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The Beauty That Remains is the debut young adult novel by Ashley Woodfolk. The Beauty That Remains is powerful book featuring wonderfully diverse characters. It is a realistic fiction piece about how people deal with loss differently, and also about how this new era of social media can shape the grieving process. I really enjoyed this novel. I found it to be so multi faceted, and so interestingly put together. I think this is a great book to recommend to reads of realistic contemporary fiction. Ashley Woodfolk is a wonderful new voice in young adult literature. 

The Beauty That Remains is told in three different point of views, following our three main characters- Autumn, Shay, and Logan. Each of our main characters has lost someone close to them. Autumn lost her best friend, Shay lost her twin sister and Logan lost his ex-boyfriend. There were a few things that I really loved about this novel. First, I loved the diversity in the cast of characters, and I loved how each of their journeys were distinct but merged together in a really beautiful way. Having the book told in each of their points of views, really allowed the reader to get to know everyone really well and we got to see inside their heads and see how they were coping with their loss.

Second, I really loved the format that The Beauty That Remains is told in. Social media has invaded almost every single aspect of our life, and our social media does not just disappear after we pass away. I thought it was really smart to incorporate various social medias and use them to showcase how grieve is changing in this technological and very public world. The Beauty That Remains is told in a multitude of formats, including traditional conversations but also in various emails, gchat, and comments from our main characters to their loved ones. This was a really interesting look at how social media has affected the grieving process. I think the format of The Beauty That Remains was my favorite part of the story. I also loved the thread of music that wove the characters together. Watching each of their journeys overlap was bittersweet but it was also beautiful and realistically raw. 

Overall, The Beauty That Remains is a really thought provoking bittersweet novel. I loved the way music and social media through the mixed formats were incorporated into the story. This was a really beautiful and power debut novel from Ashley Woodfolk. I really enjoyed it and I can't wait to see what she thinks up next. 



This review was originally posted on Book Briefs