When I heard that J.K Rowling was releasing a new book, I was so so EXCITED!!!I started this book the minute I got it and obviously had very high expectations. I am so sad to say that I am a bit disappointed. I knew that this was going to be quite different and I couldn't expect another book like Harry Potter, but I just expected the same magic that hooks you to Rowling's books to be in this. However, as much as I wanted to love this book, it just came across as average to me. The blurb was okay but, to be honest, I never ever would have picked up this book based solely on that, if I didn't know who the author was. I guess one of the reasons why I didn't like it much is because its not my type of book. I'm making it sound like I hated this book, but I didn't. It was OK. I just had super high expectations and sadly, they weren't met. 
 The story is quite sophisticated and I was weirded out at first to read swearing and sex and mature content in a J.K Rowling book. But, it is an adult book, so I didn't mind. Her writing style is still the same as before in the way she describes things and her dialogue, and I liked that, but at the same time, its so different and the story doesn't have the charm the Harry Potter books had. Maybe, I'm being unfair by constantly comparing it to HP but I cant help it! 
 The plot revolves around the town of Pagford where Barry Fairbrother has just died. The book explored all the other families living there, their reaction to Barry's death and all the issues that they have. Every single character has a story to tell and really, all of their lives are quite messed up. Rowling wrote them all quite well and, even though there are loads of characters, each one is well rounded and they all feel very real. Its easy to distinguish between an adult and a teenaged character because the narration varies enough that you feel like you have gone into someone else's head. The characters don't blend in to one. On the other hand, I think that maybe the story would have captured my interest more if there had been fewer characters. I mean, there are just so many and it can be hard to keep track of all of them. Also, if I got invested in one of their stories, then I wanted to keep reading about them, but it would switch to another person, and it would get frustrating. 
 Overall, I had mixed feelings about this book. J.K Rowling's writing is as brilliant as ever but think the plot wasn't good enough to match it. It was just too slow and not enough happened to make it really exciting. I think she should stick to mysteries or fantasy, even if she writes an adult novel. I really hope that her next novel is better.