It took me longer than most books to finish this book. I struggled with the magical realism, with the not-quite spelled out trauma, and I didn’t know why until I read the conversation with the author at the end. It’s a must-read section that pulls together all the threads that weave this story. As a trauma survivor, I didn’t recognize my own story within this story, my own uncomfortableness that blocked me from seeing it. Again, the conversation with the author helped tremendously.

At once homespun, frightening, and magical, Misty’s story is every woman’s story who has faced trauma and abuse. This is a book that is easy to sink into yet difficult to wade through, paradoxically comforting and frightening and ultimately healing and comforting again. Kudos to Ashley Bloom for a story well told, a regional story at first glance, yet ultimately a universal story of hurt and healing.

I really, really loved this. It was included on a horror reading list, and I am not sure why, because it's just magical realism that deals with trauma. But so beautiful and so many descriptions that's just hit the nail on the head.

Every Bloom A Prayer by Ashley Blooms is a strange mash up of literary fiction and fantasy. The themes are hard and may trigger some readers: sexual abuse between children, domestic violence, emotional abuse. Though the story's main theme is the recovery of the victims I found it difficult to see how it would be a help to sufferers. On the positive side, the writing is beautiful, the fantasy portion drew me in when the main character is shown to have an affinity with all living things---animal, insect, trees, etc. It is abook that makes one think long after the reading.

I’ve never read a book like this and I’ve been an avid reader my entire life. It is magic, sorrow, fantasy, heartbreak, Appalachian life and the wonder of childhood. I feel both heavier and lighter after reading Misty’s story. Parts of me feel changed and transformed and other parts are still in disbelief at the images painted in my mind. The author weaves beauty and sorrow effortlessly in a way that pulls you in from the first page to the last.

Beautiful and tragic, simple yet so complex, this book will haunt me. A girl who can talk to the world mixed into a drama common to so many, Misty speaks of a simpler mind- how pain looks to a child without the words to describe it. Trauma is forgotten and accepted all over, am Misty shows us that the trauma doesn't make us who we are- we get to choose what to do with the memories.

This is a very dark and heartbreaking story about Misty, a young girl who suffers a series of traumatic experiences and then tries to find a way to cope. I love magical realism, but this was really out there. It was a difficult story to read because it's mostly about one 10 year old sexually abusing another. While that is happening to her, Misty's parents are also going through a separation and she feels utterly alone. She has a loving extended family of aunts and cousins who care for her and that part of the story was sweet. I struggled to get through some of the long repetitive descriptions while she was using her gift and of the strange things she did with it after the trauma she experienced. I don't feel like the ending provided enough closure, but I think that might have been intentional because many victims don't fully get justice and still have to find a way to heal.

Hints of mysticism I could deal with - or if the weirdness was a way to cope with what was happening. But this whole book was ridiculous. No idea how it is getting such high ratings. Just not for me I guess.

Blooms is an amazing writer! She has built a strong sense of place in Misty’s holler and demonstrates such open-hearted compassion for Misty and her family. There were sentences and images I just wanted to savor. Yet, there is a dark current running through this imaginative work - a storyline different from anything I have ever read. I will remember this book and its characters for a long while.

Not my style