Misty is an unusual child, living in her Appalachian hollow with an ability to communicate with the natural world: trees, rocks, animals--and particularly crawdads, which seem to be her special companions. It turns out that this link to the natural world helps her feel safe when her young life is in tortured turmoil. Misty is the victim of rape, relentlessly assaulted by the teenage boy next door. The silence and shame she endures eventually manifests in the ultimate attempt at escape, and healing only comes as she communes with another victim of domestic violence.

Ashley Blooms lets us know in a preface that she herself is a survivor, and warns her readers about the novel's triggers. This creative effort to express the feelings and experiences of her young character is handled with perceptive intelligence through a lens of magical realism. When Misty feels an urgent pull to escape, this demand on her psyche becomes physically realized in a disquieting manner, a process of shedding her body to leave the pain behind. This approach will not work for everyone, but readers who don't mind fantasy elements expressing devastating emotional landscapes will be rewarded with a compelling protagonist and a story arc that, despite some uneven plotting, reaches a satisfying resolution.

Full of magical realism and wonderfully atmospheric descriptions of the Appalachian 'hollers,' 'Every Bone a Prayer' is the story of a young girl facing her demons. 10 year old Misty uses her connection to nature to help escape from the problems in her life. Throughout the eventful summer she comes to realize that escape doesn't always work. Harder things, like self acceptance, are what is needed.
An inspiring book about trauma and healing.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ashley Blooms, and Sourcebook Landmark for allowing me to read this ARC in return for an honest review.

Misty and William have always been playmates; but, when strange things start growing in the neighbor’s garden, their relationship takes a turn in a hurtful direction, as they both try to solve the mystery of the garden. Misty has always loved nature, and felt like she could hear messages from animals and plants around her. William fears that more strange will grow because of his actions, and uses Misty to help overcome his fears. Misty’s sister and other adults don’t realize that Misty is trying to get a message to them, so she struggles on her own to fight her way back to a life in which she can happily live. This is a story of a strong young girl who fights to save herself and become a survivor.

When I saw that Leah Weiss, author of If the Creek Don’t Rise Dorothy Allison, author of Bastard out of Carolina, as well as Silas House, author of some of my favourite books Clay’s Quilt, Southernmost, A Parchment of Leaves and others, including Michele Richardson, author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek had all praised this book, I added it without hesitation.

When I began reading this, or perhaps before I read the story but had opened the book to A Word from the Author and paused for just a moment after reading it.

This is, was, a tough story to read, filled with trauma, but also with wonderful, endearing characters – particularly the main character, Misty, a ten-year-old girl who I adored, and rooted for – as well as some hauntingly beautiful imagery, and magically infused southern lore.

Set in the hollers in the Appalachian Mountains, Misty seems to be the most at peace when she’s in nature, communing with the crawdads in the creek near the trailer where she lives with her parents and sister. Their parents seem to be fighting more lately, and this day is no different.

Misty’s older sister, Penny, is focused on the things that are changing, especially the changes they’ve seen in their yard. Unusual, sculpture-like objects appear to be growing in their yard. Needless to say, this creates quite a stir in their small community. People gather to discuss the evil nature of these sculptures, and as time passes, another one appears. Meanwhile, Misty seems to be disappearing into herself, afraid of leaving her room, and afraid of being in her room with her sister, who seems of late to be even more ill-tempered than usual.

Heartbreaking at times, with moments of beauty, this story wasn’t always easy to read. As in If the Creek Don’t Rise, there were moments of cruelty, darkness, abuse, but I placed my trust in the moments of beauty, and I’m glad that that I did.



Pub Date: 04 Aug 2020

Many thanks for the ARC provided by SOURCEBOOKS Landmark

A solid novel for fans of gritty rural American stories. A difficult read, to be sure, so trigger warnings. Writing is good. But, nothing really new here a firm middle of the road entry.

Holy cow, this was one heck of an emotional roller coaster ride! It’s so realistic and well written. The character development was beautifully done and really had me in heart wrenching pain at times. I do think some with triggers may need to step away, because it’s a hard book to read, but was done in a way that made me need to finish it. Beautiful, soul crushing, and much more, highly, highly recommend! Grab a copy ASAP!
I’ll make sure to buzz it up on the platforms and use low reviewer number on amazon on release day!

