(Not) A Review
genuinely thought I would be able to keep my thoughts about the Casual Vacancy strictly to Racewood Radio, but as usual I have a lot to say, and I don’t really want to dedicate most of the show to it, so I’m going to get some of it out here, and probably reiterate certain things as I feel necessary.
I have admittedly mixed feelings about the book and part of that is completely on me. I had unrealistically high expectations of the book because of it’s author, because I remembered loving Harry Potter so much that I thought I would love this too. Partially though, based on the description of the book I was sort of hoping for a British small town equivalent of ABC’s Scandal. Secret political dealings, that sort of thing. What I got was, what could have been that, but presented in a much different way and in a way that wasn’t as exciting as I’d hoped. Sure there’s infidelities, and mother’s on heroin, but it’s not really presented in a way that makes it particularly interesting. The biggest problem in my mind is that there isn’t really any one character who you feel like you could like, or even a character that you’d hate enough to make them interesting. I’ve pointed out on several occasions that even Lord Voldemort’s back story made you a little curious about him. These characters however, even when I think for one moment that I could possibly feel something for them, I end up being annoyed by them, or worse feeling apathetic for them entirely.
The truth is, I can’t say it’s a particularly bad book, because as much as I personally don’t like it, a lot of the point is the realism of the world. Some of the characters and scenes that are particularly awkward are uncomfortable, are so by design. Part of it, admittedly is that while I love the idea that she made her way into the adult market, reading her character’s cursing feels almost like hearing your teacher curse for the first time, it’s funnier than it should be and also a little awkward because you don’t expect it.
Ultimately, I think this is going to be the most I review of the book because even if I somehow manage to finish it, I don’t really know what else I could say. Given that I personally didn’t enjoy the book I’m not sure I could fairly and impartially rate it on any given scale. Nor can I honestly say I would recommend it to anyone, because when I talk about it, the issues that come to mind are the awkward and uncomfortable scenes and the horribly unlikeable characters.
Side note, I swore the preview I read was more interesting than this, how do I keep getting roped into books where the sample chapters are interesting then you buy the book and suddenly it’s just like someone deflated your tires? This is not the first time this has happened.
