Also by this author: The Returned
Published by MIRA on September 30, 2014
Genres/Lists: Fiction, #30Authors
Pages: 304
Read synopsis on Goodreads
I received this book for free from TLC Book Tours.
Buy the book: Amazon/Audible (this post includes affiliate links)
In small town North Carolina, a plane crash and a little girl converge, leaving the entire community reeling with questions about how she survived and, more importantly, how she performed the miracle that she did.
At 13, Ava, the daughter of the town sheriff, saves her best friend Wash, from certain death following a small plane crash at a community festival. The miracle is both witnessed and caught on film, resulting in the masses descending on the town in droves, wondering how it happened and wanting Ava to perform a miracle on their own families. The only problem is that saving Wash nearly cost Ava her life, and each time she heals someone, it is done at great cost to herself.
Jason Mott has, once again, weaved a wonderful story that shows human nature at its best and its worst. There are some who want to protect Ava from the demands of the outside world, while others try to force her to perform miracles for themselves or their children or spouses. But as the two types of people battle over what to do with Ava, the result is the same – a scared and isolated little girl who is hailed as both a fraud and a religious icon.
The Wonder of All Things by @JasonMott explores human nature & the result is stunning. Click To TweetThis is Mott’s second novel and already I can sense a theme in his stories that I’m a big fan of. In both The Returned and The Wonder of All Things, an impossible thing happens, leaving a community in flux. There are those who see it as a miracle and those who see it as evil, and the world is left to struggle to make sense of it in ways that are both good and evil. Mott has a way of understanding human nature and applying their actions to his seemingly impossible stories. The result is that while his books are fictional, the reactions are real and, perhaps most importantly, rooted in history.
For example, GroupThink and fear-based reactions propel his stories forward and the reader is forced to face the demons of our own country’s (and frankly, most developed countries’) history and present-day realities in an uncomfortable way. That’s not to say the books themselves are about these events, but they do allow for the parallels to be made, making the stories even richer. In short, the reality of the reactions to fictional events leaves the reader breathless with the realization that yes, people do act like this, and it shines a light on the full spectrum of human nature.
Needless to say, I highly recommend this book. I could go on for hours about the implications of Mott’s stories, their parallels to our history, and the wonderful prose he uses to tell his them, but I won’t. And so, I will end with this: Over the few hours it takes to devour this book, readers will experience the full range of human emotions, from anger to hope. It’s hard to capture this full spectrum, and yet Mott has managed to do it for a second time.
Recommended for: Those who are interested in human nature and want to experience a full range of emotions.
Note: Mott and I both graduated from UNCW, which is pretty neat!
To find out who else is reviewing The Wonder of All Things as part of TLC Book Tours, click here!