A lot can happen in a week, and a lot happened in a week in this book! Was a good dissection of married life in the burbs of Australia, kept me interested, but also glad that a week in my life doesn't look like that.

I couldn't put this one down. A complex story told simply. The characters have stayed with me weeks after finishing the book.

Lis Zig has managed to make me like a modern story. Just Another Week in Suburbia is the story of a marriage in crisis. A very slowly imploding marriage.

Casper is a frustrating character. You want to like him, but you read has he makes dumb choices and mistakes. You want the best for him.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

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I really enjoyed this book! Honestly, it took me a little while to get into this book, even after Casper discovered the condom in his wife's handbag. I just couldn't tell the path where this book was going until further on, when events at the school picked up. From that point onward I was hooked. I wanted to see how Casper could handle his life going crazy. In some ways, it feels like we've all been there, one thing after another goes wrong, This book is relatable, and keeps you hanging on!

I personally love delving into the personal lives of others, other fictional people that is. This novel gives you just that. A very close look into a marriage that may not be as strong as Casper once thought it was. We see the effect of doubt, suspicion and insecurity and the inability to act.

Poor Casper. He goes to bed and all is well, but when as of the next morning, all is not well. Why? He sees a condom in his wife's purse. So begins the week from Hell for Casper. He is questioning many things in his life. This is a book that to me could happen. Not the exact scenarios but something transpiring that makes you question all that you thought you know. I recommend that you get this book and take the journey with Casper. You will not regret it. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC copy of this book in return for my honest review.

Overall, this book had too much sexual content for me to enjoy it. I thought the premise was interesting enough -- really just another week in a normal-ish household, but could have done way without all the sex, so that lost a star for me.

I found this book intriguing describing the way Casper feels about his life, that is how a lot of people feel but would never tell anyone.

I really enjoyed the structure to this novel and the sense of tension and atmosphere as the week progressed. However, I felt the fall out of the main plot incident didn't really ring true for me in term of the protagonists character... it tried a little too hard to be thematically coherent, but a good read nonetheless.

The first issue I had with the copy of the book I had didn't lower the rating. The formatting of the ebook was so atrocious that I had issues at first reading it. The paragraph would break suddenly in the middle of a sentence, there were random "m"s between paragraphs randomly, it was a mess. It might have changed how I read the book, but I tried to not let it influence my rating since that is technical.

The book felt distant and the dialogue was pretty terrible. The book felt like it was a watered down version of The Average American Male (or The Average American Marriage). The book never went far enough. I started to think the book was turning itself around when it came to the alcohol near the end, but even that fell short. The big twist, which to be fair was literally the entire plot screaming, was so weak. I called the ending from the very beginning. It was never a mystery. There was never any real need to keep reading. 

I do have to give props to a few scenes that were very well done. There is a scene where Casper is pretty much spying on his neighbor and is masturbating (pretty much the most unexpected scene in the entire book and completely out of character for Casper). I felt like a creep with him. It is told in the first person so it felt like I was watching her. If the rest of the book could have come even close to that scene for emotion or integrating the reading into the character more, then I would have rated it higher even if I didn't enjoy it. 

There was very little that actually happened. It was just a lot of thoughts that were super repetitive, which fits the story line pretty decently. The repetition got on my nerves since it was broken up with passages that were completely out of character for Casper. It just fell flat. I wanted to like it. This is the sort of plot and description that really captures me and usually I can't put the book down. This one just didn't do it for me. 

***I did not want to lower the score on Amazon, so I did not post this review there. The views are already mixed and since this is a first book, I felt bad about lowering the score below the 3.5 it already had.***

‘Maybe you never really know somebody.’

Casper Gray and his wife Jane live out in the suburbs. Casper teaches English at the local high school, and he and his wife Jane have been trying to have a baby for seven years. They have a cute dog named Wallace, who causes Casper some grief with one of the neighbours. Sure, teaching has its rewards and pitfalls, but Casper counts himself a happily married man about to celebrate a wedding anniversary.

And then, he accidently knocks Jane’s handbag, and while cleaning up the spillage is gobsmacked to discover:

‘A condom sits there – Four Seasons, glow in the dark. The corner of the wrapper is dog-eared. Maybe it’s been battered inside Jane’s bag, or maybe somebody started to tear it open.’

