Name: Sian Wadey's review of The Orphan Choir by Sophie Hannah
Item: The Orphan Choir
Rating: 2
Author: Sian Wadey

Sophie Hannah

Louise's seven year old son has been sent away to boarding school against her wishes, and she misses him desperately. And her neighbour from hell is keeping her awake at night by playing loud, intrusive music. So when the chance comes to move to the country, she jumps at it as a way of saving her sanity. Only it doesn't. Because the music has followed her. Except this time, it's choral music sung by a choir of children only she can see and hear ...

The Orphan Choir

Sian Wadey

Jane Keal

Whilst there was one good section of the book, the vast majority was disappointing and uninteresting, and the limited good parts failed to justify the effort it took to get to them. 

I forced my way through it in the hope that something would happen, but it just didn't. Didn't live up to the 'spine tingling' 'tension filled' or 'deeply unsettling' reviews promised at all.

Oh my Lord! Where do I even start with The Orphan Choir! I enjoy a good horror story. Having been a fan of James Herbert and Stephen King for many a year, I like books full of thrills and jumps. The kind of books that make me scared to turn off the light. This was not one of them. 
The Orphan Choir should be marked as a family drama story, as really, that is what this is about. One woman and her poor husband and son.
It begins with the neighbour, who plays his music loud at night (on a Saturday I might add) and disturbs are protagonists sleep. Within the first chapter she slags off Queen, Dolly Parton and Bon Jovi, so I can already tell we're not going to be friends. 
We soon learn that Louise and her husband Stuart have a son Joseph, who boards at a local prestigious school as he is one of the specially selected choir boys. 
Louise begins to hear choral music playing through the wall and concludes it must be coming from her neighbour's house in an attempt to drive her even more crazy than she already is. 
From this point, Louise's mentality seems to take a downward spiral. She buys a house in a gated community, pulls her son out of said school and generally does a lot of crying and screaming.
I hated Louise, with a passion, she was whiny, a hypocrite, unbelievably selfish! Joseph was very happy in the school, and she saw him perform twice a week. I'm not a parent, so I don't know what it feels like to not have your child living with you, but she didn't take her son or husband's feelings into consideration at all. If she wasn't happy then nothing else mattered. 
Other things about her irritated me too. She snapped at her husband when he woke her up one morning, but would continuously wake him up in the middle of the night so she had another witness to the music playing. Then constantly wished for a better husband to come along. She was an absolutely horrible woman through and through!
The reason why this has two stars is because it was gripping. I wanted to find out what happened, and why she kept hearing the choral music, even though the ending fell a little flat. I also wanted to know the fate of her family. 
I may consider reading Sophie Hannah again if she promises not to create any more horrendous characters!

This book had the most annoying main character ever. I was expecting a scary, suspenseful story, but it was more about the character's annoyance with her neighbour's music taste. Definitely not a favourite of mine.

Sian Wadey &
The Orphan Choir by Sophie Hannah

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Sian Wadey &The Orphan Choir by Sophie Hannah

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Sian Wadey &
The Orphan Choir by Sophie Hannah