resonant. I felt everything along with the characters. I wasn’t a passive reader, this book demands you engage and invest yourself. Their pain is visceral and I felt it. (and I cried many times).
I loved the all characters we get. I feel like we really get to know each character individual and see how they handle grief differently, with each one having lost someone recently. Autumn recently lost her best friend, Tavia, and feels so empty and unsure - especially with the growing feelings developing between her and Tavia’s brother Dante. Logan is trying to rebuild after his ex-boyfriend died by suicide, and now he must deal with not only his grief, but also his guilt for how their breakup went down. Shay lost her twin sister to leukemia and is trying to convince everyone, including herself, that she’s fine. The characters are all going through so much and are dealing with it in different ways, learning as they go and making mistakes and trying to be okay. I connected with Autumn’s story immediately, and really became as invested in the others around the 40% mark.
All the side characters were great too - they felt like their own people, who’s lives intersected with the 3 main character, but had their own lives and were dealing with their own grief. They were their own people, and we got to know them as their own people. I appreciated it.
I really liked the mixed media elements woven through the story. We see texts, emails, blog posts and it really helped to establish both the characters who have passed, and their relationship with the characters who were still in the story.
And I appreciate the incredible diversity that each character brings to the story. Autumn, and her sister Willow, are Korean Americans and adopted. Dante is Latino. Logan is gay. Shay is black. I loved seeing so much diversity in the story!
Things I Didn’t Like
There wasn’t really anything I didn’t like. I thought the connection through Logan’s former band, Unraveling Lovely, was the weakest part - but I appreciated the serendipitous nature of it. I would have prefered to establish some of the history earlier, because we really don’t get all the pieces that connect these characters until around the halfway mark.
I just loved this book with my whole being. It was so amazing and made me an emotional wreck. I am confident in saying that this book will be one of my favorites of the year. The Beauty That Remains is a stunning debut about grief and healing that captures you from the very first page.
I received a copy of the book from Delacorte Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
March 9, 2018
Full review on The Candid Cover
The Beauty That Remains combines grief and music to create a poignant read. There are three different stories that all connect, and there is so much diversity in the book. While I liked all of the characters, Shay was my favourite, and her story touched me the most.
The Beauty That Remains combines grief and music to create a poignant read. There are three different stories that all connect, and there is so much diversity in the book. While I liked all of the characters, Shay was my favourite, and her story touched me the most.
October 22, 2018
“No one ever talks about the living who have unfinished business with the dead.”
Told in a trio of alternating POVs, Woodfolk’s emotional debut centers on that exact dilemma through the lives of three diverse characters all mourning the death of a loved one:
Autumn, an adopted Korean teen, is lost after the sudden and unexpected death of her best friend, Tavia; Logan, a red-haired gay teen, is struggling with grief and guilt after his ex-boyfriend, Bram, commits suicide; and Shay, an African American teen, is fighting to keep her panic attacks at bay after her twin sister, Sasha, loses her years-long battle with Leukemia.
“Losing a twin is like losing a leg – you forget how to stand on your own because you never needed to.”
Since the characters have already faced the unimaginable, the story focuses entirely on what comes after tragedy strikes. It’s about how these characters deal and attempt to resolve that unfinished business.
“I never said sorry after our fight...and now I’ll never get to tell him I’m sorry. It all seems so stupid now.”
By focusing so heavily on the characters’ individual routes to acceptance we’re blessed with credible plot lines and real emotions. We’re exposed to flashes of the denial, guilt, anger, and depression the characters come up against. We’re privy to #squadgoal friendships, positive representations of therapy, support groups, interventions, and reaching out for help. BUT the burden of all that detail is that it doesn’t feel like anything happens.
Maybe I’m too used to reading thrillers with twists every few chapters, or romances where the will-they-won’t-they keeps us guessing. Maybe I’m bitter because I didn’t cry and was hyped and prepped for tears. Whatever the reason may be, I just felt like nothing had truly gone down by the end of this novel. However, it’d be irresponsible for me to not point out that there’s a strength in that and how it emulates life. And at the end of the day it’ll serve as a better tool for grieving readers by being so firmly rooted in realism.
