Introduction - A Critical Review
Ralph’s Party was a book I had read many reviews on. All of them describe the ‘sitcom novel’ vibes, ‘lovable characters that make you laugh’ and the warm, slightly chaotic charm it delivers. In my opinion, this is nothing like any of those descriptors. This is a book that flaunts its lack of character arcs, promotes casual sexism and reinforces the false notion that you have to be skinny to be happy.
What is Ralph’s Party about? - A Summary
Ralph’s Party follows the six residents of 31 Almanac Road. Karl and Siobhan are quietly circling the fact that their relationship isn’t working, even though both of them keep pretending things are fine because it feels easier than starting over. Upstairs, Ralph and Smith drift through their days with a mix of procrastination and unspoken feelings. Jem, newly moved in, is trying to reinvent herself, hoping a fresh postcode will magically sort out the messier parts of her life. And then there’s Cheri, whose presence adds a spark of chaos, curiosity, and just enough drama to unsettle everyone. As the six residents of 31 Almanac Road weave in and out of each other’s lives, friendships tangle, secrets slip out, and each of them edges closer to admitting what they actually want, even if it’s not what they expected.
What I hated
I will make this section as short as I can, but quite frankly, within the first sixty pages, this had already turned into a hate-read. In fact, the only reason this book is not a DNF was because I couldn’t find a single other review that was negative in any way (which boggles my mind) and I needed to finish it so that I could warn those that may want to read it.
One of the main ways I felt lied to was that a lot of other reviews said the characters were ‘likable’ and ‘funny’. We must have read two different books, because there was only 1 out of the 6 characters that I could even tolerate (Siobhan). Karl called abortion ‘murder’, cheated on his wife, lied to her about it even when there were good opportunities to tell her, tried to pressure Siobhan into having sex and then got angry when she started crying. Jem is framed as this pixielike girl, but the way she is written about just makes her seem delusional. She has a recurring dream about a man in a window, for some reason believes this dream man is supposed to be her soulmate (which is never really explained) and then throws herself at the guys she moves in with under the pretence that one of them is her soulmate. Smith, who has been madly in love with Cheri for 5 years, instead leads on Jem because he enjoys the attention. For the beginning of the book, Smith actually seems like the nicest man, until it is very clear that the author realised she needed Jem and Ralph to be together so she suddenly made him rude and evil. And then there’s Ralph. I don’t even know where to begin with this monstrosity of a character. Ralph was almost the main character of this book, and I believe we were supposed to root for him, but he crossed the line from hopeless romantic into absolute creep within the first 100 pages. He went into Jem’s bedroom after meeting her once, for a maximum of a few minutes, and played with her bra (running it across his lips, putting his fist in it etc.) AND THEN READ HER DIARY. Oh, and this isn’t a one-time thing. Over the course of the book, Ralph proceeds to read every single diary that Jem has, all without her knowledge or consent. What the hell. Cheri had the potential to be the best character in this book, despite being the character that is focused on the least. She is made out to be a money-hungry attention-monger, but throughout the book I couldn’t help but want more from her.
You’ll have noticed I left one character out of that little rant - Siobhan. I am aware this book came out in 1999, but how this book treats obesity like it is the end of the world killed me. Genuinely. Siobhan is portrayed as a woman who has gained a lot of weight and feels extremely insecure about herself. Siobhan’s character, I feel, could have been done ten times better and it would have actually been good. Siobhan goes on this whole reinventing herself journey towards the end of the book, finding who she is again and starting to date someone who loves her as she is. And then the author felt the need to add that she ‘had lost even more weight when she moved into Rick’s flat’ and that it was a ‘thin girl flat’. What does that mean? Those are nonsense words aimed at making the reader believe Siobhan could only be happy if she was skinny. Absolute idiocy.
The casual sexism and fatphobia sprinkled throughout this entire novel, made me wonder how anyone, even back in 1999, thought that this was okay.
Then I have to say, I would have much preferred that this was two different novels. One centering on Ralph, Smith and Jem, and another on Siobhan and Karl. It is clear that Lisa Jewell wasn’t skilled enough as a writer yet to make the story interesting without things constantly happening, so by having six different characters, she could always flip onto the next thing. This is nowhere near as bothersome as the sexism / fatphobia, especially considering this was a debut novel, but it’s still noticeable and makes the read feel slow.
Now, another issue I have is that the party that the book is named after only happens in the final seventy-ish pages. The climax and simultaneously the ending happen within a few pages of each other. It feels lazy, and extremely painstaking to read. It didn’t work in this type of book, although it can work in others.
Should You Read Ralph’s Party?
If you’re an individual who loves reading books that make them hate themselves, this book is for you. If you would like a book that you enjoy and doesn’t promote old-fashioned stupid beliefs - then feel free to read one of the other many books that I have reviewed on this page.
