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433 reviews for:

Kakerlakken

Ian McEwan

3.12 AVERAGE

challenging funny informative medium-paced

While this is a bit more than a reversal of the Kafka classic, it's still quite thin, even for a novella.

Short and sharp. An amusing satire of Brexit and populism that I fear will age better and better in coming years. Not too deep or profound, but it is very nice to find a way to laugh at the current state of the world.
challenging informative mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
funny fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This book started with an intriguing premise - cockroaches have taken over the bodies of the Prime Minister and most of his cabinet and plan to unleash their unusual idea to reverse the flow of money in the UK's economy. However, once it clicked that this was Brexit satire, the book fell flat for me - I read to escape reality, not to be reminded of it!! And after that point, I didn't feel fully immersed in the plot as I was constantly comparing it to real life. The book was well-written and contained some amusing parts, but overall, it didn't contain much depth (I suppose that's what you get with a novella but still). At least the book was short and easy to get through!
funny fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Humorous, thought-provoking. Not long enough to achieve what it wanted to do. Plus a star for the Cheltenham Ladies’ mention
fast-paced
challenging funny informative slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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