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3.13 AVERAGE
3.13 AVERAGE
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was such a letdown from having previously
read "Our House". It is kind of all over the place
with a large cast of characters that was tough
to keep straight. Add to that, a good portion of
the novel is just neighborhood whining about
a new couple who move in. Regardless of how
legitimate everyone's complaints are, it just
makes for bo-o-oring reading. The ending even
is a disappointment and hardly worth having
waded through everything else.
Skip it.
read "Our House". It is kind of all over the place
with a large cast of characters that was tough
to keep straight. Add to that, a good portion of
the novel is just neighborhood whining about
a new couple who move in. Regardless of how
legitimate everyone's complaints are, it just
makes for bo-o-oring reading. The ending even
is a disappointment and hardly worth having
waded through everything else.
Skip it.
slow-paced
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Those People felt for me quite a departure from Louise Candlish’s previous novel, Our House (which I absolutely loved), but was similarly entertaining, well-written and absorbing. It’s perhaps less of a ‘thriller’ as such, but it still has a real air of mystery around it, which made me want to keep turning the pages and kept me up far too late before work!
We know from the beginning that something bad - a crime of some sort - has happened in an affluent suburban street in South London, and we see various interviews with residents after the fact talking about the gripes and horrors which surrounds the new neighbours, who have loved in to disrupt the peace, tranquility and family-friendly atmosphere of the street’s community.
What we don’t know, of course, is who is involved in this crime. And from then on, the story unfolds...
I loved the multiple narratives and character’s stories in this novel. You’re never quite sure which character may be hiding something, and who knows more than they’ve left on. There’s also a real sense of foreboding as you wonder who will be in danger - the new neighbours or one of the other residents?
This is definitely a slower-paced story than Our House, but Those People has its own twists and turns, albeit slightly less dramatic ones. It feels almost more suffocating, though, because it’s so damn relatable! Even if you’ve never experienced the frustration of a terrible neighbour, you can imagine what it would be like, and how you would feel trapped as you realise that house prices are plummeting, and you’re stuck with these people unless they decide to move out.
At the same time, Louise Candlish has cleverly created an array of complex characters who make you question your own judgements, because I felt for the existing families of Lowland Way... but another part of me thought they were really snobby and privileged. As horrifying as it must feel to suddenly have your world invaded by people you feel are ‘less than you’ and who have no care for your perfectly curated life, some of their judgements feel based on class, not on the people that these new neighbours are (and I’m not denying they seem awful people to live near!). This book really made me think about pre-judgements.
Therefore, as a reader I’m sure this book will provoke varying feelings, depending on how you yourself would react. For me it's a truly entertaining read and I think I almost enjoyed the character development and details of what is seemingly just ‘everyday life’ *more* than the mystery at hand - which, as a real crime fiction fan, I wouldn’t say often!
We know from the beginning that something bad - a crime of some sort - has happened in an affluent suburban street in South London, and we see various interviews with residents after the fact talking about the gripes and horrors which surrounds the new neighbours, who have loved in to disrupt the peace, tranquility and family-friendly atmosphere of the street’s community.
What we don’t know, of course, is who is involved in this crime. And from then on, the story unfolds...
I loved the multiple narratives and character’s stories in this novel. You’re never quite sure which character may be hiding something, and who knows more than they’ve left on. There’s also a real sense of foreboding as you wonder who will be in danger - the new neighbours or one of the other residents?
This is definitely a slower-paced story than Our House, but Those People has its own twists and turns, albeit slightly less dramatic ones. It feels almost more suffocating, though, because it’s so damn relatable! Even if you’ve never experienced the frustration of a terrible neighbour, you can imagine what it would be like, and how you would feel trapped as you realise that house prices are plummeting, and you’re stuck with these people unless they decide to move out.
At the same time, Louise Candlish has cleverly created an array of complex characters who make you question your own judgements, because I felt for the existing families of Lowland Way... but another part of me thought they were really snobby and privileged. As horrifying as it must feel to suddenly have your world invaded by people you feel are ‘less than you’ and who have no care for your perfectly curated life, some of their judgements feel based on class, not on the people that these new neighbours are (and I’m not denying they seem awful people to live near!). This book really made me think about pre-judgements.
Therefore, as a reader I’m sure this book will provoke varying feelings, depending on how you yourself would react. For me it's a truly entertaining read and I think I almost enjoyed the character development and details of what is seemingly just ‘everyday life’ *more* than the mystery at hand - which, as a real crime fiction fan, I wouldn’t say often!
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A strange, interesting thriller with some pretty diabolical people who you really wouldn't want as your neighbours! I wasn't surprised to discover 'who did it'. It did feel like it was left a bit open at the end, maybe we will return to Lowland Way...
Author Louse Candlish asks readers to contemplate this question: "Could you hate your neighbor enough to plot to kill him?"
