The Casual Vacancy

Nit-picking (sorry! I loved the book!)
I loved this book, because characterization is where it's at.
I also like to get involved in the settings when I read, although it can be hard to hold a flexible notion of the town's layout in my mind and adapt it as needed. I'm used to doing that though.
Here's a strange detail in the setting that bothered me. (I don't know if I'm being too nit-picky, or if perhaps I just don't understand the Yarvil and district's climate [or England's, for that matter]):
The story takes place over several weeks in Spring; probably less than three months total. In the beginning, the weather includes a "hard frost." People were feeling cold and wearing jackets. But during that time, Mary needed her lawn mowed twice. What kind of grass has she got in her yard?

This book was just okay, for me. I found it difficult to get into, until I was about halfway through the book. The characters were mostly unlikeable, and their lives and circumstances soap-opera-ish. The writing was predictable and trite, which surprised me, given the author's creativity and inventiveness in the Harry Potter books. *MINI SPOILER COMING UP* For example, Rowling sometimes beat the reader about the head with her foreshadowing of a concept--such as Gavin's feelings for Mary and her reaction to it--making the writing almost clumsy at times.

I was disappointed. It wasn't the worst book I've read--not even close--but it was uninspiring and forgettable. Although I was not expecting this novel to be anything like the Harry Potter books, I was certainly expecting more magic, in the figurative sense.

I read this in two shifts, because I couldn't finish it in my first three week loan period, and there was a long wait to get it back again. Still, I was able to pick up right where I left off. I had been so engaged by the story, that I had no trouble remembering the relationships of the characters and the story line. It probably could have been edited down a little, without diminishing our experience.

The relationships between friends, opponents, partners (romantic and business), parents/children, rich/poor were rich and realistic, as were the social and political aspects (for better or worse).

I read this in two shifts, because I couldn't finish it in my first three week loan period, and there was a long wait to get it back again. Still, I was able to pick up right where I left off. I had been so engaged by the story, that I had no trouble remembering the relationships of the characters and the story line. It probably could have been edited down a little, without diminishing our experience.

The relationships between friends, opponents, partners (romantic and business), parents/children, rich/poor were rich and realistic, as were the social and political aspects (for better or worse).

depressing, yuk.
did not finish