The Radleys by Matt Haig
Feb. 22nd, 2013 11:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Life with the Radleys: Radio 4, dinner parties with the Bishopthorpe neighbours and self-denial. Loads of self-denial. But all hell is about to break loose. When teenage daughter Clara gets attacked on the way home from a party, she and her brother Rowan finally discover why they can’t sleep, can’t eat a Thai salad without fear of asphyxiation and can’t go outside unless they’re smothered in Factor 50. With a visit from their lethally louche uncle Will and an increasingly suspicious police force, life in Bishopthorpe is about to change. Drastically.
The Radleys are a normal, middle-class family except for their sensitivity to sunlight and allergy to garlic. Dad, Peter is a GP and mum Helen a stay-at-home mum who paints. Their children Rowan and Clara go to the local school where Rowan (an insomniac poetry-lover) is bully fodder with a crush on Clara’s best friend Eve.
Their comfortable lives change when Clara is attacked during a party and discovers that her family are vampires (albeit non-practicing ones). Now the Radleys have to dispose of a body and avoid the attentions of a secret police unit devoted to eradicating rogue vampires picks up the case. When things go wrong, Peter panics and calls his brother, Will – a powerful practicing vampire with the ability to control people’s thoughts. But doing so unlocks more secrets that threaten to tear the family apart …
Matt Haig’s novel is essentially a cosy, middle class domestic drama with vampires. It’s a witty, frothy read that kept me turning the pages and I loved the extracts from The Abstainers Handbook, which keep the tone light. However the plot is predictable, it doesn’t add a great deal or do much that’s original with vampire mythology and the characters at times border on stereotype as Haig over-emphasises how normal the Radleys are. As such, it’s an enjoyable read but not a great one.
Rowan’s a likeable schlub in the style of Adrian Mole but I’ve seen that type of character a thousand times before and felt that Haig’s exploration of his feelings about being a vampire and what it meant was superficial. Clara felt similarly underdrawn and functions more as a plot device there to show the effects of drinking blood and the transformation it brings.
More interesting is the triangle between Will, Helen and Peter. It’s pure domestic drama and again, nothing that’s not been explored elsewhere. Will and Peter are nice contrasts and Will is the more attractive character, but Helen’s dilemma bored me and Will fell apart towards the end in a way that didn’t really convince and seemed far too convenient.
There are some nice touches about vampire life – I loved the sections from The Abstainer’s Handbook and the blood club in Manchester is nicely depicted (if nothing new to horror/fantasy fans). However the whole thing never quite rose above its parts and although I enjoyed it, it didn’t stay with me.
The Verdict:
Matt Haig’s novel is essentially a cosy, middle class domestic drama with vampires. It’s a witty, frothy read that kept me turning the pages and I loved the extracts from The Abstainers Handbook, which keep the tone light. However the plot is predictable, it doesn’t add a great deal or do much that’s original with vampire mythology and the characters at times border on stereotype as Haig over-emphasises how normal the Radleys are. As such, it’s an enjoyable read but not a great one.
Life with the Radleys: Radio 4, dinner parties with the Bishopthorpe neighbours and self-denial. Loads of self-denial. But all hell is about to break loose. When teenage daughter Clara gets attacked on the way home from a party, she and her brother Rowan finally discover why they can’t sleep, can’t eat a Thai salad without fear of asphyxiation and can’t go outside unless they’re smothered in Factor 50. With a visit from their lethally louche uncle Will and an increasingly suspicious police force, life in Bishopthorpe is about to change. Drastically.
The Radleys are a normal, middle-class family except for their sensitivity to sunlight and allergy to garlic. Dad, Peter is a GP and mum Helen a stay-at-home mum who paints. Their children Rowan and Clara go to the local school where Rowan (an insomniac poetry-lover) is bully fodder with a crush on Clara’s best friend Eve.
Their comfortable lives change when Clara is attacked during a party and discovers that her family are vampires (albeit non-practicing ones). Now the Radleys have to dispose of a body and avoid the attentions of a secret police unit devoted to eradicating rogue vampires picks up the case. When things go wrong, Peter panics and calls his brother, Will – a powerful practicing vampire with the ability to control people’s thoughts. But doing so unlocks more secrets that threaten to tear the family apart …
Matt Haig’s novel is essentially a cosy, middle class domestic drama with vampires. It’s a witty, frothy read that kept me turning the pages and I loved the extracts from The Abstainers Handbook, which keep the tone light. However the plot is predictable, it doesn’t add a great deal or do much that’s original with vampire mythology and the characters at times border on stereotype as Haig over-emphasises how normal the Radleys are. As such, it’s an enjoyable read but not a great one.
Rowan’s a likeable schlub in the style of Adrian Mole but I’ve seen that type of character a thousand times before and felt that Haig’s exploration of his feelings about being a vampire and what it meant was superficial. Clara felt similarly underdrawn and functions more as a plot device there to show the effects of drinking blood and the transformation it brings.
More interesting is the triangle between Will, Helen and Peter. It’s pure domestic drama and again, nothing that’s not been explored elsewhere. Will and Peter are nice contrasts and Will is the more attractive character, but Helen’s dilemma bored me and Will fell apart towards the end in a way that didn’t really convince and seemed far too convenient.
There are some nice touches about vampire life – I loved the sections from The Abstainer’s Handbook and the blood club in Manchester is nicely depicted (if nothing new to horror/fantasy fans). However the whole thing never quite rose above its parts and although I enjoyed it, it didn’t stay with me.
The Verdict:
Matt Haig’s novel is essentially a cosy, middle class domestic drama with vampires. It’s a witty, frothy read that kept me turning the pages and I loved the extracts from The Abstainers Handbook, which keep the tone light. However the plot is predictable, it doesn’t add a great deal or do much that’s original with vampire mythology and the characters at times border on stereotype as Haig over-emphasises how normal the Radleys are. As such, it’s an enjoyable read but not a great one.
