The Casual Vacancy | Review

If you’ve been here for more than a moment you’ll have realized my not so secret love for all things Harry Potter. So naturally, when her first “adult” book came out, I just had to read it. And let me tell you, I was pretty surprised.

 

I tend to read pretty quickly, and this was no exception. 500 pages fly by when you are captivated by good writing mind you. While I had no doubt that her first novel post HP would be brilliant, I must admit I was a bit taken aback at just how adult it was. Don’t get me wrong, I read David Sedaris on the regular so not much shocks me, but I couldn’t help but feel like like a bit of the vulgarity was anything but natural. It seemed a bit forced at points and rather like she was trying to prove that she is more than just the creator of the wizarding world we all adore.  

 

Now in five hundred pages, a slice of language or sexuality is seemingly insignificant, however the lack of necessity for the story line is what made them stand out to me. Perhaps it was my own connection between her name as author and the story at hand, but there was just this creeping thought that the book could have easily have had the same effect with about 400 pages and been a lot more language friendly.  I say this however, to also speak about the choice of verbiage in general. An inordinate amount of intense vocabulary words and British slang that kept my phone by my side to make sure I was inferring the correct contextual meaning all too often.

 

Now you might be saying right about now that this is one book you’ll likely just skip. But here’s where I tell you you shouldn’t! Despite what I have mentioned above, this was quite the captivating tale. So much so that I read it in two days at the beach. But more than the story itself, this book got me thinking. Obviously about the fact that I seriously need to brush up on my vocab skills post grad school in other areas than just ABA. And intensely about wanting to revisit England and bring the hubby along with me. But oddly enough, it also made me think about our perceptions of others, the boxes we tend to put people in, and the ones we confine ourselves to. It made me realize that we allow ourselves to be defined by our accomplishments, and all too often try so hard to prove ourselves to be so much more than them that it comes off forced. When we lack the courage to be ourselves for fear of failure, or simply for fear of being labeled a stereotyped idea, we lack the ability to genuinely connect with those around us. For when we are trying to be something we are not, we fail to see the beauty in who He created us to become.

 

Which is why you should totally read this book. Not because you’re going to have some grand spiritual revelation. Or really even learn some useful fact to share. But because this is a story about life. And a story that makes you think. And after all, that’s what the best books do. They stay with you, and they change you.

 

Grab your own copy & see what you think over on Amazon. My bet is that you won’t be able to put it down either.