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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
3.5* I wish there was a half star option, this was better than 3 but not a 4 for me.
I’m a bit conflicted about this book. I read it pretty quickly and I wanted to find out what happened but most of the characters were SO unlikeable. Niall was a gaslighting asshole
The Goodreads blurb gives a massive spoiler but it takes 3/4 of the book to get to it which seems ridiculous.
I’ve read other books from this author that I’ve enjoyed more. Good beach read.
I’m a bit conflicted about this book. I read it pretty quickly and I wanted to find out what happened but most of the characters were SO unlikeable. Niall was a gaslighting asshole
The Goodreads blurb gives a massive spoiler but it takes 3/4 of the book to get to it which seems ridiculous.
I’ve read other books from this author that I’ve enjoyed more. Good beach read.
3.7 rounded up
The blurb on GR is an epic spoiler. I went In Blind and am grateful I did.
I didn’t think i could read another “bad vacation” story yet SB books are usually reliable for me that I gave it a go.
I really liked this book for the most part. I couldn’t put it down; I was waiting to see what bad thing was going to happen. Towards the end my interest started to wain and while I appreciate it wasn’t an overly dramatic Hollywood ending (no maniacal characters or long winded confessions either, thankfully) it did seem to fizzle a bit, even with the attempted zinger in the epilogue. I was also left with an unanswered question: why did she break into his office? Just because? With so much time spent around it I was expecting something to happen there (eg destroy or steal his latest work)
SUMMARY: Beth is married with two kids. Her husband is an abusive and controlling POS. She is constantly walking on eggshells and blaming herself.
Out of the blue, he suggests a family holiday. Beth is thrilled until he suggests they sign up for a house swap. Beth was dreaming of a hotel-style vacation but figures this is better than nothing.
As they arrive in Italy, Beth calls Amber (the other wife) because they can’t find Ambers car at the airport. The reader then realizes Amber did this on purpose to mess with Beth; setting up the query what is Amber up to and why?
The rest of the story follows Beth and her family in Italy. The husband is a real asshole and things start to happen that distress Beth further. For example she finds a picture of her husband in the house. There’s also a break in
In other chapters Amber narrates. She is watching all of this unfold and is happy; alluding to her plan that is working.
The reader spends the entire novel wondering what Amber is ultimately plotting and why she is doing this. You also want to know if Amber did know Beth’s husband. All is eventually revealed and it’s not all that shocking.
Listened on audible. Superb narration
The blurb on GR is an epic spoiler. I went In Blind and am grateful I did.
I didn’t think i could read another “bad vacation” story yet SB books are usually reliable for me that I gave it a go.
I really liked this book for the most part. I couldn’t put it down; I was waiting to see what bad thing was going to happen. Towards the end my interest started to wain and while I appreciate it wasn’t an overly dramatic Hollywood ending (no maniacal characters or long winded confessions either, thankfully) it did seem to fizzle a bit, even with the attempted zinger in the epilogue. I was also left with an unanswered question: why did she break into his office? Just because? With so much time spent around it I was expecting something to happen there (eg destroy or steal his latest work)
SUMMARY: Beth is married with two kids. Her husband is an abusive and controlling POS. She is constantly walking on eggshells and blaming herself.
Out of the blue, he suggests a family holiday. Beth is thrilled until he suggests they sign up for a house swap. Beth was dreaming of a hotel-style vacation but figures this is better than nothing.
As they arrive in Italy, Beth calls Amber (the other wife) because they can’t find Ambers car at the airport. The reader then realizes Amber did this on purpose to mess with Beth; setting up the query what is Amber up to and why?
The rest of the story follows Beth and her family in Italy. The husband is a real asshole and things start to happen that distress Beth further. For example she finds a picture of her husband in the house. There’s also a break in
In other chapters Amber narrates. She is watching all of this unfold and is happy; alluding to her plan that is working.
The reader spends the entire novel wondering what Amber is ultimately plotting and why she is doing this. You also want to know if Amber did know Beth’s husband. All is eventually revealed and it’s not all that shocking.
Listened on audible. Superb narration
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Captivating domestic thriller, follows two families—the Kildares from England and the Masons from Italy—swapping homes for a holiday. Although some characters may be unlikeable, and I found Beth's constant self-doubt frustrating, the plot is a whirlwind, and the twists kept me hooked until the very end.
This was quick and entertaining enough. Don't read the blurb as that part doesn't happen until almost the end of the book! The ending is a bit rushed, but overall the book was exactly what you would expect from a quick domestic thriller. And no one will be sad about the guy who dies.
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Oh Shalini, you've done it again!
The Family Holiday is a hold on to your seats, fasten your seatbelt thrill ride into a multi-layered narrative of a vacation house swap between two families. It seems like an uneven swap, an older but quaint cottage in the still chilly days of an England spring vs. the beautiful, modern, sunlit home on the Amalfi coast. But for Beth, it was her husband's idea of a long-needed family vacation that she just couldn't say no to; for Amber, it was a chance to get back to her English roots.
At least, that's what everyone in the book would like you to believe....
For Beth, things start to go bad right from the get-go, when the car Amber and Renzo were supposed to leave for them at the airport is nowhere to be found. Her husband Niall is moody and distant, and Beth is constantly walking on eggshells. But for the sake of her kids and the planned family time, she decides to make the best of the vacation, even chatting up Luciana, the co-owner of a local restaurant, much to her husband's disgust.
Then the story takes a turn as the vacation gets decidedly worse, and back home in England, we are privy to Amber's dark thoughts.
It's best to go in blind as I did, because the story will keep you guessing as to who and why. Just when you think Shalini Boland can't write any better, she slays it once again!
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for a spine-tingling advance reader's copy.
The Family Holiday is a hold on to your seats, fasten your seatbelt thrill ride into a multi-layered narrative of a vacation house swap between two families. It seems like an uneven swap, an older but quaint cottage in the still chilly days of an England spring vs. the beautiful, modern, sunlit home on the Amalfi coast. But for Beth, it was her husband's idea of a long-needed family vacation that she just couldn't say no to; for Amber, it was a chance to get back to her English roots.
At least, that's what everyone in the book would like you to believe....
For Beth, things start to go bad right from the get-go, when the car Amber and Renzo were supposed to leave for them at the airport is nowhere to be found. Her husband Niall is moody and distant, and Beth is constantly walking on eggshells. But for the sake of her kids and the planned family time, she decides to make the best of the vacation, even chatting up Luciana, the co-owner of a local restaurant, much to her husband's disgust.
Then the story takes a turn as the vacation gets decidedly worse, and back home in England, we are privy to Amber's dark thoughts.
It's best to go in blind as I did, because the story will keep you guessing as to who and why. Just when you think Shalini Boland can't write any better, she slays it once again!
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for a spine-tingling advance reader's copy.
Dialogue was very repetitive. Boring story. Characters made dumb choices. The wife constantly letting her husband treat her badly was not fun to read. Can’t believe I finished it.
Quick read, not much in character development- none of them had enough depth to care. Twisty plot.