Two many characters without a main focus. The plot is muddied and has no definitive direction to hold interest. I'm more than half way through and finding it arduous.

When I found out last summer that Rowling was publishing her first adult book, I must admit that I didn't exactly know what to think. Having had so much success with the “HP” series, why would she want to change audience, or genre? Feeling ambivalent, I decided to wait and see what other people would think of it. Bad idea ... Turns out the reviews were pretty mixed: either they loved it or hated it. This was only adding to my confusion and my dilemma: should I or should I not read it. I finally decided to give it a go. Even though I kept in mind that this was Rowling’s first adult novel and that she was entitled, just like any other first time author, to make mistakes, I must admit that I didn't particularly enjoy reading it. Moreover, I kept putting it down and finding myself excuses to do anything but read it. In this particular case, reading didn't feel like fun anymore, it felt more like work, which I already do plenty of. The one good thing I have to say about this book is that this is mainly the story of the people of Pagford. This is where the strength of the J.K. Rowling as we have come to know her in the “HP” series, is. Her characters, although numerous, all bring their contribution to the story and help it move forward as they evolve and follow their paths, whether for better or worse. They are all of them distinct in their own way. I particularly liked her teens, which as we know seems to be her forte. Although her adults are also well built, at the end of the day you feel naturally drawn to these teens and their lives, especially in my case to the central teen character, Krystal Wheedon who leaves a lasting impression event after you’re done reading the book. Now what I didn't really like is the fact that the story, although mainly about the characters, remains difficult to follow and the pacing might have a lot to do with it. The pacing here is that of our normal lives where some days are over packed with activities or action and others where nothing really important happens. It is okay in real life, but in a book, it makes the reading tedious and I got easily bored. Should the book have been shorter, it might have worked, but here the length creates a dragging effect and some scenes were definitely too long and even unnecessary. Moreover, Rowling tries to recreate here the likes of our society and its every detail, but to a smaller scale, making the book heavier and denser that it should be. She tries to treat every subject ending up, at times, by only scratching the surface. Though, I have to applaud her for using crude language and exposing at times, something raw and dark. She does not shy away from what we all know to be the truth. All in all, I believe the author might have tried to put too much in one book and that a more thorough editing process might have solved the problem by making the book shorter and lighter. Let’s all hope that this will be the case in her next book. For more on this book and others, visit my blog at : ladybugandotherbookworms.blogspot.com

I loved this book! I never read Harry Potter so I didn't go into this book with any expectations and wanted to read it because it was so controversial. It will go down as one of the best I have ever read. I understand that people didn't like the cursing or some of the other conversation that existed in the book, but many of the things in this book are real life and exist everyday. i think people took offense to it but it is real. I loved all the characters and how they were so different from the next and I was so excited to read more to figure out what was going on with them. I think JK Rowling did an excellent job with this book and I look forward to anything else she plans on writing in the future.

It is always a bad sign if I can put a book down for weeks on end and not really care if I ever get back to it... That is how my experience is with this book. I think there is a story in there somewhere but the pace is slow. It is sad because I was so looking forward to Rowling's non Harry Potter attempt. I hope to finish it some time but it is not going to happen for a while.. To me there is no emotional attachment to the story or the characters to get me back to reading it.

I love JK Rowling so I decided to give this book a try - I decided not to read the back cover, or reviews so I could go in with an open mind. I was disappointed - and maybe that's just because it's not my kind of book. I found the read tedious and depressing to be frank and I had a very difficult time getting through it. I found the ending.....a let down in a lot of ways and was left feeling dejected. I don't want to give anything away so I won't go into detail but I will say that I did not enjoy this book and I probably wouldn't recommend it. To be fair - this may have more to do with my personal preference of novel rather than the actual quality of the story but either way it's a thumbs down from me.

I loved this. So different from what I expected, but a great read. Well developed, amazing character development. A solid entry into the adult genre Rowling!

