Another of my Book of the Month Club (August 2019) I am finally getting to read. Despite my initial resistance to the premise of this story -- a twenty-something train-wreck of a Wichita woman meets a twenty-something autistic k-night (yes, the "k" is pronounced here) who pledges himself to be her champion -- I found this part love story, part crime drama, part fairy-tale quite compelling. The narrative unfolds through the voices of a number of its central characters, a device I do not always find to be handled well, but it was here. It gave texture and moved the story along to its climaxes and denouement. A deftly crafted story, replete with a castle, a code of chivalry, collateral damage inflicted on families of criminals, legacies of Klan activities, but also a heroic quest. This is the first of Bryn Greenwood's books I have read. I will look for others she has written before. ( )

Greenwood delivers another atypical, heartbreaking and harrowing love story. You spend the whole book rooting for Zee, hoping she gets what she surely deserves - a family that appreciates and loves her for exactly who she is. Gentry is every bit as endearing as one would hope and even though his Autism is explicit, you don't ever think of him as less than a person deserving of love and respect. Greenwood doesn't dance around uncomfortable issues - she barrels into them headfirst and it is totally worth sticking with her on this journey. ( )

3.5 ( )

The best book I've read in 2019, and a book I wish I'd written. As a mother of an adult autistic son, I felt the author rendered Sir Gentry with skill and grace. A modern day fairytale for those jaded by love! ( )

Greenwood's All the Ugly and Wonderful Things was a favorite of mine. This too is a story of loyalty, friendship, and unorthodox love. Zhorzha (Zee/Lady Zhorzha) is the daughter of a bank robber and an obese hoarder barely surviving financially and in pain from a motorcycle accident, for which she uses THC. Her sister (LaReigna) is kidnapped from her prison volunteer job, and Zee assumes custody of her five year old nephew, Marcus. When hounded by the press, she is rescued by a weird guy, Gentry, whom she met at physical therapy. Gentry is somewhat autistic, hear voices in his head, thinks he is a knight from the Middle Ages (speaking Middle English) and he is wholly devoted to serving Lady Zhorzha. Gentry's family and friends are amazed to learn that Zhorzha is real, and he cannot help but to assist in her search and rescue of her sister. Zhorzha contacts her Uncle Alva, to leverage his jailhouse association with the KKK to find LaReigna since the police seem to be doing nothing. The rescue mission does awry, but the love story between Zee and Gentry is very sweet and the set of oddball characters are a hoot. ( )