Reviews

This book is so dark, jarring, and incredibly beautiful all at once. With it being set where I live, it was even more engaging because some of the places are familiar. Parts of it were tough to get through (serious TW for all sorts of abuse), but it was excellent overall.

wollstonecrafty's review against another edition

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commemorating banned books week 2022

savaging's review against another edition

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5.0

I think this is a brilliant book. And a brave book. Not just because it talks about hard and personal things, but also because it talks about everything else, too. Another review on here complains that Allison didn't deliver on the 'white trash' promise, because she reveals that poor whites in the South also sometimes have love for each other, and their culture has some beauty and power. That reviewer wants this book to be more of a blood-curdling expose and less of a full, personal story. But this is exactly why I loved Bastard Out of Carolina.

I had a few quibbles with the writing. Like: too many of the chapters end with a repeated phrase. White supremacy is just an absent center of the writing, never fully dealt with.

catbrigand's review against another edition

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5.0

This book reached down my throat and pulled out my heart. I grew up in the south, although not remotely in the situation that Bone did, in any sense of the word. So much of this book's descriptions--hot summer nights with old country on the radio, shelling beans and making cornbread--felt as comforting and familiar as an old blanket. But make no mistake. This book is also horrifying, with a heavy CW for child sexual and physical abuse, rape, and violence. It is also a triumph of a girl saving herself when nobody else will.

kelceyxreads's review against another edition

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5.0

This book means the world to me. It's one that struck a chord with me when I first read it, and something new strikes me every time I read it again. I see a lot of reviews talking about how grim it is, how hard to read, how violent - and it is. But there's truth to this story that is undeniable, and as heartbreaking as it is, it rings true for me and others who grew up poor in the South, who were abused or have loved ones who were, who had feelings that mirror Bone's, whose relationships with family are complicated and were made even more so by the experiences they've gone through together.

I don't want to say more than that or go into spoiler territory because this is a story that should unfold exactly as it was written. An easy 5 star.

sian_m's review against another edition

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4.0

This book made me feel so sad. It’s filled with trauma that no one should have to go through. It is very well written, but I struggled to enjoy it as much as I wanted to, purely because of the abuse that Ruth was being subjected to and the total denial of Ruth’ mother, refusing to acknowledge that something just wasn’t right, even though it’d been noticed and communicated by others. The selfishness of these adults is sickening. This made me incredibly mad and uncomfortable.

Ruth shows signs of disconnection from herself due to her traumas, clearly done for survival purposes. Respect to Ruth for her determination, strength and tenacity to get through it all.

This is a raw, honest book. It doesn’t hold back from potentially making the readers uncomfortable. If that’s the emotional response that’s stirred, so be it, there’s no hiding from the truth. This book moved me to tears and as painful as this was, I am so glad that I’ve read it.

Quote from the end of the book which I had to pause and reflect upon: ‘Shame comes with denial, fear fattens on lies.’

natgabor's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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