I finally worked up the courage to tackle The Casual Vacancy. I am a fanatic Harry Potter fan and was understandably nervous to read Rowling’s first non-Harry Potter novel. And then the reviews came out and they were well…let’s just say mixed. But I kept my expectations in check and jumped right in and I am happy to report that I genuinely enjoyed this book. I wanted to know what would happen next and how the events that transpired would all play out. The plot of The Casual Vacancy is a seemingly small story. A man dies, leaving his position open on the parish council – also known as a casual vacancy. But J K Rowling, being the expert story teller that she is, weaves it all together in a huge story, with deceit, lies, intrigue and disaster. She peels back the surface story and exposes something raw and dark. And true to form, Rowling really knows how to turn a phrase and I found myself flagging a ton of clever passages that I wanted to return to later on. Story aside I found the best thing about this book was the characters. There are A LOT of them! But they were all integral to the plot and they helped keep the story moving. I loved how distinct everyone’s personalities were. Maybe it’s a small town thing but I know people exactly like everyone in The Casual Vacancy. I think this is a testament to just how well Rowling develops her characters. Especially the children. That’s not to say her adult characters were poorly written – anything but. But at the end of the day it was the children I was the most drawn to and that will stay with me the longest. On the subject of characters I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Wheedons specifically. I thought that she gave them really fair treatment. It would have been easy for her to fall back on some old stereotypes but they truly felt like three-dimensional people. This goes with for everyone in the book but especially this family. Through the Wheedons and the people connected to them Rowling makes some excellent points about social services and the people who depend of them, and proves just how wrong it is to make assumptions about people and abandon them when they need our help the most. The Casual Vacancy is not without its problems however. Most notably – it’s long. Way too long. I don’t mind books that are over 500 pages. Not in the slightest. But if they are going to be that length they should be making use of every page. Frankly, I don’t think that was the case with The Casual Vacancy. Some scenes felt overly long and dragged out and I’m not convinced all of them were completely necessary. I think this book would have benefited greatly from a more thorough editing process and I think had it been any other author it probably would have received it. I think this happens to a lot of best selling authors and it really does them, the publishing house and the readers a disservice. But even still, I was definitely caught up in the story and wanted to keep reading to see what happened next. Recommendation: A intense and well plotted read. But don’t read this book just because it’s written by J K Rowling. If this doesn’t sound like something you would like, well you probably won’t like it. But if you like literary fiction I definitely think there’s some interesting things being said in The Casual Vacancy. It’s all in your approach. This and other reviews at More Than Just Magic (http://morethanjustmagic.org)

This book was a relatively easy read except for the fact that you need to keep track of many characters however once you have that down its no problem. The underlying message is meaningful and it does make you think in the end but there was something missing in the writing style for me. There was no mystery just story telling. A little lack lustre but overall not a terrible shot at her first adult novel in terms of context.

I had heard mixed reviews of JK's new book, but was very interested to see how it would compare to Harry Potter. It was extremely different from her previous books, but I felt equally as good!! The character depth was amazing and by the end of the novel you truly felt connected to the characters. Definitely was a book I was sad to see end!

I’m not sure I would have ever read J.K. Rowling’s adult novel The Casual Vacancy if it hadn’t been chosen by a member of my book club. For starters, the book didn’t sound all that appealing to me – Barry Fairbrother dies and leaves a vacant seat on the parish council. Small town politics? Ugh. I wouldn’t have been motivated to read it because I’m a fan of her other books either. You know, the ones about the wizard and his friends and he who shall not be named. Yeah. I’ve only read the first one. Loved the movies, though. So, I started this novel not really expecting very much of anything. I mean, c’mon, it’s 503 pages long. It’s about a small British town. There are a zillion characters. And I loved it. Okay, maybe love is too strong a word. (My kids say I never love any book, but that’s not true.) I really liked The Casual Vacancy. A lot. First of all, I lived in England for a couple years and so Pagford, the fictional setting of this novel, seemed familiar to me. I knew the shops and the narrow streets, the school and the council flats. I could hear the characters (I kept imagining Coronation Street although I know that’s probably the wrong accent.) Once I got settled, the characters and their stories (all of which intersect due to their relationship with Mr. Fairbrother) felt very much like I was watching a British soap opera marathon. Every character was brought brilliantly to life. Fathers and mothers, teenage children, doctors, addicts, rich and poor – no one is left out. I really think that writing character is Ms. Rowling’s true gift as a writer. Characters drive story and that is certainly the case in this book. Nothing much happens. And everything happens and all of it because Barry Fairbrother dies. Some of The Casual Vacancy is laugh-out-loud funny. For example, middle-aged Samantha’s growing preoccupation with the hunky lead singer of a British boy band. (I may know a thing or two about this, as I find myself staring at pictures of Zayn Malik from One Direction just a teensy bit longer than is necessary.) Some of the characters are so heart-breaking you just want to hug them: Krystal and her little brother, Robbie. Some characters are reprehensible, yes, Simon, I’m looking at you! All of them are so…human…though. Flawed and brave and cowardly and pretentious and blind and you’ll see yourself or someone you know in every single one of them. This isn’t a book where something happens. The plot is pretty much incidental to the novel. Spending time with these people is time well spent, though. I do have one niggle with the book. Rowling took such care building up these people in this place and time, I did find the ending a little rushed. I would have been happier, perhaps, with a little less in the middle in exchange for a little more at the end. I didn’t feel cheated, exactly, I guess I just wanted more. I don’t need to know the fate of everyone, but some pretty dramatic things happen near the end and I just felt pushed along. I’d recommend this book, though. If you weren’t a fan before, The Casual Vacancy could very well win you over. I am definitely going to read those Harry Potter books.