Review by Artemis_90 -- A Bloody Book by Chris Bowen
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Artemis_90
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- Latest Review: A Bloody Book by Chris Bowen
Review by Artemis_90 -- A Bloody Book by Chris Bowen
[Following is a volunteer review of "A Bloody Book" by Chris Bowen.]
A Bloody Book, authored by Chris Bowen, made it to shelves in 2016 and it quickly became a sensation that created emotional, psychological and physical connections to many people of different genders, ages, races and backgrounds. Mr. Bowen is an incredibly talented author and educator in which he was bequeathed with the Teacher of the Year Award in Los Angeles County. He was even given a moment to have a conversation with Dr. Phil and promote his book on the show. His main character Maxx is relatable, intelligent and painfully real and even while living in terrible circumstances, he is still trying to retain that small glimmer of child-like hope.
Maxx is an intelligent boy who lives in seriously unfortunate conditions with his younger sister Rosie, he has tried to retain the hope in his life but slowly his hard life has worn him down and he doesn't care about much anymore. He spends his days at school in The Reading Room, an overcrowded room that hasn't changed since he got there, with no windows and no expectations. The Reading Room is not seen as a place of learning but is seen as a kind of prison, to the point Maxx refers to himself and a few others as "lifers". This changes drastically when he is given a new teacher, Mr. Foxx, who challenges them all with very unorthodox techniques to reach these children through the thick walls they have built due to survival. Mr. Foxx questions them, tries to keep them from just accepting the situations and circumstances in their lives. In Maxx it awakens a personal emotional journey that takes him years to complete, starting from a simple assignment from Mr. Foxx: "When did I stop giving a crap?" This begins a path in his life that changes everything about perception, the past, personal motivations and hope.
This book was an amazing read, not complicated or overly wordy, just refreshingly real and it almost felt like it was a window into Maxx's daily life and his thought process about it all. I really couldn't stop reading it as it touched so many personal and powerful topics such as poverty, abuse, homelessness, escapism and classism. Maxx's perception of adults might be the most chilling thing to behold because you can see not only why he feels this way but that his feelings are almost justified. On a personal note, I connected with this book on so many levels because I have experienced some of these experiences myself and I held onto that thick wall to protect myself in the past and it took a very long time to let it go and let people in. I wish I had this book when I was a teenager, it would have helped me see that I wasn't as alone as I thought I was.
All kinds of people can relate to this book, however, I can see teenagers and young adults struggling with internal and external conflicts could relate to this book at various levels. The adult characters that Maxx encounters in his life are very straight-forward and have almost a harsh reality to them that makes it hard to make them fictional people. The kids in Maxx's life are more like adults in Maxx's eyes than the actual adults, they live complicated and complex lives that the adults could not have every understood. Since Maxx's life is full of neglect and abuse I must note that there are also some themes of violence, drug use and language. I would recommend parents reading this book before giving it to your child if not sure that they are ready for these themes.
I would rate this book 4 out of 4 because not only is it beautifully written, it is also emphasizing topics that most people try and avoid talking about. We live our lives and choose to not see the problems that could be happening to the people around us, adults and children alike. Grammatically, this book is correct as far as I can see and the way in which it was written allows the reader to grasp the characters, environment and the emotional tension with ease. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone I know, this book has helped me in more ways than one.
******
A Bloody Book
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
A Bloody Book, authored by Chris Bowen, made it to shelves in 2016 and it quickly became a sensation that created emotional, psychological and physical connections to many people of different genders, ages, races and backgrounds. Mr. Bowen is an incredibly talented author and educator in which he was bequeathed with the Teacher of the Year Award in Los Angeles County. He was even given a moment to have a conversation with Dr. Phil and promote his book on the show. His main character Maxx is relatable, intelligent and painfully real and even while living in terrible circumstances, he is still trying to retain that small glimmer of child-like hope.
Maxx is an intelligent boy who lives in seriously unfortunate conditions with his younger sister Rosie, he has tried to retain the hope in his life but slowly his hard life has worn him down and he doesn't care about much anymore. He spends his days at school in The Reading Room, an overcrowded room that hasn't changed since he got there, with no windows and no expectations. The Reading Room is not seen as a place of learning but is seen as a kind of prison, to the point Maxx refers to himself and a few others as "lifers". This changes drastically when he is given a new teacher, Mr. Foxx, who challenges them all with very unorthodox techniques to reach these children through the thick walls they have built due to survival. Mr. Foxx questions them, tries to keep them from just accepting the situations and circumstances in their lives. In Maxx it awakens a personal emotional journey that takes him years to complete, starting from a simple assignment from Mr. Foxx: "When did I stop giving a crap?" This begins a path in his life that changes everything about perception, the past, personal motivations and hope.
This book was an amazing read, not complicated or overly wordy, just refreshingly real and it almost felt like it was a window into Maxx's daily life and his thought process about it all. I really couldn't stop reading it as it touched so many personal and powerful topics such as poverty, abuse, homelessness, escapism and classism. Maxx's perception of adults might be the most chilling thing to behold because you can see not only why he feels this way but that his feelings are almost justified. On a personal note, I connected with this book on so many levels because I have experienced some of these experiences myself and I held onto that thick wall to protect myself in the past and it took a very long time to let it go and let people in. I wish I had this book when I was a teenager, it would have helped me see that I wasn't as alone as I thought I was.
All kinds of people can relate to this book, however, I can see teenagers and young adults struggling with internal and external conflicts could relate to this book at various levels. The adult characters that Maxx encounters in his life are very straight-forward and have almost a harsh reality to them that makes it hard to make them fictional people. The kids in Maxx's life are more like adults in Maxx's eyes than the actual adults, they live complicated and complex lives that the adults could not have every understood. Since Maxx's life is full of neglect and abuse I must note that there are also some themes of violence, drug use and language. I would recommend parents reading this book before giving it to your child if not sure that they are ready for these themes.
I would rate this book 4 out of 4 because not only is it beautifully written, it is also emphasizing topics that most people try and avoid talking about. We live our lives and choose to not see the problems that could be happening to the people around us, adults and children alike. Grammatically, this book is correct as far as I can see and the way in which it was written allows the reader to grasp the characters, environment and the emotional tension with ease. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone I know, this book has helped me in more ways than one.
******
A Bloody Book
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: A Bloody Book by Chris Bowen