This is a beautiful, powerful, heart wrenching yet uplifting story about what it means to be broken, hurt, abused, vulnerable… And what it means to tell the truth about trauma. It’s hard to describe but my feelings have had a work out.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Misty's world is falling apart. Her parents are separating, her sister has no time for her and her best friend becomes her abuser. This beautifully written book tells the story of Misty's fight to survive, to heal and to grow as she learns to let the people who love her back in to help. Her strength is inspiring and very reminiscent of Kya in Where the Crawdads Sing.

This Author's writing is lyrical and haunting. I found myself having to put it down a few times, because it felt heavy and sad, but there's hope as well. It's an interesting story though a difficult read at times due to the darkness of it all. For me the difficulty lies in the age of the characters and the oppressive atmosphere although it's poetic very well written with a good flow and pace. I would read more from this Author, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to have read this.

This book is gritty and very well researched. I felt it was real but represented the resilient spirit of this region and her people.

Beautifully written despite a difficult subject matter. My heart ached and cheered for Misty. I love this book and how the author expressed her thoughts.

How can you create a review of Ashley Blooms' debut fiction title "Every Bone a Prayer," when it guts you of all memory of words? I have never read a book like this before, and I wish I could re-read it "for the first time" every time I'll read it again, just so that I can re-live these heart-wrenching feelings the book has instilled in me even days later after finishing it.

This a speculative fiction/magical realism fiction novel about a special young girl living in a holler in the Appalachian mountains in eastern Kentucky, who has the ability to "speak" to the living and non-living things around her in her holler, like the crawdads in her favorite creek or the walls of the trailer she lives in with her mom and older sister. Every thing Misty talks to has its own story to share, and even though horrific, traumatic things happen to Misty throughout her own story, each and every word is woven together into a lyrical treasure.

Blooms' lyrical style of writing may be a little different for readers to get used to at first, but once the book has you in its hands, it refuses to let you go, and just like the crawdads in Misty's creek, this book will make you feel as if you're molting and growing right alongside with Misty and her family. If you're a fan of Haruki Murakami's magical realism style, this book will fit you like a perfect glove.

As a native of eastern Kentucky, reading the representation of Appalachia and rural Kentucky life in this book was like a fresh breath of much-needed air. Anyone who has ever lived in or near the mountains of eastern Kentucky will be able to identify with the special landscape in this book, and the poverty and relentless hope that comes with this land. The cast of characters touch on real-world issues, and the underlying cord of agency and feminism binding all of the women and male characters together brings to light problems persistent in Appalachia that many readers outside of the mountains might be less aware of. This is a book about hurt and hope, and you feel it so strongly in Misty's story that when the book is over, you can still feel those twin feelings sitting heavy in your skin and bones.

There's an element of horror in this novel that was so chilling I had to set the book down every other day while reading, just so that I could process what I was feeling and bring myself back to reality, despite being haunted by its story when I wasn't reading it. The grim undertones were written so well and so beautifully, that it was like watching flowers bloom out of a freshly tilled grave. This is a book that will leave its mark on me for the rest of my life, and I feel as if every reader who finishes this book will go to sleep each night with a small part of Blooms' heart held close to them.

Wow this was a really interesting read. Once I got used to the style of writing I found the story so heartbreaking but incredibly beautiful. It's about a young girl, her family and something that happens between her and a local boy that leaves her incredibly broken inside. If you're looking for something a bit different...this would be a good choice. I will recommend it to my friends!

An addictive, surprising read. I thought I saw where it was going int he beginning and then it took a hard turn into something beautiful. Incredible prose and imagery.

I absolutely adored this book. The characters were so real that it sucked you in and made you feel a part of the story. You didn't want it to end!

Ten year old Misty lives a hand to mouth existence in a hollow in the Appalachian mountains, but she doesn’t feel poor. She listens to the sounds of nature, all have something important to tell her. But her peaceful existence is changed forever after the day her neighbor William caught up with her in the barn. She tries to buries those ugly memories, to remember the girl she was, the one who believed in magic. But can she ever become that girl again? This is a beautiful, heartbreaking novel about a girl trying to reclaim the innocence that was ripped from her