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The lurb for this nook was intriguing. Tom, Rebecca, Maggie and Lucy are all neighbours and friends. When they invited Alice into their group, they didn't expect to feel uncomfortable around her . Alice is not a likeable character. I fact she's a bit creepy. There is some clever twists but the pace is quite slow. Lucynis the main charactrr in the story. She had not long lived in the village herself before Alice moved there. This is quite and enjoyble read.
The Book Club by C.J. Cooper – Review. The tangled webs
I found the book quite confusing at times, one chapter was from Lucy’s point of view and then the next was always focused on other character or multiple character’s but always in the third person. Because of this, sometimes I had to reread paragraphs because I was confused who it was about. But once I got used to this style, I really did enjoy the book. I had some ups & downs with this, there were parts that were very slow paced & I struggled to get through, & the fact it was from lots Point Of Views without really clearly identifying it for you can be confusing at times (at least for me anyway). It also switched from first person to third often (Lucy's POV is in first, yet everyone else is in third). I loved this book - tightly plotted, edge-of-seat gripping and likely to make you want to avoid book groups for the foreseeable future! -- Sophie Hannah This book wasn’t written well at all but had a lot of potential to be great! It dragged on and was really flat, the execution and end was ok otherwise I’d of given a 1.5 (sorry!)
Customer reviews
Ever been part of a book club? Or wondered what your seemingly respectable neighbours are really up to behind closed doors? Then C. J. Cooper’s The Book Club is the perfect suspense novel for you . . . Unfortunately it’s everything else that falls short with the main reason being that it’s all so unrealistic. Throughout the whole book none of the friends actually talk to each other about their suspicions or the rumours that Alice (someone completely new to the village) has suggested to the other supposed best friends – that would NEVER happen in real life. There are other small and not so small bits like this that just don’t make sense – including something ridiculous at the end (all I can say with no spoilers). I was also disappointed with the motive for revenge too. Smart, sassy . . . Midsomer Murders meets Desperate Housewives. Immensely entertaining, the growing sense of menace - of 'where have I seen you before?' - grips and chills in equal measures. An excellent confident debut!
The Book Club By C. J. Cooper |The Works
The fact that Alice was suspected early on dismissed all the ‘C’mon you must know’ and made the ‘proving it’ even betterWe learn that Lucy had an affair with her boss in London and soon other people’s secrets are being hinted at.
The Book Club by C. J. Cooper | Waterstones
Lucy has moved from London to a picturesque Cotswolds village after a failed affair with her married boss and she is settling in well until Alice moves in next door. Right away when starting this book I had the feeling of “okay, I know what this book is about, not sure if I’m going to enjoy this.” But a little further in I realized what I thought I knew was actually wrong- and then I had to find out what happened. Alice is out for revenge, and it took me until the last few chapters, just before it was revealed, to work out what exactly she wanted revenge for. Zero character development (I didn’t even know what colour Lucy’s hair was until the end) it makes it really difficult to paint a picture of a character with zero description of their appearance from early on especially when there is five main characters.
Enter Alice, who moves in next door to Lucy, Alice knows exactly who Lucy is and wants revenge...and if she finds out the secrets of the other 3 in the ‘clique’ then the more the merrier and so via a Book Club where she chooses books to match their ‘crimes’ chaos suddenly arrives, and life will never be the same for any of them Lucy moved in the village in the Cotswolds some months earlier and is starting to feel she has made friends, with Tom, Maggie, and Rebecca. Then a newcomer moves into the house next door to Lucy. Though she seems pleasant enough there is something about the newcomer Alice that just seems a bit off. But Lucy’s other friends all think she’s fine. Then Alice comes up with the idea of a book club. But each book chosen seems to be relevant in a specific way to one of the members. As they read each book, secrets of people’s lives come to light. Lucy becomes more wary around Alice as time goes on. But what could Alice’s plan be and why? We find this out at the end of the book and I was a bit surprised by the extremes Alice goes go to get revenge, when I found out what happened.
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