The Radleys: A Novel

A fun little book that it is more about true family bonds than it would initially appear. Enjoyable, easy read

Just reread. The review is from the first visit but remains true.... ... An interesting take on a vampire tale. I never saw nor read the Twilight series .... and don't expect that to change. I stumbled upon this as a Midnight Library fan who also happened to want a book that began with R for a challenge. It's a relatively quick read. Vampirism can stand in for many other addictions (as someone w a history of binge eating, it seemed to be particularly familiar since it veered closer to a need (they could abstain, but going so far as veganism doesn't prove workable). Appreciated the various viewpoints of the family members as they figure out how to live with their truth. Didn't really need the few non-Radley protagonists (some other townsfolk take a turn, but most chapters are Radley-led, including an uncle who feels no need to abstain). Particularly interesting imagining in the picture of the relationship between the vampire world and law enforcement. Def be willing to read both sexual scenes and violent ones. Neither felt overdone to me ... worked w the context rather than for shock value or just "a sex/fight scene to have a sex/fight scene". I'm usually a character reader and I did appreciate these, but it's more plot driven...or maybe concept-driven is really a better description. Rare case where I'm really interested in seeing any film adaptation....often I dont want to lose my version of the characters (the Hermione effect?) but that's less of an issue when the idea is the truly unique part vs my usual character-driven favs 4 stars.

I was intrigued by this plot description, very different from the spate of other vampire films and books. So I gave it a try by getting the Kindle Sample. The beginning was quite clever and amusing, so I went ahead and bought the book. The plot was sufficiently interesting to keep me going, but unfortunately, between any action, there were countless pages of boring vampire lore, none of which was in the slightest interesting or germane to the plot. Why the author felt this was necessary I don't know, but possibly to satisfy the teenager vampire fans. Had this been edited out, the book would have been far better. Of course, that problem was solved by just quickly paging though these sections. A fun read, but not really worth the price.

I know they made a movie of this and was going to watch it. I didn't know it was based on this book so read it instead. I really liked it. Read The Midnight Library a while ago, and the author can spin a yarn. Great characterization, solid plot and easy to get into.

After finishing, I realized that this is probably the first vampire book I’ve ever read. Eons ago I tried reading Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, but put that one away after a couple of chapters. Couldn’t get into it, and didn’t read any other vampire stories until this one. This one isn’t gothic at all. Contemporary. The Radleys are an ordinary middle-class British family: mom and dad know the family secret, but their son and daughter do not. The parent vamps are abstaining, they don’t kill or drink blood any longer. It isn’t easy for them, but they’ve made it work for 17 years now. All is typical, including adolescent misery, an average neighborhood and dad’s dull medical practice, until the daughter is forced to commit a shocking act of violence. I like Matt Haig’s writing style. I read his Science Fiction novel, The Humans, earlier this year and loved it. So funny! The Radleys isn’t humorous, but it is a fun and entertaining read. I’ll read more of Haig’s books, I’m sure. Very good stuff.

