The Radleys
Matt Haig
Publisher: Free Press
Release Date: December 28, 2010 (Paperback on September 20, 2011)
Pages: 384
Source: Publisher


Rating: 4 stars

Just about everyone knows a family like the Radleys. Many of us grew up next door to one. They are a modern family, averagely content, averagely dysfunctional, living in a staid and quiet suburban English town. Peter is an overworked doctor whose wife, Helen, has become increasingly remote and uncommunicative. Rowan, their teenage son, is being bullied at school, and their anemic daughter, Clara, has recently become a vegan. They are typical, that is, save for one devastating exception: Peter and Helen are vampires and have—for seventeen years—been abstaining by choice from a life of chasing blood in the hope that their children could live normal lives. 

One night, Clara finds herself driven to commit a shocking—and disturbingly satisfying—act of violence, and her parents are forced to explain their history of shadows and lies. A police investigation is launched that uncovers a richness of vampire history heretofore unknown to the general public. And when the malevolent and alluring Uncle Will, a practicing vampire, arrives to throw the police off Clara’s trail, he winds up throwing the whole house into temptation and turmoil and unleashing a host of dark secrets that threaten the Radleys’ marriage.

The Radleys was a really great read. This was the first book I have read by Matt Haig, but I definitely will be checking out other books by him! I loved the characters, and the plot was pretty darn unique, which made it a lot of fun.

I loved the set up of the book – it switches between the points of views of many of the characters in the book. You hear from some more than others, but it just was a lot of fun to hear from so many characters! It also has tidbits from the Abstainer’s Handbook mixed it, which I thought was a creative idea.

I really enjoyed the plot of The Radleys, it was definitely a more original take on vampires. I did find the beginning slightly unbelievable – I didn’t understand how you could not realize something that huge about your life. But that aside, the secrets and layers built into the world with the vampires was just really cool.

I loved the characters – even the more minor characters really stood out in my mind. Clara was a really great character, as was Eve. They were probably my two favorite characters of the book, they just seemed like super good hearted people.

I quite love the paperback cover! I would really recommend The Radleys, I loved the characters and the set up of the world Matt Haig has his characters living in.

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Follow the rest of the tour here! Every Friday during the tour, one person who commented on all participating blogs for that week to win a prize. The winner will be announced each Monday on Helen and Rowan’s twitter accounts @Helen_Radley and @rowanradley. The prize will be a copy of THE RADLEYS in both hardcover and paperback signed by author Matt Haig and some blood-red hot chocolate.

Also make sure to check out the super fun site for The Radleys, an excerpt for the book, and the book trailer: