Review of A Bloody Book

[Hyacinth Bella]

[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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Published in 2016, A Bloody Book by Chris Bowen is a chilling novel that is told in a point of view of a thirteen-year-old boy as he lives his miserable life of bad upbringing and poverty, and how he just lost the care for the world.

At the start of the book, the lead character, Maxx, is telling something about “Reading Hell”, where students whom teachers gave up on goes. With his failing grades, Maxx doesn’t seem to care anymore. He lives a miserable life. His family is a mess, he’s poor, his dad died and his mother ran away from him and his sister, and he now lives with a drunkard for a foster parent, trying to be the adult he didn’t want to be, most of the time starving, and the rest of the time failing. He says that he can’t afford to be happy anymore, since when you’re happy, you’ll remember how miserable your life is and then you’ll just be sadder. It will make you ask such a question: how did a kid lose so much hope at a young age? What lead him to not caring anymore? What had happened really?

This book, for me, is not thrilling or chilling; it is sad. Very sad. I wish I could give the lead character a hug. I like the way it perfectly captures a middle-school setting: peer-pressure, embarrassment and humiliation, lack of passionate teachers, and an expensive education system. These are modern problems that needs to be solved; but not only that, I loved how the book brings other modern problems to the readers’ attentions, like: domestic violence, drug abuse, irresponsible parents, poverty, and murder. I loved the way it brutally and honestly tells how badly a messy family affects a kid, and how they’ll suffer longer than the parents. I love the way it emphasizes that children who are badly brought up to this world will be, almost all of their life, angry at it, and will easily wish that they could just leave it all and disappear.

I loved how A Bloody Book sadly tells how a kid becomes responsible for their families when their parents are not, how a kid will lose hope in everything and how the household will affect their schooling and their future. What’s really sad here is that how our young lead character straightly tells that he has no hope anymore, at a very young age. Children grow up rapidly, and I do not mean in physical form, but in mentality and thinking, because of their experiences, especially if they have a messy family. I love the way it directly says awful things happening in foster care, and how children should be handled with responsibility, and parents should do a very thorough family planning. With all of that being said, as sad as this book was, I appreciated it more because of it. I appreciated it more because the more it is sad, the more it was honest, and the more I understood the feelings of others. As I am writing this review, tears are demanding to fall down.

I do not find any faults in this, except that it abruptly ended and I was curious about it more. There are no cliffhangers, just questions in my head. With that being said, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I recommend this book to everyone who wants to have a good cry, and to everyone who likes reading chilly thrillers. I suggest that you bring tissues with you to wipe your tears with.

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A Bloody Book
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Unosthetic]

The title is already bloody, how much more if I read the book? I'm so excited to follow the thirteen-year-old boy's journey. Great review!

[viczboy16]

The title seems so bloody already. Maxx has gone through a lot at such a young age, I hope he comes back strong.

[Hyacinth Bella]

The title is already bloody, how much more if I read the book? I'm so excited to follow the thirteen-year-old boy's journey. Great review!

This book was really a great book to read. I did not regret reading it, and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did, too!

[Hyacinth Bella]

The title seems so bloody already. Maxx has gone through a lot at such a young age, I hope he comes back strong.

That was one of the things that made this book special, because I've been seeing a lot of people saying, "oh, what have you gone through with your age? You're just turning into a teenager!" Maxx is one of the examples that we should not judge someone's suffering by their age. Thanks for leaving a comment by the way, I hope you enjoyed the book as much as I did!

[Silenteyes_11_6]

The review itself makes me pity Maxx. He has gone through a lot at a tender age.
Thanks for a great review!

[Elena Nechita]

What a great review. I don't know if I want to read this book if it's this sad. The way you described, I already feel bad for Maxx.

[Asma Aisha Ansari]

This book captures the devastating reality many young children live through. It's unfortunate that this tragedy happens to many people but it's also important to know about them. Kudos to the author for penning such a realistic and moving tale.
Thanks for the review.

[Hyacinth Bella]

Yes, I pitied him so much when I was reading this. I wished that I could give him a hug and bake him cookies because all throughout the book that's what he was just asking for. A hug and baked cookies from his mom.

The review itself makes me pity Maxx. He has gone through a lot at a tender age.
Thanks for a great review!

[Hyacinth Bella]

This was so sad that the plot twist did not even surprised me anymore. I could feel myself crying again for Maxx and the life that he deserves.

What a great review. I don't know if I want to read this book if it's this sad. The way you described, I already feel bad for Maxx.

[Hyacinth Bella]

I cannot agree with you more. I think the drastic effects of foster care, irresponsible parenting, substance abuse, and poverty should be more pressed on people and educate them since it is very relevant to people nowadays, and not only it affects adults, but also kids.

This book captures the devastating reality many young children live through. It's unfortunate that this tragedy happens to many people but it's also important to know about them. Kudos to the author for penning such a realistic and moving tale.
Thanks for the review.

[Adelle v]

This sounds like such a sad bloody book. Great review.