I absolutely loved #OurHoliday A gripping and twisty thriller that I couldn’t put down. I was totally hooked.
A story full of families, friends, lust, lies, money, secrets and local hostilities.

Charlotte and Perry, and their city friends Amy and Linus arrive at their holiday homes in Pine Ridge. Staying for the month of August, planning lazy weeks of sun, sea and sipping wine on Charlotte’s summer house veranda. But the locals have resentment against second home owners and small acts of criminal damage soon escalates into something more.

A well written relatable storyline told in dual timelines with multiple POV’s. I liked the characters with all their secrets and flaws. They are all believable.
I loved the setting.
A brilliant page turner, well worth a read. Definitely recommend for twisty thriller fans.
With thanks to #NetGallery #HQ @HQStories for an arc of Our Holiday in exchange for a honest review.
Book publishes 4 July 2024.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5

Another brilliant domestic thriller by Louise Candlish, this is a great thriller a must read in these summer months!
In true Candlish style, Our Holiday has a completely plausible plot, bringing to life situations and scenarios that could happen to all of us. This twisting of 'normality' is absolutely unsettling, as it shows how all of us can be vulnerable to experiencing tragic and terrifying things.
The characters in this book are well developed, each having a unique, recognisable personality that makes the multiple POV structure of the plot very easy to follow. The dual timeline (spanning 1 month) really works in building up the anticipation for the final reveals. Twists and turns make sure to keep you stuck to your reading spot.

A great book all thriller lovers will enjoy!

The fifth Louise Candlish book I have read and enjoyed. Very difficult to put down so read in a day. My favourite genre and one of its best exponents.Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

Charlotte and Perry love their summers at Cliff View, their gorgeous holiday home overlooking the turquoise waters of Pine Ridge. Now that their city friends Amy and Linus have also bought a property nearby, they plan lazy weeks of sun, sea and sipping rosé on Charlotte’s summerhouse veranda. However, a rising tide of resentment towards the second-home owners is heading their way, with small acts of criminal damage escalating into something more menacing. There’s trouble in paradise and by the end of the summer, families and friendships will be torn apart and Pine Ridge will be known for more than its sun-drenched beaches. It will be known for murder…

Louise’s books never disappoint and this latest title definitely didn’t let my expectations down! I devoured over half of it in one sitting and couldn’t wait to pick it back up and finish, I had the feeling of wanting to know what is going to happen next all the way through! The alternating character POV’s breaking up the chapters keeps the flow at a steady pace throughout, especially with the contrast between the ‘before the event’ and ‘after’, the insight from all different angles giving you lots of twists and turns as you try to guess the outcome.

A clever approach of including current affairs mixed in with the story helps to add a sense of relatable realism to the setting and the story, with believable characters executing this perfectly. An unexpected ending means this title will keep you guessing and turning the pages to know more, right to the very end.

A truly captivating read that couldn’t be more perfect to read this summer on your holidays!

I have previously read ‘The Heights’ by Louise Candlish and loved the twisty turns of that storyline so I was excited to dive into Our Holiday. It was a perfect mix of great characters and sizzling storylines which will make a perfect summer read!

I’ve really enjoyed a lot of Louise Candlish’s previous books so was excited for this one but if i’m honest it missed the mark for me.

It felt more like a social commentary novel than a thriller and the murder element of it was quite lacklustre and not what I want from a thriller.

The book is pretty much about the tensions between second home owners and locals in seaside towns which is interesting but I don’t really think it worked in this style of book.

I do love a Louise Candlish thriller and this one certainly did not disappoint. It kept me turning the pages rapidly from start to finish. The only downside was the vast array of characters to keep up with!
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

After reading that this was marketed as a thriller by an established author I was looking forward to enjoying this book. It starts with the end, a bit of a spoiler when a house falls into the sea. It then brings in a large amount of characters quite quickly, most of whom are annoying DFL’s (down from London) in addition to the local campaigners from NJFA (not just for August). As someone who has lived permanently in a seaside village and seen for myself the way certain people act during August, there was definitely a ring of truth to the characters. The story itself is a very slow and a somewhat tedious one that alternates between the start of the holiday and the disastrous ending. I felt that this was too padded and not enough of a thriller for me.

Louise Candlish is an absolute master of writing thrillers set in our everyday world, things that could happen in your neighbourhood to people you know...or, heaven forbid, to you. Our Holiday is yet another great example of this.
Set across the month of August in an idyllic seaside town that many 'Down From Londoners' have made their second home, the tension shimmers like a heat haze over the sand dunes from almost the very beginning. I struggled a little to get the characters straight in my head at the start (there are a lot) but soon figured it out as they became more three-dimensional and got themselves into more and more scrapes!
The problems that these second-homers encounter start with local activists, angry that they are being priced out of their home towns by these outsiders who only occupy their homes during August, and then they spiral out from there until there is trouble around every corner, coming from every angle. As Louise Candlish uses dual timelines to tell the story, we learn more as they converge until it is all laid out bare as the dust settles.
The pace of most of the book is quite languid, heavy and intense like the stifling summer air, but it ramps up towards the end as the many possible outcomes are set as traps to take the reader off down the wrong path. Superb writing, as always.

