18 Dec 2009

THE SCHOOL RUN.

THE SCHOOL RUN by SOPHIE KING.

Meet seven very different women - all on the same route to school.

Home loving Harriet is wondering whether her marriage is on - or off.
Widower Nick is struggling to cope with his troublesome teenage daughter.
Working mum Pippa is waiting for some potentially devastating hospital results.
School teacher Kitty has accepted a bet to find a man in a week.
Step-mum Evie has to save her career - and find her missing husband.
French Au pair Martine is about to run off with a married man.
Distraught Betty watches by the roadside for the driver who hit her son ...

Little do they know that over the course of one week the school run will have become a collision course, connecting their lives in more ways than one.

..... From the back cover.

First Sentence: The phone!

Memorable moment: My precious daughter,
I hope you are well and that your employers are not giving you so much work now. The children sound horrible but I have heard that the English abuse their children with artificial drinks and television.

What I would call a light and fluffy read. To be honest there wasn't really much to The School Run though it was enjoyable enough.

Not having children and being unable to drive I've never actually experienced the so-called school run for myself and I must say, if the book paints an accurate picture of what it's like, I'm not missing out on anything.

Story-wise. As I said light and fluffy. With some of life's major events being skimmed over, there is nothing at all heavy going about this read.

Character-wise - On the whole not very well written, stereotypical and not well rounded. Apart from the exception of 2 (maybe 3) of the main characters, Nick, Kitty and, perhaps, Betty whose story I felt could have been dealt with in a different, more thorough way, I found them to be not particularly likable and as for the children? There was only Nick's daughter, Julie who was portrayed as anywhere near a decent human being. I know the rest of the children had 'issues' to deal with (as did Julie) but how's this for beastly?

"No, Mum, I said I wanted a Croatian Au pair. Not another French one. I bet he can't even play football. Look at his picture - he's a real prat with those sticky-out ears and goofy grin. And turn off the radio. I don't care if you're on Desert Island Discs next week. I want to hear MY music. If you don't do what I say, I'll get my stutter again."

MY RATING: 2.5 out of a possible 5.

12 comments:

Mary (Bookfan) said...

I give you credit for hanging in there til the end. Here's hoping the next book is better!

NabilaHazirah said...

2.5?
I guess it wasn't really that good..
Hope the next book will be a good read :)

Betty Manousos said...

What can i say. Look forward to the next book.
hugs hugs

UberGrumpy said...

I particularly like woman no. 2, Nick, who is obviously struggling with gender issues too

Sandra Wilkes said...

It sounds like a fun read to me. I like fluff stories if they are all about people;s lives.

Heather said...

i wanted you to know how much I enjoy coming to visit. of the 7 things I didn't know about you, I still don't know whether you are a tea or coffee person? I switch of this from day to day, but generally I would be a tea person.

Anonymous said...

So I read your last post. I am known for breaking bones and that gave me the willies. LOL!

Yeah you deserve a medal for staying with a book that you didn't like. I have a bad habit of if the book isn't keeping my attention I stop reading.

I will make sure I stay away from this one.

Kissed by an Angel said...

I like light fluffy books - hardly ever depressing!!!

xxxx

Traci said...

I'm so glad that I read the review all the way through. When you read the back, I thought I would like to read that but then I read your review and I thought well, maybe . The pile of books next to bed has created a second bedside table so I'll skip to the next read. Here's hoping you like the next one better.
:-)

Kelly said...

I'll give you credit for always sticking them out, whether they're good or not.

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Melissa (My World...in words and pages) said...

Nice review. I don't think I would have read it, it sounds like it just goes through the day items which I kind of see now. I try to get away from the regular life things for a little while in my reads.

Nice review!