Reviews with content warning for Racism - The Vacation

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The Vacation by John Marrs

8 reviews

lisfnord's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

Is this fine literature? No, it is not. Was it contrived? maybe a bit.
It is an entertaining read that keeps you guessing as you try to figure out where the characters’ stories are going to go. As others have said, there are a lot of characters and they all have their own backstories, but I did not find it at all difficult to keep track. The third book I’ve read by John Marrs, and I think I’ll keep reading more of them.

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nzlisam's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Vacation Really Surprised Me – In the best way possible!

During a long hot summer in Los Angeles, nine travellers from all walks of life and corners of the globe – Tommy, Jake, Nicole, Eric, Savannah, Ruth, Jane, Declan, and Matty – have checked into the Venice Beach International Hostel. They are there for a variety of reasons – some are on a mission, others are trying to find themselves, and all are trying to escape and outrun trauma and tragedy in their past. By the end of their stay, for better or worse, all their secrets will be exposed.

Because the past never stays buried!

The Vacation was John Marrs’ first novel, republished and rebranded in 2021, originally published under the title Welcome to Wherever You Are back in 2015. I feel the former title was a more fitting one, as none of the characters were really there on vacation, well not the kind of vacation most of us picture as one anyway. The Travellers would’ve worked better. Also, the cover art of the edition I read doesn’t work for me, as floating in an inflatable pool ring had nothing to do with this novel, as like I said, it wasn’t that kind of vacation, and It’s misleading to readers.

For some reason I went into The Vacation thinking it was a locked room Agatha Christie style mystery. I have no idea why I thought this or where I got my information from, as I was way off. This novel was mainly drama, soap opera, action, character study, with elements of thriller, suspense, crime, and romance thrown in (like any good soap opera, right?). And even though the plot wasn’t what I was expecting, and despite it being completely different from anything else John Marrs has written, I absolutely loved it. I loved the camaraderie and friendships that developed between the hostel guests, and the idea of like-minded strangers being drawn to one another in the most difficult of circumstances when they really needed each other most. And that being surrounded by supportive people also taught them to stand on their own two feet.

There were ninety-eight short chapters, plus a prologue and epilogue, mainly unfolding from the POV’s of the nine guests, but occasionally narrated by other’s as well. Chapters were usually divided into two parts – the present, and then a flashback to how the character narrating got to where they are. I cannot emphasise just how much drama there was, so trigger warnings for nearly every topic, but nothing too graphic. There were definitely serious scenes, situations, and topics, but they were conveyed in that soap-operish kind of way, if you know what I mean? I should also mention that there were a lot of characters, but I never struggled to keep track of who was who.

I’m thrilled over how much I enjoyed The Vacation and am happy to name it as one of my top reads so far this year, and probably my favourite John Marrs.

I’d like to thank Netgalley, Pan Macmillan, and John Marrs for the e-ARC.

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kaymmullins's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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thebookpear's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

I love John Marrs! Whenever I open one of his thrillers, I know to prepare myself for a cerebral, intricately woven plot with a large cast of characters. This one was not as thrilling as some of his other works but I still enjoyed it. The timeline switches were a little hard to follow and I found myself returning to previous chapters to try to figure out who we were talking about. You really have to pay attention to follow each plot line. 3.5 overall. Thank you HTP and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this rerelease!

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