Review: The Wonder of All Things, Jason Mott

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book on Netgalley from the publisher in return for an honest review*
On an ordinary day, at an air show like that in any small town across the country, a plane crashes into a crowd of spectators, killing and injuring dozens. But when the dust clears, a thirteen-year-old girl named Ava is found huddled beneath a pocket of rubble with her best friend, Wash. He is injured and bleeding, and when Ava places her hands over him, his wounds miraculously disappear. Ava has a unique gift: she can heal others of their physical ailments. Until the air show tragedy, her gift was a secret. But now the whole world knows, and suddenly Ava is thrust into the spotlight. People from all over the globe begin flocking to her small town, looking for healing and eager to glimpse the wonder of a miracle. But Ava's unusual ability comes at a great cost, her own health, and as she grows weaker with each healing, Ava begins searching for an escape. Wash agrees to help Ava, but little does she know he has his own secret he's been harboring, and soon Ava finds herself having to decide just how much she's willing to sacrifice in order to save the one she loves most.

Jason Mott lives in southeastern North Carolina. He has a BFA in Fiction and an MFA in Poetry, both from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

There are a lot of things surrounding Ava's life. The death of her mother, the new partner of her father who is pregnant, her father's position combined with what happened. I felt at points it was a bit to much to make Ava her life even more difficult or sad. I did enjoy the story with Wash though. There are things in the story I did not understand or did not add up for me. At some point they visit the doctor and the wife is wanting a lot of Ava her ability but later when everything is going wrong they look for shelter in their house. This change of heart was to sudden for me.
Still Mott is a master when it comes to question your own conscience. Putting a child in the middle of the story about right and wrong. A child in charge of living or dying. What would you do when your child had that power but slowly died herself due to that power. As was with The Returned this is the most powerful part of the story.

The Wonder of All Things
Author: Jason Mott
Publisher: Mira
Pages: 304
Format: eArc
ISBN-10: 0778316521
ISBN-13: 9780778316527
Mira: various formats
The Wonder of All Things
3 stars

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05 October, 2014 delete

I wasn't super impressed with The Returned last year, although I enjoyed it well enough, so I've been on the fence on this one. I'm starting to think I might skip it, or wait and get it from the library.

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Jen G.
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06 October, 2014 delete

This sounds cool, but Stephen King did this exact premise in The Green Mile, minus the child. I didn't care for The Returned either, I think it became weaker as the story went on. Hopefully this one is better!

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