Matt Haig tells us right up front that "vampire" is "a provocative word, wrapped in too many clichés and girly novels." But for the very middle-class British Radleys, with their two children, the cliché is their life in hiding, a colorless droning buzz of hunger repressed and desires denied. Rowan Radley is an anemic teen with skin rashes, yearning for the courage to talk to his sister's friend Eva. Clara Radley's walls are covered with "Save the Whales" posters; she is a vegetarian whose only friend is the new girl at school, a beauty who she senses will probably not speak to her any more once she is fully accepted by the other students. Helen and Dr. Peter Radley are helpless to assist their children to fit in, any more than they can assimilate themselves. They are too busy hiding their nature, not only from the neighbors, but also from their children. They are Abstainers: vampires who refuse to drink blood. Despite years of residence in their quiet community, all four Radleys are simply existing day-to-day. Suffering, in a blunted, relentless way: "Everyone represses everything. Do you think any of these "normal" human beings really do exactly what they want to do all the time? 'Course not. It's just the same. We're middle-class and we're British. Repression is in our veins." In a single brutal event at an overnight party, Clara will open the gates for all of the Radleys to revert to their true nature. And the advent of Uncle Will, a long-practising blood-drinker with the power to cloud men's minds, will at first seem a blessing. He can help them divert the attention of the police: "It is another unsolved mystery in a world full of unsolved mysteries. Now stand up and walk out the way you came, and the moment that fresh air caresses your face, you will realize that that is what makes the world so beautiful. All those unsolved mysteries. And you won't ever want to interfere with that beauty again." As always, though, when long-held feelings are repressed, they eventually burst forth with explosive power. The secrets the Radleys have been hiding go far beyond blood-drinking. And when they are no longer suppressed, the results will change the Radleys and everyone involved with them irrevocably. It's an intense novel, about much more than the girly cliché of vampire romance. This story is about living the life you were born to live, rather than the one defined for you by society. It's worth the read. "That is what the taste of blood does. It takes away the gap between thought and action. To think is to do. There is no unlived life inside you as the air speeds past your body, as you look down at the dreary villages and market towns..."

Storia intrigante e divertente

Love every book of Matt Haig but this was really hard to finish.

Haig takes an interesting look at vampires with this one. Entertaining, well plotted and characterised and a little bit provocative.

Vorweg muss man hier einfach erwähnen, wer britischen Humor nicht mag bzw. nicht als witzig empfindet, dem sollte man zwar nicht von diesem Buch abraten, jedoch sollte man denjenigen vorwarnen. Für mich als ein ANhänger exzellenten britisch-trockenen Humor war das Buch Wort für Wort ein "Leckerbissen", gerade diese "es gibt noch echte Vampire"-Fantasy Aspekte vermischt mit der Tatsache wie Vampire sich in einer Welt von heute zurecht finden, bergen wundervolle witzige MOmente, die einen ans Herz gehen und herzlich auflachen lassen. Ohne inhaltlich zuviel vorwegzunehmen, muss ich besonders auf den tollen englischen Schreibstil dieses Autors verweisen. Es war mein erstes Buch von Matt Haig und daraufhin folgten alle von ihm bisher herausgebeben Bücher. EIn wirklich begabter toller Mensch für solche Leser meiner Art. Ich wage zu behaupten dass das Buch auf Deutsch zu empfehlen ist, da es vielleicht durch die Übersetzung einfach seinen britischen CHarme verlieren würde, daher in Englisch ein einfaches Muss. Die deutsche Übersetzung kann ich nicht bewerten. Um es abrundend nochmal zusammen zufassen: Für jeden der solche Bücher liebt und wertschätzt ein tolles abendliches Bett-Lese-Erlebnis, welches in der ABwechslung von kurzen und langen Kapiteln, von gut ausgewählten Charakteren (Nicht zu tief und nicht zu oberflächlich ausgearbeitet) und von einer skurril-unterhaltsamen Handlung lebt und zur kitschigen Romantik-Vampir-Welle eine ALternative bietet und das mit viel Herz und Humor. Besonders die Liebe zum Detail für die GEfühle der Charaktere und den gewissen amüsanten Situationen lassen ein Buch, das über Alltagsprobleme von Vampiren in unserer Zeit erzählt, wie dieses aufblühen und schaffen den LEser zu begeistern.

For some reason, I had no idea this was a book to do with vampires. I even read the blurb, but somehow failed to read the review sentence on the back that said it was a story about vampires. I have just never fallen in love with the whole vampire genre thing. Got a few chapters in, loving it and to my disappointment at that time clicked on that it was a vampire book. I thought I'd carry on reading as Matt Haig is my all time favourite author. I couldn't put it down; it was so witty, fun and completely engaging. I read it quickly and couldn't put it down. The short chapters helped, so I could have a quick break here and there and come back to it. I am a convert to the vampire tale !!!! Deffo worth a read. I have never failed to read a Matt Haig book that doesn't impress me !