First, I totally get why so many folks are not liking this book. It's dark, there aren't a lot of likable characters, and there's definitely no magic.

And yet. . .I couldn't stop thinking about the issues and people of Pagford. She tears away the layers of a seemingly beautiful, perfect town. Rowling is definitely trying to Say Something, and I think I'm okay with that. It's a harsher, more modern version of the kind of book Persephone so likes to publish--a character driven exploration of society.

I didn't love it, and I know I won't read it again. But Rowling knows how to tell a story, and I'm glad she wrote something so radically different than the tales that made her fortune.