If ever a title captured a book perfectly
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The blurb
As the daughter of a meth dealer, Wavy knows not to trust people, not even her own parents. Struggling to raise her little brother, eight-year-old Wavy is the only responsible "adult" around. She finds peace in the starry Midwestern night sky above the fields behind her house. One night everything changes when she witnesses one of her father's thugs, Kellen, a tattooed ex-con with a heart of gold, wreck his motorcycle. What follows is a powerful and shocking love story between two unlikely people that asks tough questions, reminding us of all the ugly and wonderful things that life has to offer.
The Review
I'll start this review by stating this - you can like a book without condoning its subject matter.
We all read crime thrillers about murder, and we don't think its OK for people to murder each other. Or about any number of heinous things that humans do. Fiction is fiction and authors will write about controversial topics because they examine humanity - even if that means examining humanity at its worst. That's why there are so many fictional stories based on Auschwitz or similar awful moments in history. We have a curiosity to know and understand why things can go so wrong.
That said, this is clearly a book with a contentious subject matter. It's a Lolita-esque type story, where a young female protagonist develops a relationship with an older male over a 15 year period. They have both had horrible lives, which act as a precursor to the relationship that develops between them. That doesn't excuse any of what happens, but does explain some of the 'why' it happens. The subject matter makes it a very uncomfortable read, especially in some of its more graphic moments, and so this book should be avoided if the reader might find that upsetting. It is, however, cleverly handled and written by the author.
I didn't feel at any time that Greenwood was trying to justify this relationship. Instead it felt like she was holding up a mirror to it and saying, 'this is how it sometimes happens.' You don't have to like it and it isn't right of course, but it's a story that deserves to be told and understood. She challenges us by making this a relationship between a young girl who seems to have all the mental capacity to make decisions for herself, even at a young age, and an older male who really isn't mentally capable to make these decisions. The story is told in such a way as to deliberately conflict you. It's uncomfortable. That's good writing.
I think the point of writing a book like this is to make people react. And boy, does it do that.