This book made me realise how important it is to read a book's customer reviews before committing to read it. There's so many novels I want to read, and just not enough time to read all of them! If I'd done my research on this book I would have (hopefully) heeded the warnings about the lack of plot, the insufficient ending and the indifference a lot of readers feel towards the characters.

I look for books which completely draw me into their world, where I get so drawn into the character's life and their problems that before I know it I'm on the last page and genuinely care about the conclusion of the whole thing... While reading this I kept finding myself being very conscious of the fact that the author was trying to write from a female perspective, and even though I can't fault his attempt, I was just left wondering why?! Maybe it was intentional to put such an ordinary and bleak story on paper, as it is the life that so many people find themselves living? But surely a novel needs a positive life-affirming message, or at the very least it needs to be entertaining... With How To Be Good, I was left feeling as though the book was completely pointless and wasn't any better off for reading it.

The writing itself seemed aimless at many points, and although there were a few gems of insight into life today, most of the dialogue and narration seemed contrived and unrealistic. It's a shame because I had really high hopes for this book - Nick Hornby's High Fidelity is one of my all-time faves.