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Everything is Beautiful by Eleanor Ray - Book Review


Book: Everything is Beautiful 

Author: Eleanor Ray 

Brief Synopsis: Amy Ashton starts a collection of items that remind her of happier times. Eleven years down the road, her house is overflowing with keepsakes and soon there won't be room for Amy at all.

But when a family move in next door, a chance discovery unearths a mystery, and Amy's carefully curated life begins to unravel. If she can find the courage to face her past, will the future she thought she'd lost be hers for the taking?

Note: No Spoilers Featured

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Reading this book reminds me of why I first started to write book reviews and share my love for really good books. I couldn't wait to get back to reading it. I was so intrigued by the story and what would happen next- in fact, I never actually guessed correctly what would happen. This to me is the kind of book I want to read. So full of context and the story is constantly moving forward so you're always piecing things together. No filler chapters insight. No clichés. Just constant feeding to the brain.

The writing style has Eleanor Oliphant vibes whereby the author talks about Amy's life from her eyes. Amy can't see that she has a problem but it's clear to the reader that her lifestyle is getting in the way of her living. It's immediately evident that a huge negative event in Amy's life lead her to live this way. 
What I liked about this book was that this style of writing showed sympathy for the main character, and therefore the reader is immediately on their side. Only once was the word hoarder used and I appreciate how this didn't place shame on this way of living. Instead, the reader sees the sentimental meaning behind her belongings.

I connected to Amy very quickly once I learned about her hoarding traits. I could see how she had attached beautiful memories to such items and therefore found it difficult to throw them away. She collects the moments in her life that she wants to hold onto, and of course these items will never leave her. 

Admittedly, I didn't have high expectations for liking this book at the beginning. It was a slow start but once I got into the mystery aspect of it, I was hooked. From this point, I was so intrigued by the flashback paragraphs and each time the reader is being fed clues as to what went wrong for Amy.

I love that now I've finished it, I can think back to items Amy collected and know the exact special meaning behind it. 

As a final note, I just want to say that the language used didn't feel above me whereby I'd constantly need to google what a word meant. An easy read with a nice rhythm.

This book is going to be in my head for a long time. Highly recommended.

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Links to the book: Amazon / Bookshop.org  

Thanks for reading! If your read this book too, let me know your thoughts.

Big love and keep safe,

Bud xx

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