I’d like to thank HQ and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Our Holiday’ written by Louise Candlish in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

The residents of a Dorset coastal town are unhappy that Londoners who aren’t contributing to the community are buying second homes leaving those who live in locally unable to find anywhere affordable to live. The Londoners are being targeted by action groups who chant ‘Local homes for local people’, throw red liquid at their cars when they exit the toll ferry and daub paint on their homes.

After reading the initial introduction and first chapters of ‘Our Holiday’ it sounded like my type of novel but as the story progressed it became slow and very boring. I was confused by the large number of characters who were all rich, privileged and so unlikeable that I hated them, although perhaps this is what the author intended. I very nearly gave up as there was nothing that made me want to carry on but I did although perhaps I should have given up as I didn’t enjoy it.

This is a truly gripping read from start to finish. The tension is always there, as we know something awful is going to happen. The different strands of the story are skilfully woven together, and the characters are complex, no one is purely good or evil. I don’t think I’ll be lending it to anyone who has a second home though! It will certainly provide many points for book clubs to discuss. I highly recommend it.

⭐️⭐️ ⭐️ and a half ⭐️s
I really enjoy books by Louise Candlish and was very eager to read this. Set in summer in gorgeous Dorset, this explores how people with “second” homes are met with opposition from locals and other protesters, it’s described as a thriller but I wouldn’t say it is, it’s a bit of a slow burn with many characters to remember which I struggle with at the moment, not the authors fault there, just my brain fog in action. Maybe it was also the fact that none of the characters were likeable, some Wer really most unlikable, I couldn’t take to any of them But i did enjoyed it once I got into it. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this early copy

What a cracking read!
I read this over two days as I really did find it hard to put down.
A great cast of characters and a perfect setting for a sizzling hotbed of crime. It is a bit of a slow burn in some ways, but instead of flipping through, I felt myself so absorbed as to stay with it.
A collision of families and circumstance, the haves and have nots in this second home setting on the south coast as they butt up against the locals. Lots to dislike about most of the characters, but it's not as simple as that. The differences between what we perceive as the good and the bad, as the vulnerable and the exploited is subtle and makes for a thought provoking read in a lot of ways.
Mostly, though, it's an out and out page turner and deserves to be a hot read this summer.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, to Louise Candlish and to HQ for the opportunity to read this advance copy.

Interesting from the viewpoint of second home owners in country areas overpricing locals out of the housing market and the local unrest it causes. It is slow burning in its pace and there are myriads of individuals to get your head round

A bit slow moving and quite political. All in all an ok read with a cast of largely unlikeable characters.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Pine Ridge is a beautiful spot and Charlotte and Perry have a beautiful holiday home on the cliffs.
their friends, Amy and Linus have also bought a nearby property and the whole month of August is spent there.
However, there is anger and resentment within the locals and their rallying cry which is 'Not just for August' is growing
At the end of the summer hopes and dreams will be torn apart and the reputation of Pine Ridge will be spoilt forever.

This is a page turner, read it in one sitting. A story tangled with lies.

Rich Londoners have holiday homes in Pine Ridge but the locals are not happy. When a summer house falls from the cliff, the truth will be exposed.

A story exposing the rich characters alongside the local activists. A story filled with lust, lies and money. A great 5 star read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy.

I requested to review this book based solely on the author, as I have loved her previous books. This one not so much.

The book is mainly set in a seaside town in England. Two couples both who met in London where they live now have holiday homes in the same road. The idea being, at least by the women of the group, that they share time together on holiday.

The locals are not happy about the DFL (Down From London) people only occupying the properties for part of the year, when they are living in caravans and unable to afford property. So they've formed #NJFA - Not Just For August, to campaign against the DFLs.

Not only are temperatures rising between DFLs and #NJFA, but the DFLs themselves have some rivalry and ignominy within their ranks too. Several storylines run throughout the book making it an interesting read. For me though, I couldn't get straight in my own head who lived in which property and whose children belonged to which couple.

The book begins at the end and is narrated throughout by various characters. The story then goes backwards to when the DFLs first arrive in August, before flipping between the two timelines. As the timelines began to catch up with each other I had to re read a few lines to realise which timeline I was now in. The story went on far too long for my liking, until about the last quarter of the book when I couldn't put it down.

This was an interesting read regarding people who have second homes in other locations, and then rarely use them. Having lived near somewhere near where this did happen, this made the book more appealing to me.

I did find there were a lot of characters, and I did find it confusing to have so many, as I couldn’t remember who was who.

It is a well written story, and, although there were a lot of characters, I found them to be believable.

I did find that although the first chapter was full of action, it was very much a slow read after this.

My thanks to HQ and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

I'm a huge fan of Louise Candlish so was super excited to be given the opportunity to read an ARC of Our Holiday in exchange for an honest review.

It starts out well with a house falling off a cliff during a music festival followed by the introduction of the NJFA (not just for august ) group who are angry at the second home owners, or DFL's who are taking up all the properties in the town.
I found it got really confusing from here on in as there were so many characters I couldn't keep track of who was who. Overall it was a good story but it didn't hold my interest and wasn't one of her best.