So begins one of the most challenging weeks of Casper Gray’s life. He agonises over this discovery. Is Jane having an affair? How can he discuss this with her? And, while Casper agonises and obsesses, other aspects of his world start to fall to pieces. Problems arise at school, and with Vic (the neighbour who so objects to Wallace). Can Casper find a way to deal with these issues? And what about Beth? She’s his closest friend at school, and she has some relationship problems of her own.

As I read this novel, I was offering Casper all kinds of sage advice. Although Casper didn’t listen (it’s one of the most common faults of characters in novels, they rarely listen to the reader), I hoped that he would ‘man up’ and take responsibility for what he needed to do.

How do we deal with insecurity, love and trust? What do we do when we think that we know someone completely, and then find there’s another dimension to that person’s life? What would Casper do? Would he talk to Jane? Would he deal with Vic? Would he get caught up in Beth’s problems? Would he deal with the issues at school? So many questions to cover in one week: how would Mr Zig pull this all together in his debut novel? You’ll need to read it for yourself to find out.

I can say that I enjoyed the novel, and I’ll certainly be looking out for more work by Mr Zig.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Pantera Press for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

A quick easy read about a week in Casper's life which sees him questioning his marriage and having other problems in his life. Casper needs to be strong to get through his problems and he needs answers to his doubts about his marriage.

Loved the structure - following Casper everyday over the course of a week as his life changes so dramatically from finding that one 'item' in his wife's bag.

The premise of this novel is deceptively simple: how does a marriage survive an event that rocks it to its foundations? We experience this through the husband's, Casper, eyes. Casper is a mild-mannered high school teacher married to Jane. What makes this novel so riveting is its structure and pace, its intense exploration of emotions and psychological states and the beautiful, direct writing. We go through what Casper goes through. The emotions are visceral; the ramifications ripple throughout his life as he psychologically breaks apart. This is an insightful look into a good marriage showing how easily it can fracture despite best intentions.

Just Another Week in Suburbia is Les Zig’s first novel. It begins with Casper Gray literally stumbling on evidence that Jane, his wife, may be having an affair. He can’t bring himself to ask her, so he stews about it, leaving him distracted and absent in ways that lead him into some poor judgments at the school where he teaches. A colleague, Beth, is in a crisis in her relationship, wanting her lover Roger to fish or cut bait. He suspects the friendly neighborhood drug dealer might be harassing one of his students. His bullying neighbor is threatening his dog and the neighbor’s wife is, perhaps, making a pass at him. And his anniversary is coming up. He does not know what to do, so he doesn’t do much.

Casper is a nice guy. He’s a good husband, a good friend. He cares about people and loves his dog Wallace who happens to be my favorite character. He has a week from hell, including run-ins with several angry men, his supervisor, his friend’s lover, his neighbor, and the drug dealer. However, he is very passive. He is like most of us, thinking of what we want to say, what we should have said, but not saying it. Will any straw ever break this camel’s back?



I wavered between sympathy for and impatience with Casper in Just Another Week in Suburbia. He makes poor choices at school, allowing kids to smoke, to make out, and perhaps buy drugs because why? Is it because he dislikes his supervisor or because he doesn’t want to be unpopular? Or is it just too much bother? He sounds like someone who is a good teacher, but desperate to be liked rather than respected. However, when it all comes to a crisis, he finds he has unsuspected strength.

There is some catharsis that I enjoyed. There is a scene with the neighbor that made me happy, though honestly, the trouble with the neighbor is partly his fault through his neglect to reinforce the dirt under his fence with some chicken wire so his dog can’t get out. There are some important ideas in this story. What does trust mean? Can trust be restored? What is happiness? What makes a relationship work? Can you choose happiness? The story is a bit light to carry so much weight though.

Just Another Week in Suburbia was released September 1st. I received an electronic e-galley from Pantera Press through NetGalley.

Just Another Week in Suburbia at Pantera Press
Les Zig author site

Casper has an average marriage, owns an average house, works an average job, and has average friends. In short, he lives an average life. It's a life he has envisioned turning out any number of ways, but in none of those daydreams did he ever picture a glow-in-the-dark condom, that he would NEVER wear, inadvertently falling out of his wife's purse. Setting him on an immediate road of "what if" scenarios, this small object is the precipice that sets the tone for the rest of the book.

