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?
(Warning: my review is brutal)
My Thoughts: Before I read this book, I read through a couple reviews on Goodreads. I was interested to read the summary of the book and see if this is something I could get into. Almost all of the reviews on GR that I read mentioned that Rowling wrote this book for shock value, to remind readers that this isn't Harry Potter. Also, a few reviews said they couldn't even finish the book! I thought: "What a bunch of crap; These people just don't know how to appreciate a good book like I do!! What fools they are to not realize that they simply aren't reading HP and respect the adult book for what it is" And I could go on...
Those reviewers don't know anything. Wannabe JK Rowling fans.
So the summary of the book intrigued me, and thus I began to read. I got as far as chapter 6 (VI). Yes, so that should say it all. Take my review with a grain of salt because I didn't finish the book, but I really couldn't bring myself to. It really made me sad and disappointed because I expected so much more from Rowling.
She has, arguably, one of the most popular book series in the world, and we get this as her adult novel?
And guess what? Those 6 chapters that I read made me realize that the reviewers were right! No plot, just a different family with multiple characters in each chapter that you had a hard time keeping up with (since so many were introduced), talking about Barry Fairbrother's death. That's it. The characters all have some secret hatred or ugly truth inside of them that's supposed to interest the readers. I get that she is trying to write something new, and depict people for how they really are (petty, shallow, greedy, mean, fake, etc) but it really does come off as though she is trying to shock us, especially because 6 chapters in there is no plot. Not to mention the vulgarity.... in some parts it is disgusting. I don't even want to get into it, but it involves the crude thoughts of teenage boys (and apparently according to other reviewers also rape and pedophilia later in the book). So please, try this book if you want but really....it might disappoint you. Don't say I didn't warn you.
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