The Casual Vacancy

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the diverse range of characters kept you captivated by their range of personal problems. The ending was very good and really left me with lots of thoughts.
My favourite character was Krystal who you felt for throughout. It really hit a punch and brought many social issues to light.

Definitely not like Harry Potter!

It took me a while to get into the book, but once I did, I quite enjoyed it.

I realised I could pick people in my life that were just like the characters and that made it much more interesting.

Very well-written novel. I loved how carefully crafted characters were and the overall message delivered by the book.

This was an excellent read. It was a bit confusing at first, as you were introduced to so many characters right at the beginning, but once you got your head around who was who, it got very interesting and I couldn't put it down. It brilliantly conveyed the intrigues of life in a small town when a vacancy arises on the parish council. It was very gritty and portrays modern day social issues in a very realistic, "no holds barred" way. The characterisations were excellent - each person is flawed in some way and although they were not necessarily likeable individuals, you felt sympathy for them and their situations. I would definitely recommend this book to others.

It took a while for me to get into it but she writes well about a range of characters - none of them particularly likeable.