Lowland Way is a suburban dream street upon which to live. The houses are beautiful, all of the neighbors get along, and the kids play together on weekends. They've even set up a program, "Play-Out Sunday," closing the road every Sunday so that the neighborhood kids can play in the street together.
Darren and Jodie move into the house on the corner after Darren inherits it from the elderly previous resident. They don't fit in and don't demonstrate any desire to do so. Darren blasts music at all hours with no regard to the fact that the next door neighbors have an infant. Additionally, he begins renovating the property, setting up scaffolding, and appears to be running a business, selling used cars from the front yard. To top it all off, Darren and Jodie are rude and dismissive when the neighbors attempt to lodge their various complaints with them.
The neighbors grow increasingly angry, frustrated, and impatient with Darren and Jodie.
And then a tragic death occurs on Darren's property. It shocks the neighborhood. The police begin investigating -- interviewing everyone who lives on Lowland Way -- and accusations, suspicions, and tempers flare.
Candlish takes readers into a seemingly idyllic neighborhood. However, the facade of perfection cracks quickly and easily when Darren and Jodie arrive. Her intriguing characters include two brothers who live next door to each other, a young married couple with the aforementioned baby, and a divorcee who is trying to hold onto her son by converting her home into a bed and breakfast. Candlish illustrates the fragility of the status quo and how a sense of entitlement can cause otherwise decent people to behavior irrationally in order to protect their territory and their way of life within it. As the police investigate, it becomes clear that everyone is a suspect -- everyone had a motive -- and each neighbor reacts accordingly. Tensions escalate further when, in the aftermath of the crime, nothing changes.
Candlish relates the story from the perspectives of the various inhabitants of Lowland Way in alternating chapters, skillfully keeping readers guessing as to who merely thought about taking matters into his or her own hands . . . and who actually did. Candlish presents unflinching portraits of people who desperately want their lifestyle to remain unchanged and might be willing to take any steps necessary to ensure that "those people" -- the interlopers who have disrupted their peaceful, predictable existence -- suffer appropriate consequences for their nonconformity. Her cast of characters are multi-layered and fascinating, but each is also wholly unlikable in his/her own way and for myriad reasons. The story progresses at a steady pace to a conclusion that is not unexpected but comes about in a thoroughly surprising fashion.
Those People is both entertaining and thought-provoking, and would make an excellent choice for book clubs because its themes lend themselves to discussion.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
Lowland Way is a suburban dream street upon which to live. The houses are beautiful, all of the neighbors get along, and the kids play together on weekends. They've even set up a program, "Play-Out Sunday," closing the road every Sunday so that the neighborhood kids can play in the street together.
Darren and Jodie move into the house on the corner after Darren inherits it from the elderly previous resident. They don't fit in and don't demonstrate any desire to do so. Darren blasts music at all hours with no regard to the fact that the next door neighbors have an infant. Additionally, he begins renovating the property, setting up scaffolding, and appears to be running a business, selling used cars from the front yard. To top it all off, Darren and Jodie are rude and dismissive when the neighbors attempt to lodge their various complaints with them.
The neighbors grow increasingly angry, frustrated, and impatient with Darren and Jodie.
And then a tragic death occurs on Darren's property. It shocks the neighborhood. The police begin investigating -- interviewing everyone who lives on Lowland Way -- and accusations, suspicions, and tempers flare.
Candlish takes readers into a seemingly idyllic neighborhood. However, the facade of perfection cracks quickly and easily when Darren and Jodie arrive. Her intriguing characters include two brothers who live next door to each other, a young married couple with the aforementioned baby, and a divorcee who is trying to hold onto her son by converting her home into a bed and breakfast. Candlish illustrates the fragility of the status quo and how a sense of entitlement can cause otherwise decent people to behavior irrationally in order to protect their territory and their way of life within it. As the police investigate, it becomes clear that everyone is a suspect -- everyone had a motive -- and each neighbor reacts accordingly. Tensions escalate further when, in the aftermath of the crime, nothing changes.
Candlish relates the story from the perspectives of the various inhabitants of Lowland Way in alternating chapters, skillfully keeping readers guessing as to who merely thought about taking matters into his or her own hands . . . and who actually did. Candlish presents unflinching portraits of people who desperately want their lifestyle to remain unchanged and might be willing to take any steps necessary to ensure that "those people" -- the interlopers who have disrupted their peaceful, predictable existence -- suffer appropriate consequences for their nonconformity. Her cast of characters are multi-layered and fascinating, but each is also wholly unlikable in his/her own way and for myriad reasons. The story progresses at a steady pace to a conclusion that is not unexpected but comes about in a thoroughly surprising fashion.
Those People is both entertaining and thought-provoking, and would make an excellent choice for book clubs because its themes lend themselves to discussion.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.