Book Review #203 - The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils...Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

 

 

 

My Rating: 5/5

 

 

 

I went into this book with mixed expectations. I was excited to read it because Harry Potter is my all time favourite series, yet I didn't want to have high hopes as I knew it was nothing like Harry Potter.

 

 

At first I found the book extremely slow paced. The characters were all introduced so quickly, and there being so many as well it was hard to remember which character was which and how they were connected to other characters.

 

 

I found that once I got all the characters sorted out and their stories began to intertwine with one another that I was unable to put the book down.

 

 

The whole political aspect was what I expecting to dislike the most before reading, but whilst I did find it somewhat boring I found it rather interesting also.

 

 

What I liked most about this book was the characters. Each and everyone of them had so much depth to them. I also really liked the way Pagford was described. I was able to picture it with amazing clarity that I felt like I had been there.

 

 

I am so happy and somewhat relieved that I enjoyed this book as much as I did and am looking forward to whatever J.K. Rowling writes next.