Devouring Books: The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (teehee)

"Humans often assumed symmetry and equality where none existed."

I'm not sure if anyone's aware of this (I may have figured it out all by myself) but Robert Galbraith is the pseudonym of JK Rowling.

I know. This seems like a pretty good move to have made since all any reviews of The Casual Vacancy were able to say were 'Well, it's not as good as Harry Potter' and 'Good God, she uses the word cunt a lot,' but then again, whilst reviews for The Cuckoo's Calling were favourable (and no one said 'OMG cunt.') sales were pretty poor until you know, we all found out JK was the author and everyone wanted a piece of that.

I was no different, and after a thankfully short wait and a mere 50p of cash, I had my copy from the library, and I zipped through it in mere days (about 3 of them? And it's a hefty book!) I haven't read a lot of crime books, and so there's always going to be a specific reason I read them (JK) but whenever I do, I find that I really like them. I like not knowing what's going on, and I like having people explain things to me using things we've discovered together through the story and I just like them like them like them.

The Cuckoo's Calling is no exception. The case concerns the death of Lulu Landry, (alliterative names, love it) the bipolar supermodel who seemed to commit suicide one freezing night by jumping off the balcony of her swish London flat (Spoiler: it wasn't suicide. Obvs.) and the detective chosen to investigate it is Cormoran Strike (what a name!), an ex-army officer who, when we meet him, is technically homeless and kind of a mess (is there any other kind of PI? I think not.) Things progress, clues are gathered, suspects are considered then discounted and it's all just really really good fun.

This is where Daria and I part ways because I actually do like fun.

I probably have two favourite things about this book, and they are these:

• London- The London that JK depicts is probably the best London I've ever read in any book ever (you should probably take into account the fact that I don't read a lot of books set in England when I say this...) and by this I mean that, her descriptions brought up an exact picture of the London I know in my head. I'm really interested to know if this setting is as vivid for someone who has, say, never been to London- I'm guessing the picture wouldn't be exactly as clear, but then when that person visited London it'd be like 'WOAH, it's just like being in a Robert Galbraith novel.' The setting is really great, is what I'm saying.
• Cormoran and Robin- It's not quite Batman and Robin, but the relationship JK sets up between Strike and his assistant is truly one of the best things about The Cuckoo's Calling. It's really interesting because you get to see the relationship from both sides, and the things Strike assumes Robin is thinking about him are not necessarily correct, and vice versa (although sometimes they do overlap almost alarmingly). This relationship is set up so well that I can't help but wonder (hope) whether JK plans to write more Cormoran Strike books because I would support that, big time.

What else can I say? It's JK, so you know what you're getting in terms of readability and awesomeness, and you know you're going to read this if you're a Harry Potter fan* so don't even pretend you're not. Rest assured, though, that when you do, it's definitely not going to be a waste of anyone's time and hopefully you'll have a lot of fun when you're not being all sombre and serious because, oh yeah, it's about a murder. Read on, my pretties.

*i.e. a breathing human

Harry Potter: It's not goodbye, it's just see you later

Oh you guys. This was some readalong, huh? We had some laughs, and then some cries, and then some more laughs and crys and it was kind of the best thing that a group of people on the internet have ever done ever?

FIRSTLY before I even try to sum up anything Harry Potterish, I have to say THE HUGEST thank you to Alice for being our gracious and also excellent host these past SIX MONTHS (seriously guys, that is the longest time).

Every single week I've felt bad when everyone else is a better thanker than me, but look! An actual Harry Potter gif from an actual Harry Potter film (don't ask me which one because I don't bloody know, do I?) But anyway, yes, Alice you've been great, and THANK YOU especially for getting your post up really early for those of us in foreign lands and strange time zones, even if we sometimes have to be reminded to link up our posts. Ahem.

And now, Harry Potter. I didn't want to talk about the Epilogue last week because I didn't want to end my post on a bummer, but I'm just going to have a teeny moan about it now. Because... Ok, I never used to HATE the epilogue at all, but it feels like for the entire readalong, everyone's been saying 'UGH, the epilogue' and I read it this time, and... Yeah. It's not even that I hate the pairs that JK makes, especially (although I do hate that Ginny didn't get to name ANY of her kids) although you have all made me want either a Harry-Luna or Harry-Draco union SOMEHOW, but that's not the problem.

The problem is, I want to know what happens to EVERYONE- how has George even coped with life after Fred's death? It's so amazing that Neville is a Professor, but what about his personal life? Is he married to Luna, and for that matter, hey, WHERE IS LUNA? It seems like JK makes her a pretty important character, especially in the Deathly Hallows, and then just leaves her out completely. And then, just, everyone else. I want to know far far more than there's space for in the Epilogue, and if I can't have it all then I'd rather just have nothing, and I'll imagine what's happened to all the characters myself, THANK you very much.

But. Let's just put that aside now, because I'm over it and oh my gosh have I even mentioned how much I love Harry Potter? I can't think of another thing I would spend six months of my life on, and the weirdest thing is, I'm still not at all done with it. I know that my posts every week were INSANELY long (um... Sorry about that) but honestly they could probably have been twice as long and I would still have things to say. And I don't even know why that it but it probably has something to do with the fact that, even though there's a finite number of pages in the series, they have created an infinite world inside each of our brains, all of them different, which makes an infinite number of infinite worlds and yeah. Woah.

So basically, JK Rowling is an amazing human being and I know that I'm grateful she went on that train journey that one day and dreamed up Harry Potter because I can't even imagine a world without it in. And we're so lucky because we grew up WITH Harry, but imagine what it's going to be like for all the generations of kids to come who get to grow up in a world where Harry Potter already exists- Guys- if we have kids (not together. Unless you want to) WE GET TO READ HARRY POTTER TO THEM. We have the opportunity to bring children that joy, and that is just the coolest thing ever in the world ever.

So. To sum up. This was the best readalong ever and I'll probably never read Harry Potter in quite the same way in my life again ever, and I love you all for your comments and your posts and for making everything about this experience The Best.

I am mostly VERY SAD that the readalong is over, but there's a teeny part of my brain (the crazy part that wants to read things that aren't Harry Potter) that's already noticed that I'm doing better at reading other things now that there's not a kind of huge part thinking about Harry Potter all the time. But still, I wouldn't have traded this for anything. This. Was. Awesome.