Book Review: The Casual Vacancy

Book: The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

This was far better than I expected. It was a tragic yet heartfelt tale. Once, I got passed the first 50 pages which was mainly the introduction of the main characters the story just flowed.

The Casual Vacancy focused on several families throughout the small town of Pagford as their lives intersect following the death of council member Barry Fairbrother. The town was a bit in turmoil as the council was trying to figure what to do with the low housing area dubbed the "Fields" and the Bellchapel addiction clinic, as both were seen as unpopular topics of interest in the town. When Mr. Fairbrother died, that caused a seat to become available for the town council and ignited both a war of words and competition for the seat.

This was a very detailed and emotionally charged story that had me feeling so many different things. The story captured my attention and had me wanting to know what was going to happen. There were quite a lot of surprises and twists which had me surprised because I truly wasn't expecting what was going to happen. Not at all.

As I read through the story, I couldn't help feeling sorry for the children and teenagers in this story because they seem to be treated so poorly. Many of their parents were so enthralled by their own lives and issues be it with the council and the fields or their own personal demons that the children just seem like a burden or an after thought but in one character's case, he was treated as a punching bag when things didn't go right for his father.

There were a lot of harsh and intense things happening and unfortunately this is real life to some people in the world. I think J.K. Rowling did a pretty good job of painting this picture of the lives of all the characters in the book. There was a huge class distinction going on between the residents of Pagford and residents of the Fields. And I think by the end, some of those barriers were starting to crumble. Especially following such a tragic incident.

I forgot to add that there were quite a lot of happy and funny moments in this book especially when anonymous posts under the name of Barry Fairbrother to the town council website started to appear. No one knew whose secrets the ghost was going to reveal next or when it was going to happen.

This was a very good book (however it's not for young fans of the Harry Potter series this would be best for adults).