What do readers think of Madapple by Christina Meldrum? Write your own review.

I originally requested this book for my 15 year old daughter to read and review,but she couldn't get into it so I decided to try to read it. I have to admit that I started the book with a negative bias, but I soon found myself pulled into the story and ended up enjoying it quite a bit.

The storyline and characters are somewhat timeless and mystical, but the characters interactions make for a very compelling read. I especially liked the dynamics between the young adults and their elders. The author's method of interweaving the courtroom scene into the story kept the book grounded in the present. The main story was very surreal.

The author has an impressive knowledge of ancient religions and medicinal plants and I found a lot of the material fascinating. But, it is precisely these subjects that would keep me from recommending this book to anyone under the age of 18.

This story was like reading my own bio. Parents who want to control their children, like Aslaug's mother, unknowingly emotionally abuse their children. Aslaug may have learned a lot about "mother nature" but not how easily this mother earth knowledge can't help in real life.

Thanks for a good read!

Very suspenseful and involving! I was fascinated by Aslaug's life: her profoundly disturbed mother, her abrupt immersion into civilization as we know it, and her coming of age amidst accusations of murder. She is a brilliantly written character.

The author's scholarship is impressive, but better yet she is excellent at portraying empathetic characters. I felt great compassion for Aslaug as she struggles emotionally, psychologically, and physically with her search for connection; she has some heavy monkeys on her back for a fifteen year old. She also has great intelligence, perseverance, and courage.

I would absolutely read this author again (I couldn't put Madapple down once I'd begun it!), and plan on sharing my copy of Madapple with members of my book club. Madapple is controversial, haunting, and illuminating ... highly recommended.

I don't usually read Young adult books as this one is listed as such, it did interest me though. It's very different from a regular novel and I think it would appeal to young teens.

It goes back and forth between a courtroom setting in the present to the past and how the story leads itself to the courtroom.

I enjoyed Aslaug, the teenage lead character, she has led a very sheltered out-dated life because of her mother. Home schooled and actually only learning the things needed to pass state tests, she still has no idea what the real world is like. They live in a cabin, live off their land in Maine and use all herbs and plants as remedies, soap, etc..

Aslaug faces a trial based on assumptions and is very naive with it all. How she prevails is interesting and how she was used is also enlightening. I would definitely read another book by this author, it was a very good debut novel.

I eagerly began this book looking forward to a mystery built around a mystical premise of birth as well as a trial. The author deftly moves from Asslang's life to her trial for murder and arson. However, as a reader, I soon became bogged down in the details of the medicinal plants, the history and uses of them. I doubt that would maintain the interest of many of our young readers.

Madapple provided an interesting read. I haven’t read anything else quite like it so the uniqueness of it kept me going. I looked forward to the trial sequences which proved to be the most entertaining and enlightening portions of the book. The trial sequences kept me reading though the other chapters just to get to them. However, I frequently felt bogged down with all the plant descriptions, and found I skimmed them. I also didn’t connect with the characters until the second half of the book. Despite these issues, I’d recommend it as a unique and thought-provoking read.

I liked the structure of this book--alternating between (1) a present day murder trial with Aslaug, the main character, as the defendant, and (2) the unfolding story of what really happened leading up to the trial. And I liked the plantlore in the first part of the book when Aslaug and her mother gather and subsist on plants and herbs alone. We learn a lot about the properties of wild plants. Truly fascinating. But ultimately I didn't care about any of the characters. Their actions and dialogue are stiff and opaque. They are like game pieces being moved around a very rich and intriguing gameboard. I hope the writer can bring her characters to life in her next book.

This was an average read with an unusual and provocative kind of plot. Much of the time I was disturbed by the subject matter. If this is meant for teen readers I am surprised. It was definitely geared toward a mature audience. I thought switching from the courtroom scenes to the story was clever. In fact, the courtroom scenes were what kept me reading. The character development was not up to what I would call "in depth" and the conversations between characters did not add clarity to the plot.