Book Bug: The Casual Vacancy
I read this book cover to cover in less than 4 days. From our train trip, Toronto to Ottawa. A few chapters while waiting in Ottawa. A few hours train trip from Ottawa to Montreal. And a lot of chapters while there. And then on the way home, for almost 5 hours straight. Just 30 minutes before we got to Toronto, I read the last paragraph, sighed and told Kevin what a good read it was.
I have read all of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books in the past and enjoyed her talent in putting together words as beautiful as a string of pearls. I love writers who are able to do this on top of having a great plot. And I have to say, I am a big fan of Rowling. Again.
However, if you think that this book will be about magic, boarding school or a bunch of kids taking classes… You are wrong. I was taken by surprise on a lot of things. R rated. A rape, irresponsible acts of young kids and fantasies of young boys. And let me warn you that there are LOTS of characters in the book that I kept mixing up in the first 8-10 chapters. But all in all, it’s a book that I enjoy reading and will leave it on my shelf (just borrow from me, a friend or the library!). If you have a lot of time on your hands, especially a long train or plane ride, the characters in this book will take you away from that long dreading wait to a simple and yet complicated social structure of a beautiful little town in England. Rowling, again, described this town with excellence until I could picture every turn of the road and whose house is on which side. Amazing!
I think what really captured my attention is the fact that this book is about life and the brokenness of people. It was real and raw. I found character studies fascinating and Rowling took her sweet time describing the train of thoughts, struggle and how each character approached their lives and relationships. I don’t want to be a spoiler so I would go ahead and rate this book as 4/5.
Share the love,
Jenn
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Thanks for sharing. Been looking for a few Christmas present books!
Now I miss my days of reading books! I need to check out some of these that you have listed here!
Thanks for the review, I might have to get the audio book but sounds like I shouldn’t listen to it with my kids around 😉
I am glad I came across your blog! I have been looking for my next book, and am going to look through more of your posts. Thanks for sharing!
I need to make time to read more… Thanks for the encouragement!
Thanks for the review! I love to read, and don’t do it enough. I love hearing from others about books they’ve enjoyed.
Totally agree. Great book!
Great review! I must read!
Wow! This book must have been good if you finished it in 4 days!
[…] this book was like ending Rowling’s book a couple months ago. There was a bitter sweet feeling and the realness of the characters stayed […]