My first Kate Atkinson so I have nothing to compare this one too. I really liked how it was written. I thought the characters were interesting up to a point.

The plot... I don't know. It kept me reading, and I wanted to know what happened to everyone but it didn't feel well handled at all.

It was quite plodding, it didn't feel plodding at all until I put it down and realized I had read 74% of the thing and was still waiting for it to kick off. Lots happened but the whole thing felt like it was gearing up - various machinations being put into place. And then the whole thing fritters away to nothing and ends really abruptly, neatly summarising everything instead of just... telling the rest of the story.

The ending for Frobisher was appalling and a total waste. The ending for Gwen and Niven was stupid.

Florence's ending was just a bit like she couldn't be bothered with coming up with anything.

I've always assumed Atkinson was pretty decent, so maybe I'm being stupid and missing something clever but clever doesn't necessarily make it good so I stand by it!