Whether you can relate personally or not, this novel manages to pull off some serious subject matter with laughs, love, and good advice. And if you’ll let her, Woodfolk will guide you to the light by shifting your focus to "the beauty that remains.”
Thank you so much to Delacorte Press for providing a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All quotes were taken from an unfinished proof and may change by final publication date.
Told in a trio of alternating POVs, Woodfolk’s emotional debut centers on that exact dilemma through the lives of three diverse characters all mourning the death of a loved one:
Autumn, an adopted Korean teen, is lost after the sudden and unexpected death of her best friend, Tavia; Logan, a red-haired gay teen, is struggling with grief and guilt after his ex-boyfriend, Bram, commits suicide; and Shay, an African American teen, is fighting to keep her panic attacks at bay after her twin sister, Sasha, loses her years-long battle with Leukemia.
“Losing a twin is like losing a leg – you forget how to stand on your own because you never needed to.”
Since the characters have already faced the unimaginable, the story focuses entirely on what comes after tragedy strikes. It’s about how these characters deal and attempt to resolve that unfinished business.
“I never said sorry after our fight...and now I’ll never get to tell him I’m sorry. It all seems so stupid now.”
By focusing so heavily on the characters’ individual routes to acceptance we’re blessed with credible plot lines and real emotions. We’re exposed to flashes of the denial, guilt, anger, and depression the characters come up against. We’re privy to #squadgoal friendships, positive representations of therapy, support groups, interventions, and reaching out for help. BUT the burden of all that detail is that it doesn’t feel like anything happens.
Maybe I’m too used to reading thrillers with twists every few chapters, or romances where the will-they-won’t-they keeps us guessing. Maybe I’m bitter because I didn’t cry and was hyped and prepped for tears. Whatever the reason may be, I just felt like nothing had truly gone down by the end of this novel. However, it’d be irresponsible for me to not point out that there’s a strength in that and how it emulates life. And at the end of the day it’ll serve as a better tool for grieving readers by being so firmly rooted in realism.
Whether you can relate personally or not, this novel manages to pull off some serious subject matter with laughs, love, and good advice. And if you’ll let her, Woodfolk will guide you to the light by shifting your focus to "the beauty that remains.”
Thank you so much to Delacorte Press for providing a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All quotes were taken from an unfinished proof and may change by final publication date.
April 3, 2018
"Everything is different without you here. Especially me. But I’m starting to think that maybe that’s okay."
This was far from a perfect book. It was an obvious debut; well written and plotted but slow. It handles grief realistically and without rose-colored glasses. There was death in this book, but not to bring love interests together or to add dramatic tension (although it did both of those things at some point). It was painful and left you feeling the way the characters felt multiple times.
I could say a lot about this book. Not all of the characters recover completely from the wound death of a loved one bestowed upon them. There was no happily ever after where the characters discover that teenage love fulfills all emotional needs.
However, I want to make another point. Ladies and gentlemen, watch out for this author. She’s a good one. She has quality prose, obvious intimacy with feelings and emotions, and promising skills with building characters that remind you of all the best and worst of high school. It's rare that a debut author makes me yearn for more of their works.
I would like more of Ashley Woodfolk's work.
This was far from a perfect book. It was an obvious debut; well written and plotted but slow. It handles grief realistically and without rose-colored glasses. There was death in this book, but not to bring love interests together or to add dramatic tension (although it did both of those things at some point). It was painful and left you feeling the way the characters felt multiple times.
I could say a lot about this book. Not all of the characters recover completely from the wound death of a loved one bestowed upon them. There was no happily ever after where the characters discover that teenage love fulfills all emotional needs.
However, I want to make another point. Ladies and gentlemen, watch out for this author. She’s a good one. She has quality prose, obvious intimacy with feelings and emotions, and promising skills with building characters that remind you of all the best and worst of high school. It's rare that a debut author makes me yearn for more of their works.
I would like more of Ashley Woodfolk's work.
March 1, 2019
Trigger warnings: death of a loved one (in the past), car accident (in the past), suicide (in the past), mental health, alcohol abuse, mentions of drug abuse, cancer, grief.
4.25 stars.
Ow, my feelings. I knew nothing about this book when I got it for Christmas last year (the one and only book I got for Christmas, I should add...). And I knew very little going into it, which was honestly probably the best way to go into it.
