My only complaint is that the end seems to come rather abruptly but it is a very well written book.

This was good. Not as good as her usual but good. Parts that are so funny you'll cry and parts that are just sort of "meh." Overall a fun read.

This book was interesting but the ending felt rushed, even abrupt in how quickly it came. Things did not wrap up completely, which is fine with a book like this, but the speed with which some of the story lines ended was dizzying. There is also a moment when A wakes up in the body of a heavy boy that made me annoyed at both A and Rhiannon. I felt as if A wasn't as good at looking at the people he inhabited complexly as I would have liked. Still the story was interesting and a quick, though provoking read.

Cloud Atlas is the kind of book that gets into your veins and won't leave you alone. I dreamed about this book almost every night while reading it. Normally I read two books at any one time but this book was impossible to keep away from. It invades my senses in a way I rarely have books do. It handles each set of characters complexly and interesting. I can't recommend this book enough.

I was warned before I started this novel that it was not particularly uplifting. I think that's the only reason I was able to get through it. It's not an easy read. Not a fun one either. The story is real to the point of being painful. Honestly. this is not the kind of novel that I might have picked up just for the hell of it. I wanted to support Rowling and ultimately I'm glad I did. It's good to read something that makes you upset and uncomfortable sometimes, particularly when it also makes you think about important class issues. The Casual Vacancy is well written with narrative flare unique to Rowling. It's more than just a story about a town, it's more than a story about class differences, it's more than a story about drugs or sex or hate. It's a story about people and the individual goods and evils that people are capable of doing.