A review by n_asyikin_
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

dark emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Written with incredible vividness, Ward has a truly a unique narrator in Esch. The effortlessness in expressions celebrates the malleability of language. I found myself gasping in awe at some passages. The cost of survival-needs induced by poverty through the loss of affection and hardening of the heart was explored, & depicted through parent-child & familial bonds - also, through the experience of first love. Although the lyricism did at times suspended the flow of the story (i.e. plot), it wasn't highly disruptive & the solid ending more than made-up for it. 
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