The Cactus by Sarah Haywood
I chose this book because I saw one of my book friends had read it and enjoyed it. I’m going through a “thrillers” reading phase at the moment, so it took me a little while to get into this one. I didn’t find this a quick read, and although I enjoyed it, I didn’t love it.
I found the beginning of this novel quite slow. It reminded me of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, which is a book I loved and highly recommend. Unfortunately though, this book didn’t stand up against Eleanor Oliphant for me.
I didn’t really warm up to Susan. In many ways I found her quite annoying. This being a book about her, it meant I probably wasn’t going to enjoy this book much. I didn’t really empathise with her or her situation.
I found myself in that weird situation where I wasn’t enjoying the story much, but I did want to know what was going to happen. I am one who will put down a book I don’t like, so the fact I finished this one must mean I didn’t hate it!
This is an OK story. It was interesting enough to keep me reading. I wonder if I’d read The Cactus before Eleanor Oliphant I would have enjoyed this one more. This isn’t a tough or scary read. It is a novel about families, love and social interaction. For some, they will love this book. For me, it was just a bit off the mark.
3 out of 5