Did Jane, his wife, buy this condom so she could have an affair? Was she already having an affair? If she is having an affair, what will he do when he confirms it? The stress of not knowing and feeling incapable of truly confronting his wife with his fears causes Casper to go off his head a bit. Nothing much, yet a distraction here and there add to difficulty at work. This in turn causes Casper more stress, and none of it leads to anything good.

Just Another Week in Suburbia reads like a suburban introspective. From the outside everyone's lives probably look pretty much the same. Cookie cutter facades never really giving an accurate portrayal of the genuine lives behind closed doors. This debut novel is sure to please readers with its relatable yet entertaining storyline and raw emotions.

Note: One complaint I've seen other reviews mention is that the lead character is such a wimp, borderline pathetic even. This fact is very true and in a way it does make it hard to like him. Stick with him though and give him a chance.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the review opportunity.

Caspar Gray, secondary school teacher, lives in a bland suburb of Sydney, happily married to Jane but kids haven't happened. Caspar and Jane are approaching their seventh wedding anniversary, about to add the seventh annual photo to mark the occasion.

But Caspar knocks Jane's handbag over and a condom falls out. Since Caspar and Jane are trying for a baby, this is a bit of a surprise. So over the period of a week, Caspar goes from denial, to paranoia, to free fall. Watched by his students, his colleagues, his neighbours and his dog Wallace, his life unravels.

At first, the writing feels a little clunky. It's a male book: written in a blokey, jokey way. This can come across as a bit crude and slightly immature - in a kinda Beavis and Butthead way. After a while, though, something clicks and the reader starts to empathise with Caspar. He's actually quite a complex character who is a good mate, a loving husband and soppy for his dog. But he is also pig-headed and quite willing to cut off his nose to spite his face. The other characters are less complex and only really seem to exist when Caspar is in the room.

Les Zig successfully conjures up the places; the residential areas, the pub with the TAB, the shops with the drug dealer. And he does atmosphere with the tension ratcheting up and up as the novel progresses.

This is an interesting and compelling read; I'll be interested to see where Zig goes next.

Les Zig's novel Just Another Week In Suburbia may have spanned a week but honestly I don't think you'd want to live through a week like this one too often.  I'm quite sure it would have been a stand out week in the life of Casper Gray and his wife Jane.   Sure it contained much of the typical, mundane suburban lifestyle we know and love; wanting to sleep through the alarm,  running late for work, his dog Wallace causing issues with the neighbours,   the big decisions of what's for dinner and so forth.     Nonetheless I was caught up in the tension that resulted from an accidental discovery of a condom in his wife's handbag.   From the moment of discovery his suspicion goes into overdrive and it's hard to come back from there.  He  questions everything, about his wife, about them as a couple and about himself as a man and husband.   He know's he's a pushover, hates that he's a weak man,  wonders if maybe he's too boring for her.      Meanwhile, his worrying is blowing everything out of proportion.   It's causing him to have issues at work, his mate thinks he needs to trust her.  His female colleague and close friend is having relationship problems and wants to confide in him, and to cap things off he's been suspected of inappropriate behaviour towards one of his female students.   His mind was a very busy and worrying place to be.     But, was it all in vain or was there a basis for his concern?    I simply had to keep reading to find out.

I enjoyed the book.   Les Zig is a good story teller and he had my attention throughout.   His characters were believable, many were likeable, others not so much,  some a mix of good and bad.    It made me consider trust, wonder how much you can really know a person, made me think about how easy it is to find yourself on a downward slippery slope of self destruction, and whether the way back from bad situation is in our own hands.

Thanks to the author,  Pantera Press and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable and easy read - perfect for holiday reading. I read it for Netgalley. The plot moves at a steady pace and conveys how one ordinary man's world unravels in a short space of time. It raises the question of whether one might ever be able to forgive what seems like the ultimate betrayal or whether one settles for less for fear of losing everything. Ultimately, the protagonist settles for the latter. I did feel that some of the sex scenes were gratuitous and added little to the narrative. This is an adult read.