The Orpan Choir by Sophie Hannah

The Orphan Choir fails from the very beginning and has no chance at succeeding because the protagonist, who is in every scene of the novel, is inherently unlikeable. Louise Beeston is utterly neurotic and annoying. She is constantly complaining about everything and anything, from her neighbor’s loud music, to her unsympathetic neighbors, to government officials who won’t listen to her. She is like one of those protestors who protests all of the time that it eventually becomes background noise, and the reason for the protest is lost. The most egregious aspect of her character is her constant complaining that the school, which is some choir boarding school, is stealing her son, even though she agreed to let him go to the school. I grew so tired of Louise that I could barely finish reading this.



Louise continues to hear a choir that only she can hear. It was so ridiculous how insistent she was that her sinister neighbor was behind the ominous choir, even when it would have been absolutely impossible for him to have been responsible for it. The novel was short, yet still hard to get through. The twist at the end wasn’t bad, but by that point I just didn’t really care anymore and wanted it to be over. This novel is a prime example that a story simply can’t succeed if the main character is an unlikeable bore. Therefore, I would advise staying away from this book.