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"Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts" by Josie Shapiro
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"Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts" by Josie Shapiro

A Story That Hurts in All the Right Ways
4

Genre: Contemporary Fiction
My Rating: 9/10
Goodreads Rating: 4.18/5

“I am here. I am loved. I am enough.”

Wow. What a read! This one really surprised me and was such a lucky find. My local book club was choosing our next pick under the theme of hope, and this is what we landed on. A big congratulations to Josie Shapiro on her debut novel. Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts sucked me in quickly, and I devoured it in two days.

While it’s technically fiction, it reads so much like a memoir that I actually had to keep checking to make sure it wasn’t nonfiction…that’s how real it felt.

I’ll get into the plot in a bit, but one of the most rewarding things about reading this book was what I learned about myself. I’m a very emotionally, others-driven person. I’m always thinking about how my actions impact other people: how they’re feeling, what they’re thinking, etc. This book (alongside The Women, which I loved, and One by One, which I didn’t) really solidified for me that I’m a character-driven reader. Of course, plot matters, and writing quality matters. However, if the characters are well-developed, interesting, and layered, I’m all in.

The story follows Mickey, a long-distance runner who is reckoning with a lifetime of not feeling like she’s enough. The novel unfolds in dual timelines, interspersed with the progression of a single race, flashing back through key relationships and moments in her life. I also appreciated reading a book set in New Zealand, which I’d never done before, as it added a unique sense of place to the story. Based on other things that I've read, I do think the book could’ve benefitted from a more explicit trigger warning, as it deals with themes like sexual assault, disordered eating, and body image struggles. So allow this to be your warning if you are planning on reading.

Mickey’s internal world was incredibly familiar to me and many women. Throughout the novel, she struggles with feelings of inadequacy, of not being skinny enough, pretty enough, fast enough, curvy enough, smart enough. And really, who among us hasn’t felt that way at some point? These insecurities are so deeply relatable, and Josie Shapiro handles them with care and honesty.

I ran track when I was younger and have recently really gotten back into health and fitness in a big way, so I appreciated the athletic angle of the story. One detail that stuck with me was the way Mickey described other runners’ bodies. There’s something so real in how athletes notice and admire each other. It's never in a sexual or creepy way, but with a kind of deep, mutual respect. That rang so true for me.

As much as this book says about women, it also quietly says a lot about men. A lot about brothers, lovers, and fathers. About who they are and who they are not. About the good ones, the distant ones, the disappointing ones. I found Mickey’s relationship with her dad especially compelling. There were moments I deeply related to, and I kind of wished the story had dug deeper into the roots of their disconnect. But maybe that was intentional? Maybe the author wanted to leave space for us to see our own experiences reflected there.

For me, one of the most poignant aspects of the book is the way Mickey is haunted by the sound of phantom footsteps behind her. I personally related to this imagery, and I think a lot of us have our own version of that. Something we’re chasing, something we’re running from, something always just behind us, pushing us forward or threatening to catch up. No matter what those steps represent for you, they’re a powerful metaphor that lingers.

I also really loved the way the story of the race is woven through the book. It added such a compelling structure to the narrative, and the jumps back and forth between the race and Mickey’s past felt seamless. You meet characters along the way (sometimes briefly, sometimes in detail) and by the time you really get to know them, you realize how much you care. As the race progressed, I found myself more and more invested in Mickey and how she was doing, both physically and emotionally. It’s such a simple device, but it worked beautifully.

The book also explores themes of family and community - both the ones you’re born into and the ones you choose. It’s a quiet but important reminder that chosen family can be just as powerful, and that the people who show up for us, who run beside us, can sometimes matter more than some of the people who share our DNA.

As the end of the book approached, I selfishly wanted to know how the race concluded, but I get why the author left it open. Winning, in the traditional sense, wasn’t the point. What mattered was how Mickey had already won in a deeper way by showing up for herself, by being surrounded by people who truly loved her, by finding strength in her own body and voice.

If you liked this book, you’ll like: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

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