I thought at first the reader was supposed to like Amber, as she was the one who brought a breath of fresh air to the Smarts, but in actual fact, I just found her to be a horrible person.

There were a few loose ends that I thought would be tied up, but weren't. For example, I thought that Astrid and Magnus' father would come into the story at some point, but he never did.

Although this was probably the intention of the author, I was confused about who or what Amber was. Okay, so we know that she was concieved in a cinema in 1968, but I didn't like the (thankfully) short parts where she talked about herself as though she had lived through so many major historical events

When Amber and Magnus are sitting outside the church and the old lady says, "you're a good boy, you are...There's not many boys as'd go to church like that all them days on their holidays in the time that's theirs. You'll make someone a good husband one day."

Michael's poetry bit in the middle. The way some of it is worded made me smile. So I guess Smith made me smile here, not Michael. He doesn't make me smile, he makes me grimace. Don't like him at all.

The fact that Magnus is having it off with Amber makes me smile.

Gosh that's about it. Oh and Eve's interview bit when she's asked, 'is that a Scottish way of saying that?'. Guess you had to be there.

Eve told Amber to get out of her house. Yeah! I didn't like Amber at all. She was an annoying know-it-all with an answer for everything, and she was rude. I would've kicked her out ages ago. But as soon as she bogged off, the stifling feeling I had whilst reading lifted, if you get my meaning. I even started to feel fond of Michael after he was found out. I found some of his musings quite amusing It was as if the answer machine's messages brought a lot of their issues to a head - Magnus could tell people about Catherine Masson; Michael would have to rethink his career and adulterous ways; and Eve could move on from writing those Genuine Article books. She seemed stuck in a rut (cliche) with them. I loved the scene where Michael and the kids sat down to watch a Hitchcock film. Found that scene quite endearing. If I read this book again, knowing what style of writing to expect, I would probably enjoy it more and rate it higher. I definitely enjoyed it once that awful Amber was sent packing. I found the book quite dull in the first half, to the point where Amber brought a bit of relief and stirred things up a bit, but I didn't like her one bit. Maybe because she says what she thinks - we don't want to be told the truth.

Like most of you I didn't like Amber and the way she behaved but mostly I think because no one challenged her which allowed her to become steadily worse. The other characters were ok and seemed to improve as the book went on. I agree that Michael became more likeable once his affairs were known, and he seemed to be a good parent to Marcus and Astrid once Eve was gone. And Magnus and Astrid seemed to be getting along too near the end.

I'd also agree with the comments that the author was trying to be innovative but that it didn't entirely work. The comments about the Terence Stamp film and plot were interesting too, but surely the book needs to work on its own merit and not just if you already know the other story.

I think one of the reasons the family might not have caused a fuss when Amber destroyed Astrid's video camera was purely beacause they were bloody relieved that she no longer had it glued to her eyeball.  Also maybe because they were one of those middle-class families who didn't want to argue or cause a scene in front of 'company'.