Scan barcode
A review by laurenbrennan
Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I will start by saying that the author did a great job of keeping readers guessing, which helped me stay very invested in the story and kept the pacing nice and fast. I did not guess the ending at all until she explained it to us, which is always a very strong positive in my opinion; if I’m reading a mystery, I’d always love the answer to come to me or be exposed to me in an Agatha-Christie-style, never-saw-it-coming way! I would say that I also did get the impression that there was character growth, and the main character did get SOME self-reflection and personal growth by the end of the story.
I think some of the areas I didn’t quite love are definitely reader-dependent; I think others may appreciate the story for the things that weren’t my favorite. I also feel the NEED to disclose that I read this work as an ARC, because many, and I may go so far as to say MOST, of the components/plot or character elements that I saw as detractors from the story were in the footnotes, which the author specifically mentioned may be removed before the publication date.
Firstly, I think that the main character’s flaws are a big focus of the plot. For example, she is a self-proclaimed (stated verbatim multiple times) unreliable narrator. I think this alone isn’t necessarily always a negative, but I think in this story it just happened to rub me the wrong way in the setting of the fourth wall breaks where she speaks directly to the reader, giving me a kind of taunting “I know something you don’t know because I lived it already and am telling you this story, but you should keep guessing” impression. Her other character flaws include severe sense of personal insecurity, imposter syndrome, and routine self-sabotage, which created some other facepalm moments and made the character seem pretty unlikeable at times. I think at times the persistent negative attributes overshadowed the character’s very significant positives, like how she takes care of her sister and is a humble person. There are specific things in the story that make me believe that the character is actually a VERY good person, so it upsets me that her negatives changed my impression of her that much.
Lastly, I was INTENSELY displeased with the Agatha Christie/Roger Ackroyd spoiler in the footnotes. Aside from the spoiler being completely unnecessary, there was not enough warning, it added nothing to the plot, and it spoiled a HUGE plot twist for an author that I absolutely love.
I think some of the areas I didn’t quite love are definitely reader-dependent; I think others may appreciate the story for the things that weren’t my favorite. I also feel the NEED to disclose that I read this work as an ARC, because many, and I may go so far as to say MOST, of the components/plot or character elements that I saw as detractors from the story were in the footnotes, which the author specifically mentioned may be removed before the publication date.
Firstly, I think that the main character’s flaws are a big focus of the plot. For example, she is a self-proclaimed (stated verbatim multiple times) unreliable narrator. I think this alone isn’t necessarily always a negative, but I think in this story it just happened to rub me the wrong way in the setting of the fourth wall breaks where she speaks directly to the reader, giving me a kind of taunting “I know something you don’t know because I lived it already and am telling you this story, but you should keep guessing” impression. Her other character flaws include severe sense of personal insecurity, imposter syndrome, and routine self-sabotage, which created some other facepalm moments and made the character seem pretty unlikeable at times. I think at times the persistent negative attributes overshadowed the character’s very significant positives, like how she takes care of her sister and is a humble person. There are specific things in the story that make me believe that the character is actually a VERY good person, so it upsets me that her negatives changed my impression of her that much.
Lastly, I was INTENSELY displeased with the Agatha Christie/Roger Ackroyd spoiler in the footnotes. Aside from the spoiler being completely unnecessary, there was not enough warning, it added nothing to the plot, and it spoiled a HUGE plot twist for an author that I absolutely love.