Basically, this is the story of three teenagers who've all lost someone recently. One has lost a twin, one has lost a best friend and one has lost an ex. They're all grieving and struggling with the fact that their lives are moving on without those people.
The examination of grief is phenomenal, and I loved that music played a pivotal role in the story for all three protagonists.
Basically? I cried a bunch of times reading this and it was wonderful.
4.25 stars.
Ow, my feelings. I knew nothing about this book when I got it for Christmas last year (the one and only book I got for Christmas, I should add...). And I knew very little going into it, which was honestly probably the best way to go into it.
Basically, this is the story of three teenagers who've all lost someone recently. One has lost a twin, one has lost a best friend and one has lost an ex. They're all grieving and struggling with the fact that their lives are moving on without those people.
The examination of grief is phenomenal, and I loved that music played a pivotal role in the story for all three protagonists.
Basically? I cried a bunch of times reading this and it was wonderful.
May 1, 2018
This book is about three main characters who lost someone close to each one of them and how are they dealing with their lost.
I wanted to love this book, I hoped it will be a sobfest because I was in a mood for crying over a book but that didn't happend. I got bored after the first half of the book and I kept forgetting which story is Autumn and which on is Shay's because they were slightly similar. I wasn't attached to any of the characters and I might sound like a cold hearted bitch but I found some part too melodramatic.
I wanted to love this book, I hoped it will be a sobfest because I was in a mood for crying over a book but that didn't happend. I got bored after the first half of the book and I kept forgetting which story is Autumn and which on is Shay's because they were slightly similar. I wasn't attached to any of the characters and I might sound like a cold hearted bitch but I found some part too melodramatic.
February 15, 2019
Jestem niesamowicie zaskoczona treścią tej książki. Spodziewałam się przyjemnej młodzieżówki, w której bohaterowie tworzą muzykę, ale nie myślałam, że otrzymam dużo cięższy temat do przetrawienia. Tym razem recenzja będzie bardzo króciutka, ponieważ naprawdę nie wiem co powiedzieć o tej powieści. Jest ona z tych, którą po prostu trzeba przeczytać samemu aby ją lepiej poznać i zrozumieć.
~*~
,,Piękno, które pozostanie" to opowieść o trójce bohaterów, każde z nich opowiada własną historię i choć wydawać by się mogło, że nic ich nie łączy, to jednak 2 elementy mają wspólne. Wszyscy kogoś stracili i starają się pogodzić ze śmiercią oraz wszyscy kochają muzykę, głównie Rock.
~*~
Spodobała mi się różnorodność postaci, każde z nich jest inny, co zresztą możecie zauważyć na okładce, która idealnie oddaje całą trójkę bohaterów i to jest naprawdę super. Dla tych co są fanami, pojawia się tutaj wątek LGBT. I chociaż bardzo nie lubię tego tematu w książkach, to tutaj naprawdę bardzo mi się spodobał. Logan był też moją ulubioną postacią.
Głównym motywem książki jest śmierć bliskiej osoby i ukazanie jak każdy z nią sobie radzi i próbuje wszystko poukładać. Pokazuje tęsknotę i dużo miłości do ważnych nam osób, a także jak ważne jest żeby osoby z otoczenia nas wspierały. Tu muszę przyznać, że choć jest to dobry motyw, to jednak czytanie całej książki o nim było jednak trochę nużące i czasami irytujące.
,,Piękno, które pozostanie" to poruszająca i mądra opowieść o przyjaźni, sile miłości i śmierci. Idealna powieść dla młodzieży.
August 14, 2018
Totally worth that late fine I'm gonna get from the library. This is such an emotionally beautiful story.
June 6, 2020
This was really good. Really good. So many people will love this novel, and I had a great time reading.
Books about grief are always tricky to write, but I think Woodfolk really went towards it in a unique but tactful way, and she was really able to convey the characters' stories.
This is probably my favorite part of the book--how relatable the characters were on a non-grief level. They had struggles and issues that many of us could relate to--even if we haven't lost someone--and that's what really made this a great book.
