Not sure what to make of this book. It's beautifully and lyrically written, with a stunning main character, and it covers the heartbreak of abuse, of divorce, of loneliness, but it is also at times rather hard to follow, or at least hard to interpret. So many things are fantastical, or perhaps just metaphorical, that the story gets a bit bogged down in the layers of allegory. But the book still somehow manages to be deeply affecting. I loved the setting, loved the extended family (along with some light LGBT elements), loved the deep connection to the natural world. ( )

Magical realism makes this book very difficult to read in some parts. I like the book but felt uncomfortable with the Misty crawling out of her skin. I visualized her taking it off and trying to put it on again. It frightened me because I could see it so well. I wonder what this book be like without it. The things growing out of the garden did not bring such a reaction from me. It was the pain that the pain that I felt for Misty that made me take a star from the rating.

I enjoyed the family relationships and could feel for Misty, the loss of her mother embroiled in marital conflict. Not being able fully commmunicate with her and her sister, Penny, pulled them all apart.

The author did a wonderful job of capturing the effect of parents separating. My own experience made me want to comfort Misty. I hoped for her finally having connection with her mother and knowing the pain of not being able to fix her parent's marriage.

William was an interesting character, he had been hurt by his parents so much but he could not realize damage and pain that he was causing Misty.He did not understand how he was harming her and Misty was unable to speak out about him.

Misty had a very close relationship with cicadas. Misty felt their paun and she thought that she could be one of them. Badly,she needed help could not find any until the end.

I won a finished copy of this book as a part of a contect by Library Thing and the publishers sent me a copy. The thoughts and feelings in the review are entirely my own. ( )

This novel was a very different kind of read, but I LOVED it! It reminded me a bit of Where the Crawdads Sing, in that this author is very detailed and wants you to feel everything she is writing. She is very detailed with scenery, and feelings, and the different characters. I think this author did a great job in trying to make us understand what it was like growing up as a child who was betrayed by someone they trusted.

Misty is shifting from childhood, to pre-teen years. She is yet very much a child but yet her body is changing and she is starting to pick up on things around her. But Misty also knows she is different. She can talk to things, unlike other people. She can feel what animals are feeling, what the trees are feeling, she sees images of their lives and what they have all endured so far on Earth. She has heard rumors of another being able to do this, and she disappeared.

She uses her special ability to connect with nature and the things around her. To try and understand how life works but then someone she trusts takes advantage of her, and she is now finding herself needing help in understanding what is happening to her, and not only is she falling apart but so is her family. She does feel herself anymore, her body is not her body and she has turned into herself. She doesn’t want to be around anyone, and she is tired all of the time.

Mysterious status sprout from her neighbors yard, and this in turn brings people out to the land. She doesn’t want people out here, and each time something happens, another statue seems to appear. Is she doing this? What are these for and what do they signify? As Misty tries to understand everything going on around her, and with her, she connects with the garden that holds secrets that may be the key to a lot of answers she is searching for, as well as what these statues have come to signify.
Thank you to Bookmarked for Book Clubs and Sourcebooks for the free book! ( )

Every Bone a Prayer by Ashley Blooms is a recommended novel full of magic realism about a young girl who is sexually abused. Misty, ten, her sister Penny, and her mom live in a trailer in an Appalachian Mountain holler. Her parents have separated. Misty is connected to everything that lives around her and loves to go to the creek to speak to every living thing there, but especially to the crawdads. When her neighbor William starts doing some hurtful things to her in the barn, she doesn't know how to handle it or what to do about it. And then there are the strange glass-like statues growing up out of the ground at the neighbors across the road.

This is a beautifully written descriptive novel, but it is also a heartbreaking coming-of-age novel. The novel came from a very emotional, personal place from the author and that shows in the raw emotions present in the raw undercurrents of fear and horror. In the end Misty is a survivor. While I admire many qualities in the writing and emotions of the narrative, I'm the odd reviewer who didn't love Every Bone a Prayer. The set up for the actual novel is very slow and lengthy. Additionally the magic, magic realism, animism, etc. distracted from the important message within the novel. She almost seems to be undergoing a dissociative state, but in her case it is a real separation from her body.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Sourcebooks.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2020/08/every-bone-prayer.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3479172796 ( )