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jenmangler's review
3.0
I found the last two chapters, set during and after Hurricane Katrina makes landfall, especially powerful. They made the book for me. Like many others I struggled with the dog fighting. It's just not something I can ever stomach.
mdevlin923's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this so badly...but I just couldn't. While listening to it on audiobook, I kept zoning out or getting lost in the metaphors. It'll be great if you like character-driven novels with beautiful, metaphorical language.
thebeesknees79's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Damn. Just damn. This story is haunting and beautiful and sad. I’m mad that it took me this long to read it.
elizabethfisher's review against another edition
5.0
This book is gut wrenching and real and an important read. The story follows a large family living on the bayou when Hurricane Katrina hits. I personally had a hard time getting into the book in the beginning as the subject isn’t exactly light and the exposition is a little slow, but I tore through the last 100 pages. This is not a beach read but don’t let that dissuade you from reading it.
curiouslyjade's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful and brutal. The language was incredibly vivid and fresh; reading this book was was almost a sensory experience.
thechanelmuse's review against another edition
5.0
Salvage the Bones is a complex and difficult read that’s broken down into twelve days. We follow the novel’s narrator Esch, a 14-year-old girl who lives in a male-driven community of Bois Sauvage, Mississippi with her father, brothers, and female pitbull named China.
Various dichotomies take center stage — masculine and feminine, parent and child, humans and animals, mythology and reality, birth and death, poverty and survival — as they prepare for multiple storms ahead. These storms include Hurricane Katrina, Esch’s pregnancy, and the effects of dire rural poverty. As a result, water is a reoccurring motif: The environmental horror. The murky. The calm. The chaos. The womb.
One thing about this book is that although it’ll have you on edge due to the topics and unfold of their daily lives, there’s a tenderness to it by way of the writing. It’s intentional due to who our narrator is.
Various dichotomies take center stage — masculine and feminine, parent and child, humans and animals, mythology and reality, birth and death, poverty and survival — as they prepare for multiple storms ahead. These storms include Hurricane Katrina, Esch’s pregnancy, and the effects of dire rural poverty. As a result, water is a reoccurring motif: The environmental horror. The murky. The calm. The chaos. The womb.
One thing about this book is that although it’ll have you on edge due to the topics and unfold of their daily lives, there’s a tenderness to it by way of the writing. It’s intentional due to who our narrator is.
klhammy's review against another edition
5.0
Loved the narrator's relationship with her brothers. I found the style to be a mix of Toni Morrison and Susan Straight. Believable dialogue. A portrait of the poor South that we don't often get in mainstream lit. I actually found it to be an emotional experience to read about Hurricane Katrina while Hurricane Sandy was approaching the Northeast.
kaiazania's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
enoughread's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75