They're a diverse bunch (Autumn's Asian, Shay's black, Logan's gay), and all the characters had something anyone could relate to and they struggled with things outside of their grief, which was something I really liked.
But the grief aspect itself was also really well done, and I can't personally comment on "grief done right" if there's even such a thing, but I think it addressed a lot of the aspects that came with this.
Although, I was really looking for a good cry, but I didn't get one.
Maybe that means I'm actually emotionally stable for once, but in this case I really do think that I just wasn't getting that intense gush of emotions that would lead me to cry along with the characters. This was something I always hope to get from books about grief, which was why this was kind of a letdown in this aspect.
But despite this, I think many other people can (and have) related to this and it's definitely possible this will resonate with you more on the grief aspect than it did with me.
By the end of the story, you're like "Wow! Woodfolk is a true genius--it all came together and I'm just--asfdjlsk," but at the beginning, I have to admit I was a little confused.
Initially it was kind of difficult to distinguish between Autumn, Shay, and Logan seeing that they all are in a similar place in their journey (recently lost someone), and the only crosscurrents I was seeing was a like for Unraveling Lovely, the band that Logan used to play in, Shay used to manage, and Autumn used to like partly because her best friend's brother was someone she had a crush on (I think I got that right).
So the initial relationship between the three was a little fuzzy, but it got clearer throughout the novel and ended up being super fun and enjoyable just to see them intertwine.
Besides that well formation of the plot, I also found this to be well-paced and a pretty quick read.
Overall, this is a really good book and although I couldn't connect with it on some aspects as much as other people did, I think you should definitely give this a shot if it seems like something you'd like. It was a fun read and I'm glad I got the chance to read this! I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for Woodfolk and whatever she writes next!
Content Warning:
Books about grief are always tricky to write, but I think Woodfolk really went towards it in a unique but tactful way, and she was really able to convey the characters' stories.
This is probably my favorite part of the book--how relatable the characters were on a non-grief level. They had struggles and issues that many of us could relate to--even if we haven't lost someone--and that's what really made this a great book.
They're a diverse bunch (Autumn's Asian, Shay's black, Logan's gay), and all the characters had something anyone could relate to and they struggled with things outside of their grief, which was something I really liked.
But the grief aspect itself was also really well done, and I can't personally comment on "grief done right" if there's even such a thing, but I think it addressed a lot of the aspects that came with this.
Although, I was really looking for a good cry, but I didn't get one.
Maybe that means I'm actually emotionally stable for once, but in this case I really do think that I just wasn't getting that intense gush of emotions that would lead me to cry along with the characters. This was something I always hope to get from books about grief, which was why this was kind of a letdown in this aspect.
But despite this, I think many other people can (and have) related to this and it's definitely possible this will resonate with you more on the grief aspect than it did with me.
By the end of the story, you're like "Wow! Woodfolk is a true genius--it all came together and I'm just--asfdjlsk," but at the beginning, I have to admit I was a little confused.
Initially it was kind of difficult to distinguish between Autumn, Shay, and Logan seeing that they all are in a similar place in their journey (recently lost someone), and the only crosscurrents I was seeing was a like for Unraveling Lovely, the band that Logan used to play in, Shay used to manage, and Autumn used to like partly because her best friend's brother was someone she had a crush on (I think I got that right).
So the initial relationship between the three was a little fuzzy, but it got clearer throughout the novel and ended up being super fun and enjoyable just to see them intertwine.
Besides that well formation of the plot, I also found this to be well-paced and a pretty quick read.
Overall, this is a really good book and although I couldn't connect with it on some aspects as much as other people did, I think you should definitely give this a shot if it seems like something you'd like. It was a fun read and I'm glad I got the chance to read this! I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for Woodfolk and whatever she writes next!
Content Warning:
did-not-finish
March 7, 2020Despite loving this more than words itself, the characters' grief kills me every time I pick this up. I'm postponing at 50% until my head is in a better place (my head is currently in hospital 😈)
The three narrators for the three POVs are particularly well done.
The three narrators for the three POVs are particularly well done.
March 4, 2018
THIS BOOK MADE MY HEART ACHE SO MUCH AND I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT.
February 4, 2021
This has been on my TBR for way too long and I'm glad I finally read it - I loved the way it dealt with grief.
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