Like, it wasn't an incredible work of literature but it was still pretty captivating and did a good job with a really tough topic. The ending is getting a lot of hate but I honestly thought it was a really meaningful way to conclude everything. ( )

If you want to read The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall before September, it would be best to order it from Amazon Canada. While you won't get it in 2-3 days, it is worth the week or so that it will take.

The book opens with Sadie's father, George getting arrested for sexual assault against 3 of his students with another charge of sexual harassment against a 4th student. George is a beloved teacher, who once saved his school against a shooter by tackling the shooter. He is now under arrest and Sadie and her mother Joan are left behind. George's bank accounts have been frozen as there have also been charges that he paid off people to keep silent.

The entire book focuses on Joan and Sadie's lives following the arrest. The town becomes divided with some supporting George because of what he has done and some of the town despising Joan and Sadie for what George did.

Sadie must also return to school where her best friend is the sister of one of the girls that is accusing George for assault. Sadie starts finding herself disconnecting from life and her boyfriend. She finds herself moving toward an older man, who happens to be writing a book about the incident (Sadie does not know this).

Joan on the other hand finds herself acting out as she must now change her life to support her husband, who she finds herself not believing anymore. She finds support in a group for women who have gone through this. Joan must reclaim her life as she faces a new reality where people egg her house and call her with death threats.

This book is an incredible look at rape culture by barely mentioning the word rape. George is not the center of the book at all, but rather it looks at how people judge, accuse, and deny the victims and the family left behind. It takes a look at how there is a huge wake left behind from one man's infidelities. The girls George assaulted are talked about, called liars, and are doubted even though they are all under age and their stories connect. Even though George is not in the book, George is present through everything.

I will say at just shy of 400 pages, there were a few slower parts of the book that might have been trimmed out to keep the book moving. With that stated, it was still an incredible book that was well worth the read. The book does not go into details as to what George did, so the reader is left guessing and is left deciding whether or not to believe him throughout the book (there is a resolution at the end).

I think it is worth the import for the time being. The book as considered one of the best Canadian books of 2016 and I would agree. I gave this one 4 stars. The US version comes out in September. ( )

This was an intriguing book. From the cover to the cover, I had to know, did he do it? How could his wife not have a clue? Did no one see the effect that this crime was having on their daughter? All great questions. All questions that made you put aside everything and just keep on reading till the end. I must now go back and read more of this author's works. ( )

I read this book cover-to-cover in three days. The story was compelling, and rich with detail that felt specific to our current time period in a way that I haven't experienced in a novel. The characters were rich and all quite relatable. Most of all, I think that Whittall did something that many authors haven't achieved for me - created a complicated story that held me in suspense, and then was able to give the answers that I as a reader was craving, without reducing the story to a more simplistic version of itself in the end. In addition, this book took on heavy subject matter without shying away from addressing it in all its nuance, and without veering toward the gruesome. Full disclosure: much of why I wanted to read this book is because I know the author peripherally, and I think she's great. However, I wasn't prepared to be as impressed as I was. I'm glad that I made the time. It was a treat, and I would recommend this book to anyone. ( )

I read (but mostly skimmed) this, wondering if it might be a good choice for my book club. It started out well, but after a while I lost interest. I wanted to know more about the allegations against George and about the girls who had made them, but instead it was all about the lives of George's family. Admittedly it showed the impact of his alleged crimes on them, but they went to extraordinary lengths not to question him about his behaviour - I would have tracked down what happened to the savings whether I believed my husband innocent or not.

The ending was extremely anticlimactic. I won't be recommending it for book club. ( )