Synopsis:
Wavonna Quinn aka Wavy is a little girl with the weight of the adult world precariously placed on her shoulders. Her parents, a meth dealer and a mentally ill drug addict, barely register Wavy’s existence. When she is acknowledged, it’s through scathing remarks about her strangeness or to shame her into believing she is unclean. The one person Wavy feels loved and accepted by is her little brother, Donal. He accepts Wavy, as broken and marred as she is. Until a bike wreck changes Wavy’s life forever and brings an unexpected guardian angel into her orbit.
Kellen is a giant. A grizzly bear of a man, with a spirit that is as gentle as his fists are deadly. Life hasn’t been a cake walk for Kellen, growing up with an abusive father and a mother who took her own life with booze. In his early 20s, he’s found himself mixed up in the trafficking of meth for Wavy’s daddy, but his real passion is bikes and cars. After a motorcycle crash leaves him hurt and disoriented, he finds his savior in the wispy form of little Wavy Quinn.
Their souls seem to mirror one another in that first meeting. Wavy, a child who refuses to be touched and only eats in the darkness of night from the scraps left by others, becomes enamored with Kellen. She clings to him like a barnacle to a ship, and when Wavy sets her mind to something (or someone) she does so with stubborn bullishness. Kellen is her protector, her supporter, the one adult who is unwavering in his love for her. To Wavy, he is hers.
But lines become skewed, and the role of caretaker tangles and frays, evolving into a completely different kind of love.
As the years progress and a devastating tragedy rocks the Quinn children’s family, Wavy and Kellen’s relationship comes to light. The lines between right and wrong are blurred, and a love that refuses to curdle at the judgement of outsiders is tested by time, distance, and the many ways in which paths can be diverged.
This is a book that skews the lines of conventional romance. In fact, the love story that blossoms throughout its pages is unsettling taboo. This book was much more controversial than I was anticipating, and that made it all the more attention grabbing.
Wavy is described as this tiny, white-blond cherub child and Kellen is a gigantic, tattooed behemoth of a man. Between them there’s a fourteen year age difference. So in the beginning of the book, my thought process was, “Oh thank God for Kellen! If it wasn’t for his good heart, Wavy would probably never feel loved or cared for.” But as the years progress, and Wavy’s feelings begin to mature toward romance and she starts expressing them to Kellen, I started to become uncomfortable, because hello? Pedophilia much?
I reflected a lot on how I would feel if one of my students, my niece, or my own child found herself in such a position at thirteen. I wouldn’t hesitate to cleave off the tenderest of his bits.
But the glaring variable that sticks out in this story is that Wavy is a smart, self-reliant girl who has literally had to raise herself. She’s far more mature because of her personal circumstances than the average adolescent girl. And she’s so easily misjudged because of of her predication to be quiet. Kellen, though he is the adult, is described as not especially smart with a face like a frying pan, and a gentleness that is often viewed as strange. His behavior toward Wavy is always tender and accommodating. Kellen does not initiate any of the romantic gestures, and at the beginning, it seems he yields to Wavy’s advances because she’s made him the center of her universe.
It’s a messy story, with no cut and dry right or wrong. It’s the kind of book that makes one really reflect on if there are grey areas when it comes to love. And if there are, how smudged can the lines become before societal conventions are completely throw out the window. Should we judge these situations case by case? Or should we all be bound by the same rules, no matter the outstanding differences in our individual lives? After reading this book, it’s a question I continue to ponder, because this fictional relationship has forced me to reflect on whether the realities of the many should mold outcomes for the few and far between.
I don’t know, you guys. This one put me through the ringer, but I loved it. Why do you think?
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Happy & healthy reading!
Lexi
