I listened to this on audio after watching the first season of the show. I found the characters pretty unlikable and the writing grating at times. I was compelled enough by the premise and plot to keep going, and I think I may be just barely interested enough to pick up the second book. I actually think even that is thanks to the interest I developed in the characters through the show, rather than the book. Still, it is an intriguing story, which is obviously a credit to Grossman.

I found this story exceedingly stressful to read yet somehow irresistible. As a wife and parent of young kids the conflicts hit a little too close to home to make it a pleasurable read in the way something like a murder mystery is, but I still was sucked into the suspense of it all and finished it pretty quickly.

Picked up to better understand one of my kids, but found that it was helpful for both. Tons of great strategies and nuggets in here for any type of child.

Listened to the audio book and enjoyed the story but could definitely see enjoying it more in print or with a different narrator. There was something overly emphatic or allusive in this narrator’s tone for me. I would have appreciated a more subtle or darker take. Interested in the prequel that came out this year and curious to read her writing with a different voice in my head.

This book is about as opposite as you can get from the Harry Potter series. It’s about several average families and small-town politics, in an ordinary English community. It seems to pride itself on a realism that is alternatingly gritty and mundane. The pacing especially is quite different from the page-turning Harry Potter books. The perspective is split between so many characters that the story never really gains momentum until the end, and the plot is almost non existent.

However, I found the driving themes and some central characters rather compelling. The ending left me feeling unsatisfied, deflated, and unsure of whether I “liked it” per say. But it did make me think and feel and I don’t regret the time I took to read it. It’s definitely a book that’s more about the journey than the destination.

Probably more like a 3.5. There was a lot I really liked and some aspects that disappointed. I was totally smitten with the first half, then it started to drag a little. The pacing felt very hurry up and wait for a while and didn’t deliver in terms of plot twists. The world building was exquisite though. And I think I would come back for book two.