A review by frickative
A Room Swept White by Sophie Hannah

3.0

Sophie Hannah's books are endlessly frustrating to me, chiefly because she has excellent ideas and solid execution, but her characters are just dreadful. There's no one to like or root for, and her recurring cast is abysmal to the point that I wish painful deaths on all of them. But her plots are so compelling. At least a year has passed since I last read one of her Spilling books, so I braved another and did enjoy it on the whole. Yes the characters are a miserable, pathetic bunch, but it didn't seem quite as bad as in the last one I read (high praise!) and the plot kept me guessing right up until the end. It was a solid page turner that I finished within two days, and I'm sure that I will read more of her books in future. And I'm sure that I'll hate the characters and get frustrated all over again, because Hannah has so much potential, and squandering it on her idiotic cast is a crime in and of itself.