A review by doodlebeanz
The Vacation by John Marrs

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

3.0

I am still very conflicted over this book. Part of me feels that there is a bigger meaning behind it, but another part of me thinks it may just be masquerading as a book with a deeper meaning but it doesn't actually have one. There were so many characters, and at first when you don't know their personalities or how their connected, it was a lot and it felt overwhelming but once the story got properly going, the cast of characters didn't seem as daunting. 

I really really liked how the book was broken up into a bunch of side stories that mainly connected. There were a few outliers (Savannah/Ron/Michael/Pyck and her father, Ruth and her psychosis in general, Declan/Matty) that didn't connect back to anything perfectly, but the ones that did connect, I thought were very well written and I did not see many of the connections coming! My favorite story line was definitely Ruth since I love reading about obsessive stalkers with serious mental illnesses (I am a thriller girlie after all, sue me) and I'm upset that we didn't get more on her.
She killed her mother and brother, stalked Zak and then eventually killed him too and then just got completely removed from the story. I would've loved to hear more about her time spent in a mental hospital/her trial/etc than hear about Ms Baker and Nicole/Eric's story. My least favorite storyline was obviously Nicole, Eric and Ms Baker. I did not see the twist coming that Eric was Ms Baker's estranged son, and it became suspenseful and tense with his mask falling and showing his true colors to Nicole, but it dragged on for so long and I just wanted to read about any other story (mainly Ruth's lol).


All the storylines were interesting and I really did enjoy reading them for the most part, but damn this book was long for NO reason. Some of the plotlines were drawn out for far too long and it felt like the book could've wrapped up 15+ chapters before it did. Some stories needed longer to wrap up, which is fine, but god was it a SLOG by the end. I am a pretty fast reader, but this book took me 10+ days to finish! I found myself not really gravitating towards it, which was half the battle, until well past the midway point when the characters and stories started connecting. It is definitely a slow book, not much action until the end, but once it got to that point, it was much more enjoyable. In my mind, this book is felt like two separate books. Part 1 I did not care for, but part 2 was WAY better and it definitely caught my attention more. I also listened to the audiobook and I did not enjoy the narrator's voice... oops... that did not help the lack of interest in picking it up either!

Matty and Declan were probably my favorite characters. I loved how they provided such a comedic effect. They were so silly, and had such a sad ending, but it was one of those bittersweet sad endings that made me well up but it was also fitting for them. I also really really liked Tommy and Jake,
as a couple and just as friends. I understand that what Jake did was unforgivable and completely altered the course of Tommy's life, but I did enjoy reading them get to know each other and watch as Tommy developed feelings and then it was like a punch to the gut when the twist hit and it turned out that Jake/Stuart was the one that was driving the car that ended up killing his brothers. I was so shook and honestly annoyed bc I really wanted them to get together. I also don't like how Tommy ended up killing Jake... we're not entirely sure if he did or not, it's one of those things that Marrs' decided to leave up to interpretation bc when Tommy goes back to his room, all his stuff is gone... but that to me means he was planning on leaving already and he packed up beforehand, not that he had saved himself from the ocean and then made his way back without leaving puddles of water everywhere?? Idk, I don't love ambiguous endings like that. Not my cup of tea.


The part of me that believes this book has a deeper meaning thinks that the hostel is a symbol for a purgatory type place and that Pyek was some sort of God/higher being. All of these lost souls came to this place and found their ending/new beginning there.
They either died in a bad way (Ron - raped Savannah, died of heart attack after leaving hostel. Eric - was a shitty person and pretty much a sociopath who killed his own mother and her caretaker, died in jail. Jane - betrayed Savannah, killed by hitman/her father. Jake, hit and run with Tommy's brothers, drowned... or in the deeper meaning, they moved onto hell) or they started over and got a new lease on life (Savannah, had a baby and realized she doesn't need anyone else, Tommy found Louis and they are living out their dream of traveling together, Nicole and Declan are together and having a baby, Matty died but peacefully and on his own terms). The hostel played some part in all of their demises or their new beginnings, and I can't help but see a deeper meaning in it. Especially the sign that was in the hostel 'Welcome to Wherever You Are'... that SCREAMS 'I'm in purgatory'!!


All in all, this book confuses me. I'm not sure if I liked it. Part of me really, really liked it and another part of me thinks it was drawn out and annoyingly long and just all around boring for the majority of it. I am also not sure if I am a fan of Marrs just yet... I read What Lies Between Us and I hated it. It gave me such extreme anxiety and really affected my mental health. Less for his writing and more for my own state at the time of reading it, but still. I gave this one a try, and I'm still unsure where I stand. I am definitely going to read The One since it is so highly acclaimed and sounds so interesting, and maybe after a THIRD book, I will have a better sense of how I feel about him as a writer!
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