The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

Summary:(from goodreads) When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils...Pagford is not what it first seems.And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?
Review: I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading this and although it wasn't perfect, I did enjoy it. This book follows a lot of characters and when I first started reading it I was confused about who everyone was. After a while though, it got easier to follow along. This book didn't have a whole lot as far as plot. The main plot focuses on fighting for the empty council seat and things slowly start to spiral out of control for several characters. I would say this book is mostly character driven and I enjoyed getting to know all these characters even if I didn't really connect with any of them. The only perspective i started to get annoyed with after a while was Krystal.   In a nutshell, this book is 500 pages of secrets. lies and gossip in a small English town and I enjoyed it. If you go in to this expecting an action packed magical mystery, you are going to be disappointed, but otherwise i think it is an enjoyable read. I have to say that if you start reading don't give up on it if things seem slow. It does get better and the ending was surprising. Overall, this is a good read.