I know I’m not the only person on earth to have never read the Harry Potter books, but I’m definitely in the minority. There are a couple reasons I’ve never read them, the main one being, it’s a big commitment When (if) I do read them, I’m confident I’ll want to just sit and read the whole series and everything else will get in the way.
When I first heard about this book I was excited. I thought, finally I’ll experience the amazing writing of J. K. Rowling. Then I got distracted by all of the other books I wanted to read and kind of forgot about. That’s why I added The Casual Vacancy to my reading list this year (see here). Determined to cross another book off that list, I decided to begin A Casual Vacancy while on vacation in North Carolina.
As I started reading The Casual Vacancy, I was floored by how overly descriptive Rowling was; honestly it seemed a bit over the top. Now, I hate to be mean or talk bad about anyone, but I was seriously wondering if she was trying to hit a particular word count or number of pages she was using that many unnecessary words.
The Casual Vacancy takes place in a small town in England; very quickly into the story one of the town councilmen dies from a brain aneurism, thus the “casual vacancy.” A quarter of the way through the book and I couldn’t begin to tell you who the main characters are. All I know is that none of them really like each other. The characters range in age from middle schoolers to professional adults. And there are so many of them it’s hard to keep them straight.
After getting 27% through the book, I’ve decided to stop reading it. I hate deciding this, but there are so many other books out there I want to read and that I’ll enjoy so much more. I couldn’t justify torturing myself any longer. I absolutely hate not finishing a book but because I have no desire to read it I have to. Since beginning The Casual Vacancy, I have started and finished two books and just began a third.
Am I missing something about this book? Does it get good? If you’ve read The Casual Vacancy by J. k. Rowling, I want to hear your thoughts. Can you convince me to finish it?
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