Comments (38)

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Mar 09, 2024Bookworm1136 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
4 1/2 stars. Esch is a 15 year old African American girl living a hardscrapple life in Bois Sauvage, Mississippi with her hard drinking indifferent father and her brothers. Her father insists that a hurricane is coming and insists on…
Jan 21, 2024
Author profile in Vanity Fair
Dec 27, 2023Gervruth rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I believe that the mark of a great book is the level of caring and empathy for the characters that the author is able to evoke in her/his reader. By that measure, this book is not just great but absolutely remarkable.
Feb 08, 2021Hillsboro_JeanineM rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
You slide into this story and are immersed in the waters of Jesmyn Ward's writing. You may gasp for air or need a break after a very intense event (Trigger Warning: Dog fighting is integral to the story). She creates twelve days in the…
Nov 15, 2020rclane rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Captivating exploration of the relationships between four siblings, a dog, and the father. Beautiful book! Left me wanting more.
May 08, 2020SJZB2020 rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
I lived on the Mississippi coast shortly after hurricane Katrina. I thought this book would provide some of the struggles the residents encountered but also the resilience of the people and the beauty of the area. The author seems to write…
Apr 06, 2020kawidman rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Ward’s writing is absolutely gorgeous; vivid and precise imagery fills up every page, and every character was both fully realized and mysterious in their own way. Esch (the protagonist and narrator) and her brothers and friends are all…
Mar 21, 2020fred98115 rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
National Book Award winner for fiction. Story of a black family living in Mississippi's coastal back country over a period of weeks as hurricane Katrina arrives. Told in the voice of a pregnant teenager. Disappointing story because the…
Jan 10, 2020
2011 National Book Award Winner
Jan 03, 2020Bklvr1981 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Incredible book. Very eye-opening.
Nov 06, 2019Portladia rated this title 1.5 out of 5 stars
Pit bulls fighting and slobber kissing..... unwed teen pregnancy.......alcoholism......poverty.......abuse......death.......Spam and cracker diet......mosquitoes.......houses collapsing......front yard junk…
Oct 06, 2019posie12 rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Don't read this book if you get depressed easily. It seems every turn they make ends up in hopeless disaster. The dog fighting is horrible!
Sep 05, 2019OPL_AnnaW rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I love most things Jesmyn Ward writes, and this is no exception. The family at the heart of this book lives in rural Mississippi, and the threat of Hurricane Katrina is looming. The experiences of Esch, the only female in the family, are…
Dec 01, 2018peacebenow rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Jesmyn Ward is a stand out Author! Brilliant writing style, I felt like I was near this family and had to live through the hurricane to reach the end of the book. Her complex characters live in poverty. They range from brilliant, caring…
Aug 22, 2018keithpoc rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Ward's comment about her frustrations with white normative literature holding claim to the "classics" like Greek Mythology is so fascinating and accurate. Those timeless tales belong to humanity and are race-neutral just as Esch's…
Aug 16, 2018suereadsblue rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
Such a wonderful writer - such a bleak book.
Jul 02, 2018miaone rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
A dreadful book. I couldn't stay with it long enough to get to the part about the hurricane. The pictures the author paints of the lives of the characters is so unrelentingly ugly, depressing, violent, and hopeless that I had to give it…
Jun 10, 2018abbi_g rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
I've been wanting to read another Jesmyn Ward novel after reading her latest book, Sing Unburied Sing; and Salvage The Bones seemed like the next best one. Although I didn't find this particular story to be as interesting as Sing Unburied…
May 06, 2018cokie28 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
This is a powerful novel, much better than her first, that will give you reason to love and respect this family, and fear the power of Katrina and all hurricanes. The bond between Skeeter and China is especially moving (and unexpected…
Mar 09, 2018SPPL_Betsy rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Esch Batiste is a fourteen-year old girl quickly coming-of-age in an impoverished, coastal Mississippi town. Her mother died several years earlier, and she is left to live with her alcoholic father and three brothers. The story begins…
Mar 09, 2018lornagee rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
This is an exquisitely written novel that follows the narrator, 14-year-old Esch, her family, and friends over the course of 12 days. Set in Bois Sauvage (the Wild Woods), Mississippi, Jesmyn Ward's lyrical writing contrasts vividly with…
Nov 30, 2017vm510 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This story is primarily about a young girl's heartbreak, her grief over her mother, and the isolation she feels even while surrounded by her brothers and father. It is a story about family and a story about this young girl trying to love…
May 11, 2017JCLEmilyD rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
This story sticks with you. It's about poverty, teenagers, family, dogs, love, and hurricanes. Written as a family works to prepare for the coming hurricane Katrina. Along with poverty and absent parents the children deal with teenage…
Apr 11, 2017aw1productions rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This book is amazing! Some scenes get pretty gritty (spoiler: dog fighting). But it allowed me to see a different world and walk in someone else's shoes. All the while, I felt the longing of every member of the family. And the author…
Mar 11, 2016HollyDavis022 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Paints a disturbing tense picture. Couldn't put it down