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The Madman of Piney Woods - Christopher Paul Curtis.



Ashvini's Rating: 3.5/5
Emma's Rating: 2.5/5
Ashvini:
The Madman of Piney Woods was definitely and interesting read. It was really different than the usual books I tend to read. It wasn’t exactly historical fiction, it wasn’t really an adventure, definitely not realistic fiction it was somewhere in between all those genres. I have to say, I actually liked it.
A few chapters into the book I was sure I wouldn’t like it. I think that’s probably because of all the violence and harsh dialogue in the book. For example, with Grandmother O’Toole and the whole Langahan’s Groceries scene and the fight between Curly Bennett and Petey, you could say I almost lost my “appetite” for the book. I don’t know why but for some reason I kept reading. I get the fact that the author wanted the details to be realistic for the time and setting of the book, but I kind of wish that he used a less savage way to show that.
Once you get passed those happenings the book’s actually pretty good. What I really admired about the author is that he managed to leave each chapter ending a cliff hanger. Even if the event wasn’t action packed (like when Benji got a job under Miss. Cary), you were so immersed in the book that you wanted to keep reading. That’s a huge factor in why I liked the book.
One thing that I strongly feel of is that the synopsis is misleading. It says that Benji and Red aren’t even friends. That’s not true; they meet almost exactly at the half point of the book.  It also says “Could the Madman of Piney Woods be real?” I can see what the publishing company/author meant by this but I feel like that’s kind of misleading. You sort of already find the answer within the first 90 pages of this book and although your perspective kind of changes on that in the end, the answer’s still the same from the beginning.  Although that’s not really a big deal, it’s still important enough that it should’ve been better.

Overall, even though it’s not my favourite book, I’m still glad that I read the Madman of Piney Woods.

Emma:
The Madman of Piney Woods was not exactly one of my favorite books. I found the language that the characters used in the book a bit hard to understand. The characters had only used one way of wording no past, present, or future tense. Which was very confusing at times along with the fact that the chapters perspectives alternated from Benji and Red's perspective (who are two characters from the book) I normally  would love this but they did not meet until the middle of the book, this caused me to mix up the chapters and I got really confused at the beginning (until they met each other).
 Now you need to understand that I am a fantasy reader. I love fantasy books and that is because I love escaping the world that I am currently in to another place all while staying in the same exact spot and sometimes not moving an inch. But while I read I did not want to continue this is why this book took a really long time for me to read. One night I forced myself  to read the 20 pages I had left. My thoughts on the book did not improve as much as I hoped they would and I really liked the ending. But I could tell the author was trying to make the ending sad but I just was not feeling it. I am currently reading a book and though I am only half way through it I can already tell that I will cry at the end (no doubt about it). I it is called "Counting by Sevens" and is a really good book for all you tragedy lovers out there! :'( :) Tears and happiness because even though you are sad you are happy you read it.
Anyways, this is about The Madman of Piney Woods and overall I suggest that you read it but, remember that there are still many more enjoyable books to read out there in my opinion. Check our other reviews I hope to put up reviews for my all time favorites A.S.A.P. (you will know because I will give most of them five stars)
____________________

Can you guess what the next review will be on? HINTS: It's yet another Forest of Reading Nominee (Silver Birch to be exact!) It's a realistic fiction...

More reviews coming to a computer near you soon!

Yours Truly,
Emma and Ashvini



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