A beautifully written emotional thriller with a bit of mystery. Indelible characters that capture you. Great pacing with tension throughout.

For me, this story was heartwarming, exciting, and sorrowful, and I appreciated that it could tap into several of my emotions. Furthermore, messages about love, sacrifice, and devotion are woven throughout the storyline, which give even more depth to the plot.

A real page-turner. And I look forward to reading future books by Anderson.

Thank you NetGalley and Roaring Brook Press for an opportunity to read an eARC and provide a review.

Jack has to make a choice: lose his brother to foster care, or find the drug money that sent his father to prison. It’s a great book with a lot of mystery and I really enjoyed it and if you enjoy mystery I would recommend reading it.

What Beauty There Is was a beautiful emotional journey that I was certain was going to break my heart. We follow Jack, a teenager deep within the cycle of poverty- father in prison, mother on drugs, no food, no utilities and a sibling to care for- and he still has to make it school on time. Almost instantly, his fight to stay with his brother begins. What begins as a battle of not knowing where the next meal will come from quickly turns into a battle of life or death as Jack gets involves in the same situation that landed his father in jail. When Ava enters the picture, it seems to change the game. She continues to pull Jack and Matty out of bad situations, but Jack doesn’t realize how involved she is. How the story connects can either save or destroy the brothers.
This book covers some tough situations that might require a trigger warning for some readers, but I felt like the author really handled the some of the gruesome scenes without being grotesque. I really enjoyed the depth and departure from middle class suburbia typical of the YA genre, and I finished the book really satisfied with the ending.