A fabulously written gripping story that was a pleasure to read. I would absolutely recommend this book, it was brilliant

Our Holiday by Louse Candlish
Published by HQ, HarperCollins UK
Publication Date 6/6/24
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved this book, it kept me engaged and eager to read more from the outset. I liked that it was told from several perspectives and dealt with some serious issues in a very realistic way. My allegiances kept shifting and there were some great twists.
Many thanks to the author, publisher and to netgalley for providing me with this advance digital copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I absolutely loved this book! I was unsure at first when I started to read the 'Zoomer speak' and the political correctness. However this soon became more amusing and indeed an education than anything else. There are lots of characters but they are all well written and solid enough to hold their own in the narrative. The plot, or should I say plots are full of twists and turns and never boring. I found Our Holiday a thoroughly captivating and enjoyable, if very different read, that I would recommend to anyone who would like to try something a little different.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

Two families from London stay in their holiday homes during the summer. This is not met well by the locals who are protesting against those with second homes. Soon they realise that this summer could change everything.

I am a big fan of Louise Candlish and enjoy her writing style and complex, twisty thrillers. In this story she creates a cast of well written, but hugely unlikeable, characters whose actions are sometimes shocking and at the same time entertaining. I found that even though there was a large cast of characters I was never confused.

I enjoyed the addition of the issues faced by local communities and the wealth divide; finding the topics explored in a well mannered way with a lot of depth. A long with the serious issues explored, there are moments of humour which I found very compelling. Although this was a slow burn, which I usually find difficult to get through, it worked well in this instance and helped the reader get to know the characters and connect with the story. I would sum this up as another multi layered, twisty novel by this author and a perfect summer read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

Whilst I did enjoy this book, I wouldn't necessarily categorise it as a thriller as there wasn't much of a mystery or any tension build up. The NJFA vs second home owners issue was interesting and the cast of characters varied and flawed

Our Holiday is definitely a slow burn of a book but the author still managed to keep me hooked throughout. There are quite a few different storylines within the plot (which may be what helps with this) but these are handled expertly and are interwoven well so it doesn't ever feel messy or too complicated. Likewise, we experience many POVs which may be frustrating for some people. I personally didn't mind this myself and enjoyed the chance to dive more deeply into the different characters but I do wonder if there was a lack of depth as a result to these characters and I do think there was an excess of characters generally - I mean what was the point of Julien!?

The second homes saga was one I hadn't read about before in a book and made a really interesting addition to the plot, especially the NJFA activist group and leader Robbie who was particularly interesting as a character. I also really liked the setting of Pine Ridge and found it easy to visualise thanks to the author.

Admittedly I felt a bit disappointed in the end reveal of the books main 'incident' - this all felt a bit random to the overall plot and the 'who' was kind of brushed over. Without giving any spoilers, I personally feel it would have been more interesting if another character had been the instigator.

Overall, Our Holiday was an enjoyable read with a lot of layers (and characters!).

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Great read examining current issues

I enjoyed this read about the haves and the have nots. Highlighted a lot of social issues. At times it felt like satire and then you realise that this issues are actually going on.

I think I was firmly on the side of the NJFA group, didn't help that the summer habitants of Pine Ridge were all unlikeable - even Amy who was trying to integrate herself with the locals came across as false and trying to hard.

Set against the backdrop of a coastal English village this is a story of secrets, a whodunnit, and a house sliding into the abyss of the ocean!

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book. This is my honest opinion.

I've read and enjoyed all of Louise Candlish's previous novels but I think this one might be my new favourite! I found this thriller so gripping and so hard to put down. It's a novel about people who go to their holiday homes every summer but have no real awareness of the impact owning a second home has on locals born and raised in that area. This is one of those novels were most of the characters are unlikeable and I love that! There are a group of locals protesting against the second homers and the tension that slowly builds over the summer was palpable, it was making me on edge. We also know from the start of the novel that something happens to one of the homes but we don't quite know what or how until later and that is always playing in the back of your mind. I love the slow reveal of secrets and the way this novel builds to its conclusion. I loved this novel and I highly recommend it!

The book opens with a devastating scene where a house seems to fall off a cliff into the sea in the middle of a festival on a beach.
Holiday homes are being targeted by seaside resort residents who are not happy that they are left empty for most of the year. Protests have started in August and Charlotte, Perry, Amy and Linus soon arrive to destruction. Instead of enjoying their summer holidays they are caught up in secrets and lies and disaster. I liked that the book flicked between then and now to build a picture up of what caused the tragedy. A good mix of characters and good plot line made me keep turning the pages. I will be recommending to others

I really wanted to like this book as I've loved previous by Louise Candlish, but I just couldn't get on with this one, sadly.

