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Book Review of Madapple

Madapple
reviewed on + 2 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2


"Madapple" is a surprising novel; when i picked it up, I did not expect the book I ended up reading, and I was happily surprised.

Weaving in broad topics of nature, religion, and mysticism, child abuse, and kidnapping, "Madapple" is about a young girl named Aslaug. The story alternates every chapter between Aslaug's first-person narrative of her life living with her mother in the woods, and then aunt and cousins after her mother's death, and her on trial for the accused murders of her aunt and cousin. The straight-forward, spares, and largely emotionless chapters of the trial (set in the present) are a nice balance to the emotional and richly written chapters accounting her past leading up to the trial.

This book is not for everyone. I'm not a religious person, so the views some characters had about paganism, Christianity, and virgin birth didn't bother me, but there are definitely challenges to those with deeply held beliefs. That being said, the book never comes off as preachy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I recommend it to anyone interested in a challenging and interesting read.