The Playroom

The topic of domestic abuse has been treated by other crime writers like Ruth Rendell (Harm Done) in very haunting ways, a subject that can only be disturbing, whether we are talking about Saturday night drunk wife bashing or upper class invisible terror. But Frances Hegarty takes the subject to a completely new horrific level of its own, as we are led along a path of seemingly innocent happenings and odd occurrences to a chilling finale which leaves the reader shocked to the core. The only thing I didn't like as I am a naive reader in some ways is that I don't know if she survived (probably not). It is not made clear.

I found myself unable to put this book down. In describing the lives of the so-called middle class in the dire straits of their individual lives, I am reminded that behind the closed doors of our houses (as distinct from homes), there is a great variety og human behaviour that impinges on partners and children.A disturbing book.

I have read a lot of thrillers I have to say this was not one of themCould never get into it unfortunately I did not uphold the 100 page rule and read to the end shame on meWanted to see if it got better... noWouldn't recommend to anyone

I saw that the other reviewers gave this book 5 stars, but I didn't see it as a perfect book. 1) The author writes in an odd way. Her paragraphs are huge and long. There were so many thoughts and subjects smashed into the overlong paragraphs. If I had written such long paragraphs in my writing classes in college, I would have gotten bad grades for them. 2) Twice the author called Mary, Katherine's sister, Mary ALLENDALE instead of Mary Fox, her real name. 3) The alternating narration was confusing. Sometimes I read a whole page of a new chapter before realizing it was Susan, the next-door neighbor, speaking. I think the author should have put the character's name in the chapter heading. 4) After nearly 400 pages, the book ends on a cliffhanger!! What happened to David? Is he in jail? Where is Jeremy, with Child Protective Services? Did Jeanetta live or die? Is Katherine really pregnant? Will she be charged with any crime, or at least negligence? It seems to me that this book begs a sequel. I'm just dying to know what happens to the main characters.

This book reminded me of a story my brother used to tell about a pink ping pong ball. He would have a few drinks in him and delightedly launch into this story, with little side stories that he made up along the way that had absolutely no relation to this ball. It was a flat one dimensional story to!d in monotone. I'm not quite sure why he told it, but suspect it was to see how long someone would sit and listen to (nothing). A person only got caught up in It once. He's gone now and we all miss him terribly, enough that we'd sit through another telling.The reason for my saying all this is- I began to think he was telling this story from beyond the grave and laughing. Not only does this story have no point, but the characters have less appeal than the pink ping pong ball. I'm never quite sure who's doing and saying what but it's flat and pointless. The characters have the personality of paper dolls. They don't seem to like each other. I read the description again and if one's crazy, then all of them are, and the playroom is a big institution. One and a half chapters was all I could stand.

I'm giving this a 2 because it did have some interesting parts, but overall I did not enjoy this book and I struggled to finish reading it. I don't recommend it. There's way too much time in which nothing happens at all and the writing is incredibly confusing and hard to follow. I found myself skimming sections about halfway through the book because the sentences were fragmented and rambling and never really contributed anything to the story. There were weird chapters that were suddenly told in first-person and I never got the point of it. It was a weird stylistic choice and just didn't work.This isn't comparable to Flowers in the Attic, and it isn't anything like what the description makes it sound like it'll be. Most of the book is spent describing the boring, rambling lives of characters I never grew to care about.All in all, I'd pass on this if I were you.

I know a lot of the reviews mentioned they found the book boring during many parts. I, however, did not feel that way. The book takes place in an upper-class neighborhood, and I found all the wives gossiping and creating drama hilarious and angering at the same time; I had to keep reading to make sure these women learned a lesson. On top of that, the relationship between Katherine and David continues to get crazier and more odd throughout the book; you hate the guy by the end of it, when you begin just disliking him.Saying all that, the ending sucked. This really just got going in the last like 30 pages and it feels rushed, especially the last chapter. When you read a 400 page novel, you except an ending you can walk away with and say, "Yes, that was worth the other 350 pages." But I didn't feel that way. You get an idea of how everything ended, but what happened to David? What about Jeanetta? What about the son? We get a glimpse into what Katherine faces, but just a glimpse and nothing definite.