What I enjoyed about this book was the sharp dialogue and clear prose. What I didn’t enjoy was that it is all somehow a little bit flat and unsatisfying.

The plot is like something from The Wire set in Scotland, which made me realise that I would prefer this story in the form of a stylish serialisation on screen rather than a book. There are so many characters and places, some with very similar names to each other, that it would be easier to differentiate between them in on TV because of the visual aspect.

In summary, The Complaints is not a bad read but it is far from remarkable. Having said that, it has the potential to be great on television.

(37th in 2012)

I came across this book through the Kindle Daily Deal emails. It bills itself as ‘the inside story of the Olympic experience’. It certainly is very revealing and honest to the point of making me dislike the author in places.

I loved discovering what it takes to become an Olympian, what goes in in the Olympic Village, what’s happening in the world of doping and what athletes go through psychologically, before, during and after the Games. Everything is very well articulated and written with great insight. It makes compulsive reading.

(36th in 2012)

This book is a little dark and mildly menacing. The characters aren’t particularly likeable but I enjoyed reading about this family with all their flaws, interspersed with sumptuous descriptions of food. Although I am sure that it’s very common in real life, I haven’t read many books featuring dysfunctional relationships between mothers and daughters. The interactions between all the characters feel very real. I think that shows the quality of Joanne Harris’s writing: she makes everything convincing and a pleasure to read about.

But ultimately this book disappointed me. I had hoped that it would be of the same calibre as the only other book by Joanne Harris that I’ve read: Gentlemen and Players, which is a deliciously dark and atmospheric mystery set in a boys’ school. Five Quarters of the Orange just doesn’t come close to that. Yes, here there also is hatred, fear and passion. Again, this is very well written. But the story itself just didn’t quite make the grade. I couldn’t help but compare it to The Book Thief, also a set during the German occupation with a young girl as narrator, which is a far more striking piece of work.

(35th in 2012)

I bought this book on Amazon Warehouse Deals, which sucked me in with its bargains even though I had pledged not to buy physical books this year. I was supposed to borrow books from the library and, if I was going to buy fiction, buy it for the Kindle. Anyway, I only paid £1.27 for this book and I’m glad I didn’t pay any more than that because it wasn’t that good.

The writing is honest and sharp – I will give it that. But I saw the ‘surprises’ coming a mile off and I found the subject matter so trivial. I’d read reviews saying that this book tells the truth about the first year of motherhood so I was ready for something deep and affecting, possibly with a dark side. I’m not a mother but plenty of my peers are so I do glimpse into that world, even if I don’t have first hand experience. So some of the motherhood stuff was familiar. I had a problem with the main character though. She seems so selfish and superficial, especially the way she always notices people’s appearances. Her friendships with her friends mostly seem very shallow too, though there are a couple of touching moments.

I wanted to enjoy this book. Maybe I would have if I was a mother, but reading this book made me grateful that I’m not one. They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Well, if I’d paid attention to the cover (or at least the title) before buying, it would have registered that the books I love do not have covers like this. I don’t like books about women who don’t seem to think about anything apart from babies and relationships and bitch about other women. Perhaps chick lit is not for me.

(34th in 2012)