The premise is there for a great story and I did feel it was thrilling in parts and made me want to keep trying. However, I felt there were too many characters that I couldn't remember who was who and I couldn't keep my attention focused.

However, I will also state that maybe it was just the wrong book at the wrong time for me, and I will try again after it's published.

Loved the book, easy to read but captivating at the same time. Extra enjoyable because I know the area it was based in and can picture certain scenes or locales. Will definitely be checking some more books by Louise Candlish

In Our Holiday Louise Candlish has woven a multi-layered and absorbing narrative around the contempory issues of second-home ownership, locals priced out of the housing market and refugees housed in hotels. The book is full of believable characters and realistic dialogue. There are a number of sub-plots which are skilfully tied together by the end of the book. The tensions between families and intergenerational conflicts add a further dimension to the story.
Louise Candlish is one of my favourite writers and this book did not disappoint. I was unable to put the book down and did not want it to end.
Highly recommended.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.

Set in Pine Ridge on the Dorset coast, second home owners are down for the summer season. They are met with increasing opposition by the locals and the NJFA (Not Just For August) vigilantes are determined to make their feelings known.
I felt the book started well and the storyline had great potential, but unfortunately I never really got ‘into’ it. There were a lot of characters, and for some reason this confused me in parts, and the story seemed to develop a little slowly for my liking. Others may totally disagree, I’m sure!!
I have enjoyed many other books by Louise Candlish and this won’t put me off reading more!

This twisty thriller kept me engaged throughout. I found the characters very likeable, They were written in such a way that we even had empathy for the flawed characters and didn't really want them to be caught out. There were some interesting sub stories going on in the background but then everything seemed to piece together going towards the end. I never got bored or found my mind wandering reading this. I would highly recommend giving this book a chance!

When families from London spend the summer at their second homes on the south coast conflict with the locals ensues. Secrets are uncovered and property is destroyed as the summer lingers on.

Louise Candlish has written some superbly twisty thrillers so a new book is always keenly anticipated. Our Holiday, unfortunately, didn’t quite live up to expectations for me. The book is a classic slow burner. Right from the outset you know that something monumental has happened, but the vast majority of the book focuses on the slow build-up to the actual event and I felt that this was a little too drawn out.

I think the main reason for not loving the story was that none of the characters are likeable. We focus on two families from London who descend on Pine Ridge each August. The rest of the year their holiday homes are left empty. They are so entitled that they feel that they add value to the area, little realising that the only value they add is to property prices which results in the locals having to live in caravans. Their only consideration is how things effect them.

The living situation of the locals elicits more sympathy and raises a number of points that would be really good for a reading group. Some of the younger residents are keen to raise awareness of what is happening through peaceful protest. The second-homers feel that they are being harassed. A local hotel is commandeered to house refugees, leaving the locals feeling that their plight has been overlooked, with the refugees ending up in better accommodation than the caravans they are forced to live in.

Once the story reaches the shocking event we are told about at the start of the book the pace really picks up. I was fully engaged at this point, wanting to know exactly what had happened. Louise Candlish manages to keep the reader dangling for a little while longer as events are slowly unpicked and alibis examined.

Gosh, what a rollercoaster of a ride with this book! Lots of characters and sometimes a bit tricky to keep up with them. However as the story is told from each person’s perspective it helps keep them on track, a clever way of telling a story as it unfolds bit by bit with a fast forward every now and again.

I got the feeling it was placed in somewhere a bit more exotic than Dorset but nonetheless it didn’t spoil the plot which covered some interesting points about 2nd homes and homelessness and the those who had riches and those that didn’t and how quickly the tables are turned. Overall a good mystery that turns to a murder, very clever plotting and some interesting characters!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publishers for an arc in exchange for an honest review

Another enjoyable book by Louise - full of secrets, some frankly unpleasant people, a beautiful seaside location and a very topical issue of how second home owners are pricing locals out of the area.
Lots of twists and turns to keep the reader gripped and reading late into the night, desperate to find out what really happened

My first book by Louise Candlish, and it was
too much of a slow burn for me.

The setting of the book on the Dorset coast is described beautifully. There were too many central characters for me, and switching between them often was a little hard to keep up with. I felt like I was watching at tv drama show rather than reading a thriller.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A promising theme here - the conflict between second home owners and locals who are being priced out of any homes at all in their pleasant seaside town. The cast of characters is quite large and it took a while to slot everyone onto place at the start of the book, and the ‘before and after’ timeline also took a bit of getting used to, but the story unfolded in many unexpected ways and had more than enough going on to keep the reader engaged. The writing here is fluid and readable, with real characters and a fine sense of place. The book is perhaps a little too long and drawn out, but overall it’s a good story and an engrossing read.