so good. devastating and tragic and finding light in the darkest moments. such a lovely reflection on siblinghood and teenage pregnancy and love and poverty and dogs. truly obsessed with the use of medea throughout the book as someone who was also obsessed with her story as an early teen.

Ward tears away the boundaries of people and animals and place which challenges “right” and “wrong” and made me think in terms of harm and sustainability

I fully believe Jesmyn Ward can write no wrong.

Holy shit

Pretty compelling read, especially as hurricane Katrina gets closer and the only one in the book who seems to take it seriously is the drunken, ineffectual dad. I liked the characters, especially Esch and her brother Skeet, but glazed over the greek mythology bits. Very well written and almost poetic. 3.5 stars.

This book was violent, painful and difficult to read but it was powerful and masterfully written. It was a look into lives I have no idea about, wrought in painstaking detail. I knew about the suffering that people experienced in the wake of hurricane Katrina but reading this account made it real in a way that, quite frankly, I don't think I was entirely prepared for. I struggled a lot with the dog fighting/animal abuse represented in the book and almost stopped reading a number of times because of it. In particular, I felt conflicted because it was hard to reconcile my genuine affection for a number of their characters with their behavior towards animals. It was also hard to accept that many of these people engaging in dog fighting also loved their animals. But fiction isn't meant to be a salve that uncomplicated life and I'm glad I continued. But if reading about dog fighting in detail isn't something you think you can stomach, this book isn't for you. The last two chapters are phenomenal.

Oh my god, this book. I've had it on my to-read list for ages. I'd found it recommended somewhere, and it sounded like something I wanted to read. So I finally got around to it. The story is about a poor black family in the run-up to Hurricane Katrina. It's about a family making do without a mother and mostly without a father. The with the family and their friends are mostly looking out for each other, though without the resources that many of us absolutely take for granted. It's not the life I live, and it's not the life I'm familiar with. I don't fight dogs, or approve of fighting dogs. I don't need to steal to get the resources that I need. I didn't get pregnant when I was 14. I never tried to ride out a Cat 5 hurricane. But when I read this story, I understand a little better why some of these things might happen. People do what they have to do to survive, first and foremost. They love who they love, whether it's a no-account man who sired a child he won't claim, or a white fighting dog, or the littlest brother that grew up without a mother, who now clings to his brother and sister who raised him like his life depends on it. Because it does. All our lives depend on other people. Even in poverty and without much hope, people live, and love, and do the absolute goddamn best they can. Even if that "best" looks skewed to those of us who have lived our lives with more opportunities. I fucking loved this book, and it absolutely broke my heart. Sometimes I had to put it down because it was just SO MUCH TO READ, OMG. I thought the language was absolutely beautiful. I rarely highlight passages anymore, but I did in this book. I read it on Scribd, but I'm pretty sure I'll buy my own copy of this book to have and re-read, and think about. This is the best book I've read in years.

Jesmyn Ward is a brilliant writer. That much is clear. I thiiiink I liked this more than Sing, Unburied, Sing?? It was vivid and moving and impressive. And yet. Still short of five stars, for me.

How can something so raw and violent and bleak and hopeless be beautiful and sentimental and push through a tiny glimmer of shiny shiny hope? If someone told me I would read a book with dog fighting as a central theme and come away with snot streaming from my nose and tears wiped all over the backs of my hands - and not tears from mourning any dead dog - but tears hoping hoping hoping for better things on the other side of the hurricane, why, I just would have said "we'll see about that" expecting to tolerate the book and then swearing off Jesmyn Ward from here on until eternity. But, nope, I've just added "Where the Line Bleeds" to my "to read" list. The story of the Batiste family has been moving toward a swirl and burn since Rose died. And with the backdrop of a category 5 storm building, building and choosing it's target of destruction - more things than any human spirit can handle come bulls-eye toward this family made up of Esch, Skeetah, Randall, Junior, their father and their dogs.

Extremely eye-opening and engaging. I especially enjoyed the choice to make a 12 chapter book for the 12 days of the story.

A beautifully written page-turner. Among the best I've read so far this year.

Esch and her family live in Bois Sauvage, Mississippi on a fairly isolated tract of land. This novel takes place over the course of twelve days. The family is preparing for the impending hurricane and this really is a book about belonging, kinship, and the effects of rural poverty. . Jesmyn Ward’s languid prose describes every emotion felt in this novel. Everything feels as if it were alive. She does an excellent job at capturing the emotional struggles of her characters and the tender moments between the siblings. . Our protagonist is Esch, fourteen year old girl who finds herself surrounded by men. I found myself constantly rooting for her and hoping that she would find desire within herself, instead of constantly seeking approval from those around her. . Ward has powerful imagery throughout the book. This book definitely has a strong sense of place and if you are someone who likes descriptions of setting I would highly recommend this book. . Like other reviewers have mentioned, the sections on dog fighting were hard to read, but I don’t think they detract from the novel. Skeetah’s love for China and her puppies were so raw and tender.

Salvage the Bones is about a family living in Mississippi in 2005 as Katrina is getting ready to hit. The focus is on Esch being pregnant, her brothers, dog fighting, her alcoholic that sometimes there father and the impending hurricane in the Gulf. The kids mother died giving birth to the youngest child and they have pretty much been left to fend for themselves making them a close knit family. I went in expecting the book to be more about the family preparing, fighting and surviving the hurricane and it isn’t, it was still a good read, but I was looking forward to that based on the description. Some scenes are hard to read, like puppies being born, dog fights, and detailed injuries. They are hard to read because they are well written to the point it makes you cringe. With that said, I did not like the dog fighting parts. There was some glamorizing of it and that annoyed me. I’m giving it three stars because it was an interesting read, but I think there was just too much going on to make it an emotional read. It was almost there, but not quite.