Review of A Bloody Book

[Jah Thomas]

[Following is a volunteer review of "A Bloody Book" by Chris Bowen.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Chris Bowen depicts Maxx, a 13-year-old boy retelling his life at 9 years old. Maxx grew up poor and was a victim of alcohol and drug abuse. Bowen went into detail about how Maxx’s upbringing affected him mentally, which led him to commit some heinous acts. The story started in “Reading Hell '', a class Maxx was placed in with other students who were a lot like him and faced similar adversities; students who were lumped together and forgotten about. Until, Mr. Foxx, the new teacher of “Reading Hell” restores the students’ confidence with various eccentric methods.

The Bloody Book was an interesting read. Although it was touching, the story had many components of humor and suspense, which made this book a page-turner for me. I especially loved Maxx and his baby sister Rosie's characters, how independent he became because of being neglected as a child, his fight or flight responses in adult-like situations, and how innocent and oblivious Rosie was. Though his upbringing was rough, Rosie seems to be his little bit of hope. The writer did an awesome job that I presumed this was a true story written by Maxx himself.

What I disliked about the book was that there were several instances where the author went off on a tangent with a lot of blathering and repetitive words as if he was writing every thought in Maxx’s head. At first, it was a bit irritating, however, I was able to overlook it based on the fact that it might have been a style of writing I am not accustomed to. Also, I noticed a few grammatical errors while reading, which gave me the sense that I wasn’t reading a professionally edited book. Despite that, my interest in the story was enough to move past them.

I would rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. This book mentioned so many issues like drugs, violence, poverty, and child abuse that many children may face and how these issues may affect a child. It also shows that all hope isn’t lost with children of abuse and it just takes one person like Mr. Foxx to make a change. This book would have gotten all 4 stars if it wasn’t for the errors.

This story is full of suspense, humor, and a bit of thriller. I think we all suffer in some way or the other, whether it’s addiction, depression, lack of purpose, or are living life aimlessly. If any of these fits the bill, this book is for you.

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A Bloody Book
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