Enjoyable and an easy read, but strangely unsatisfying. A varied cast of characters, but I was left with the impression that problems aren't really problems because any adversity seemed to be overcome in a chapter or two of explanation (more tell than show). The setting and descriptions of scenery were great, and the premise of a new hotel interesting, but it left me wanting more depth.

Dithered between two and three stars for this, maybe more of a two and a half. The fact that this is a re-read and I could remember nothing about it probably says it all. Superficially enjoyable, but felt unresolved from the points of view of all the characters. I know real life is messy like that, but for no one to come out happier or better or glad it had happened was a bit of a downer. I like Joanna Trollope, but this is far from being my favourite of her books.

A re-read of something I read at school, unexpectedly bringing back hot afternoons in the mobile overlooking the field, and our English teacher's bad imitation of a Welsh accent. Intense and emotional, with a lot of undercurrents surprising in a children's book. I felt most for Gwyn, who had a chip on his shoulder, but probably for a good reason. Alison and Roger tried to treat him as an equal, but never quite managed it, especially with the interference of Roger's father and Alison's (never seen) mother. The undercurrent of supernatural activity was almost incidental to the emotions and interactions between the three young people, but brought a spooky slightly surreal atmosphere to the whole thing.

This was a strange book. You learnt a lot about the family at the heart of it without ever feeling that you knew any of them, even the protagonist. The premise of the book - that she could taste how people were feeling by the food they made - was dealt with well at the start, with her sheer horror at discovering her mother's feelings, but as the book went on, it became more or less incidental as she found ways of getting round it. There was little "action" in the book, but what there was revolved around the older brother, whose strange abilities were so much stranger than his sister's. Late on, you discover a grandfather, and maybe the father, have weird abilities too. I can't help but feel that everyone would have been so much happier and more well-balanced if they had just talked to each other.

I hated this book. There I've said it. Part of me wanted to give it one star and move along quickly, but I didn't because the author makes some very good points. Maybe I'm just a white person justifying my own discomfort, maybe not.
She is quite right: society is structurally racist; most white people benefit from white privilege without recognising or acknowledging it; feminism and other movements for change should be fully intersectional and realise that all movements for justice must intertwine with anti-racism; social injustice disproportionately affects people of colour. All good and true points.
BUT she makes her points backed up by anecdotes, stories of bad things happening to black people, and statistics, few of which have any analysis beyond, "This is bad! It happened to black people so it's racist!" The verbatim report of her interview with Nick Griffin (whose views are undeniably horrendous) struck me as lazy journalism.
More than this, her hostility to well-meaning white people was unrelenting and exhausting. (And yes, I know, that's nothing compared to the exhaustion felt by people of colour faced with racism and incomprehension of racism.) I was left with the impression that even wanting to learn to do better, I had no hope of ever being good enough. Faced with her contradicting assertions that it's not up to black people to educate white people about racism (fair enough) and that white people will/can never understand racism, I was left wondering what I WAS supposed to do about it. Ultimately I got the impression that any disagreement with her would be seen as racist at worst or white privilege/fragility at best. I genuinely don't understand how that attitude can make things better for anyone.
But maybe that's because I'm white and defensive. I honestly don't know.