J.K. Rowling - The Casual Vacancy

Evening Standard“A punishing read...” Much can be deduced from The Casual Vacancy about why Rowling wanted to escape into fantasy and why she seems so brittle still, after such unparalleled success. Harry Potter fans may long for a few more unicorns, though...

Scotsman“Far grittier, bleaker (and, occasionally, funnier) than I had expected...” Although she is no great stylist – her prose is seldom more than serviceable – her portrait of Pagford has coherence, integrity and, especially in the set-pieces where we see the characters en masse, a delicious interconnectedness...

The Independent“Slowed down by its fussy class geography and wheezing plot-motor...” Rowling's writing, which can be long-winded and laborious in the clunkily satirical set-pieces, picks up passion, verve and even magic with Krystal and the other adolescents...

Guardian“Intelligent, workmanlike, and often funny...” The Casual Vacancy is no masterpiece, but it's not bad at all...The fanbase may find it a bit sour, as it lacks the Harry Potter books' warmth and charm; all the characters are fairly horrible or suicidally miserable or dead...

The Telegraph“An uneven, often harrowing book...” It feels as if the author has unleashed all the swearing, sex and vitriol that have been off-limits to her since Harry Potter...As for the ending, dear God, it is so howlingly bleak that it makes Thomas Hardy look like PG Wodehouse...

Publishers Weekly“Rolls toward its awful, logical climax with aplomb...” Minus the magic, though, good and evil are depressingly human, and while the characters are all well drawn and believable, they aren’t much fun...