I picked this up at the library because I loved the TV series of The Take and The Runaway. I’m not very far in but the writing seems quite simplistic, bad in places: ‘relaxed hair’?? but I’ll read a bit more and see how it goes.

Later…
Well, I have read 100 pages and I am getting annoyed that there is far too much narrative and there is far too little dialogue and action. The writing style is very immature. It’s so stereotypical too: all the women are good-looking, all the men are handsome. And the central characters being two brothers, one sensible and one out of control, is a carbon copy of The Take. I’m going to give this one up as a bad job; life is just too short. I’ll definitely watch it if it gets made into a TV drama though.

This is the first book in a long time, perhaps ever, that I am going to give up on halfway through. It’s direct and bizarre, and I have enjoyed those aspects so far but I just can’t seem to ‘anchor’myself in the book. The events are shocking but so random that it makes them meaningless. I don’t understand the protagonist; he seems completely devoid of feeling although the children are believable. Having read reviews I know how things pan out and the ending seems very mushy which jars against the dramatic opening of the book.

I don’t think this book is worse than others I’ve persevered with; I just feel differently about books now that I’ve stopped going to the book group. I just don’t feel obligated to finish books anymore. A lot of the pleasure of reading, for me, comes from reading precisely what I’m in the mood for.

I reserved this book from the library because it was near the top of the Amazon bestseller chart. It’s certainly a page-turner and GF has interesting points to make about male/female relationships, pop culture and the media. There’s a clever take on the ‘two sides to every story’ aspect and there is an unexpected twist at the end. But overall the book didn’t live up to my expectations. The writing style is just ok and some parts of the plot verge on the ridiculous. This book left me feeling slightly flat.