Well. That was dark. Fair bit depressing, to be honest... probably because it felt to be quite within the realm of reality. I would like to believe there is no small town quite so heavily populated with such horrid people.... but I'm probably being naive.I was impressed with Ms. Rowling's ability to pull off accents in text - I could hear the accent in my head but had no trouble following the meaning of the speeches. Also, while every character was at some point someone easy to dislike, or hard to like depending on how you approach it, almost all of them had their moments where you caught yourself feeling sympathy for them. Even the ones that you could never actually like, except for maybe a couple, you could at least feel some compassion for them. Pretty skilled character building and story telling.I must say, between this and the Harry Potter books, I will from here on out consider anything J.K. Rowling writes something I need to read. Quite the range. I read this book because it was J.K. Rowling, but it is not something I would usually choose to read. I like her writing style but I found it hard to like the characters. It made me laugh that I recognised a few of them as being very similar to people I know in my own small town, particularly the very self-important local councillors. I found it difficult at the time to read without squirming at any swearing or references to sex as it felt awkward, like discussing sex with your parents! I loved the Harry Potter books so much that it was difficult to read this without thinking that the author also wrote Harry Potter.Having mentioned that I was already biased before reading, I still don't think this is one of the best stories I have ever read and I didn't like the ending at all. It isn't a book I will re-read or recommend to others.
What do You think about The Casual Vacancy (2012)?
too slow, too foul, I'll spend my time with other books I enjoy more
—Tanina
The books are better than the movies, just so you know.
—dkv
a book by a female author in 2015 reading challenge
—goldie
I couldn't even finish this. Found it boring.
—saad
