J.K. Rowling's 'The Casual Vacancy' Hits Shelves, Reviews Trickle In

J.K. Rowling, 47, may have left the "kid stuff" of the Harry Potter series behind to focus on the all-too-grown-up world of deceit, sexuality and class warfare in her new The Casual Vacancy, but it looks like she will be no less successful at it.

The reviews for The Casual Vacancy, published by Little, Brown and Company, have tricked — okay, flooded — in, and, for the most part, the famed British Rowling who transformed the world of wizardry for children (and adults: you know who you are) the world over, is maintaining her solid reputation as a crafter of multi-dimensional, complex, emotionally honest characters — if not much else.

"The Casual Vacancy is no masterpiece, but it's not bad at all: intelligent, workmanlike, and often funny," reported The Guardian. "I could imagine it doing well without any association to the Rowling brand, perhaps creeping into [British talk show] the Richard and Judy Book Club, or being made into a three part TV serial."

What most people are talking about, however, based on Rowling's history, are the instances of sex and drug use that reportedly creep into the novel. "If fans are expecting a Harry Potter-like book, they're in for a shock," reveals The Hollywood Reporter. "The adjectives, for example, are of a different sort. It’s difficult to imagine the phrases 'miraculously unguarded vagina' or 'with an ache in his heart and in his balls' being found in the G-rated wizard novels, but they abound in The Casual Vacancy. In addition to the risque descriptions, many of the characters (teens especially) are troubled, and one mother is a heroin addict."

While the details of Rowling's new "adult" novel have been kept tightly under wraps, she talked about "being excited" about the project just a day before The Casual Vacancy hit the shelves and the e-readers. "I don't think that everyone will like the book," she told the Chicago Sun-Times. "I like this book. It is what it's meant it to be. As an author, you really can't say more than that, and I don't mean this arrogantly, but if people don't like it, well, that's how it should be, isn't it? That's art. It's all subjective. And I can live with that."

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