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.

"Our Holiday" unfolded at a leisurely pace with an abundance of characters, though many were unlikable and difficult to relate to. Having read numerous books by this author, I found this one to be less impressive than others.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

When a house falls from a cliff during a music festival everyone initially assumes the cliffs are collapsing. But when a body is later discovered in the wreckage a murder investigation is initiated.

I love this book. It’s full of really unlikeable characters and others that you feel sympathetic towards. A great thriller

This author is fast becoming one of my must read authors. No need to read book description, I just know it will be a great read. Our Holiday is no exception . I was engrossed from the start, wondering how the characters were going to fare in this story. Some local residents of Pine Ridge are protesting against holiday home owners. Plenty of characters some likeable, some not so likeable. Thoroughly enjoyed this suspenseful read .

I love a Louise Candlish book so was keen to read this. It opens with a bang, literally, as a summerhouse falls dramatically off a cliff and into the sea at Pine Ridge, Dorset. Centred largely around two families Charlotte and Perry who have a luxurious second home in the town and their friends Amy and Linus who have just bought a rundown property near theirs. Aside from them there is a very large cast of other characters, their children and their friends and locals, most of whom are resentful of the incomers and are not afraid of making their views clear. As always the author has put together a brilliant plot and once I had the characters clear I raced through the rest of the book.

Briefly, the local members of the NJFA (Not Just For August) group have made their presence known in small but illegal ways - throwing soup at the second homeowners, painting slogans on their property walls, putting stickers on their properties but then the destruction of the summerhouse takes us down a darker path for the protesters as there is a shocking revelation. Just who was responsible?

Some very interesting characters, most of whom were not exactly the people they appeared to be and aside from the bed hopping, adultery, thieving and vandalism there were more serious and dangerous events taking place. The author makes a good job of describing the imbalance between the wealthy Londoners and the locals who had been priced out of the property market. So many twists and turns and some shocking revelations made this an entertaining read with a good, and not as I expected, ending.

Our Holiday was a slow burner but a great read from start to finish.
Charlotte and Perry own a luxurious holiday home in Pine Ridge in Dorset, this year is slightly different as their friends from London, Amy and Linus have now bought a run down house two doors up from them so thoughts of spending time all together is new for al, of them including their children. When they get off the ferry soup is thrown at them by activists who are ramping up in anger over the two houses per person. They are called the NJFA group which stands for “not just for August” signifying that these homes are empty all year apart from August and as most of the group live in caravans as there are no houses this is what has caused the upset. There are a lot of twists in the plot with the two couples and their children that brings everything to a head on the bank holiday Monday beach party. Resulting in something horrific happening but will they join together to protect each other?
This was a great read, y only negative is that at the beginning a lot of characters are thrown at you and I was slightly confused by who was supposed to be with who but I eventually got my head round it! A decent psychological thriller that had plenty of twists and an ending that covered all bases. This book didn’t go the way I thought it was going to and I enjoyed it al, the more for that.
I would like to thank NetGalley and HQ for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.