I wanted to like this book but I really struggled to take to it and found myself very bored with it.

I was drawn into this by the tag line "the anti-eat pray love" seeing as i did not enjoy that book at all i was more than interested to give this one a try.
sadly this one didn't really work for me either, mostly because the humour was just not for me.
But if you also didn't enjoy the apparently much loved eat pray love and want something with a bit more real life feel and don't mind a bit of darker humour? Give this a look!

One of those wonderful books which makes you laugh out loud, wherever you are. A light hearted look at travel and travel reviews, but with enough sadness to make it interesting. What a great imagination. I received a review copy, but may buy this for friends.

A novel about Jack, a man determined to visit 100 countries before his 35th birthday, all so he can join the Traveler’s Century Club.

Ugh, this book. It’s glaringly self-published, which I do not inherently object to – I'm all for self-publishing! But hire an editor, dude. It’s not typos or grammar mistakes that give it away (the book’s actually remarkably free of those)(which I suppose is damning with faint praise, but I am totally here to damn this book), but a constant stream of contradictions and just... well, odd choices. The one that leapt out to me most strikingly was when the narrator, in describing the Traveler’s Club, sticks the URL right in the middle of the text:
One down and two to go. Now all I had to do was to get to Kilrush and then to Fulgary and I could join the Travelers’ Century Club. See www.travelerscenturyclub.org for further details.

This would maybe even have been not so weird if it had come in the introduction, the first time the reader is told about this goal, or in the endnotes. But no, none of the above. This quote instead comes from the end of chapter ten, when the Traveler’s Club has been mentioned multiple times without needing an URL.

It’s minor, I know, but similar minor annoyances pop up constantly throughout the text. Jack only needs to visit three more countries, so he heads to the (fictional) islands of Placentia, Kilrush and Fulgary. The fact that these are separate countries is the entire point of the book. And yet the flights between them are repeatedly described as "domestic". In addition, it’s implied Placentia and Fulgaryy are still considered UK territories. Granted, other people probably aren’t as fascinated by the debate over what “counts” as a country as much as I happen to be (I blame this game, on which I spend way too much of my free time), but when it’s the central premise of your story, it needs at least a little consideration.

I could forgive all of the above if Jack was a character I enjoyed spending time with. Instead he’s a complete and total asshole. He condescends and mistreats service employees, he shallowly judges fellow tourists, he rates all women by their attractiveness and sulks when they don’t want to sleep with him. Every time he interacted with any other living creature I wanted to punch him.
For example, discussing his job as a stockbroker: Getting a job in the City is like getting a girl. The less interest and enthusiasm you show, the better chance you have.
Describing his ex-wife: I was still paying for my ex-wife’s house. She had taken me for a mug, then a Merc, then a million. I did quite well out of the divorce settlement; I kept most of the back garden and some of the roof tiles. I wouldn’t have minded if I hadn’t come home to find somebody else’s kippers under the grill. I should have twigged when he helped move her stuff out when she ‘just needed some space’. […] And if I said no to her demands, I would get a call saying my daughter was ill or had been invited to a toddler’s party on the day I was supposed to visit. Her other trick was to pretend I had got the dates or the times wrong. It was easier just to give up. People only change in books or in films, not in real life. I stopped seeing my daughter as regularly when my folks told me she had started to call Graham ‘Daddy’.*
Interacting with a flight attendant: ‘Could I please have one of those bottles of fizzy mineral water?’ I said.
‘I am sorry, sir, we are not allowed to give them out.’ She bent down so close to my face I was worried she was going to kiss me.
‘I don’t want to bother you all the time, asking you for water. Can you leave me the bottle; I don’t want to make a nuisance of myself.’
‘I am afraid we can’t do that, sir.’
‘Why?’ I asked.
‘It’s against regulations. I am sorry, sir.’
‘But your in-flight magazine says quite clearly on page twenty-eight, that passengers should make sure they remain hydrated.’
‘I know, sir. I am sorry but they are the regulations.’
‘I am only asking for a bottle of fizzy water. I have spent thousands of pounds flying Business Class with you. I’m thirsty,’ I said.
‘I am sorry, sir. It’s the rules.’
‘The rules… what airline has rules to prevent passengers from drinking water? Why advertise what a great service you provide, if you won’t give water to a thirsty passenger? What’s the point of pouring an eggcup-sized measure of water if I can jug down full glasses of wine? You do this because, as you know, the less weight you carry the less fuel you need, which means lower fuel costs and better profit.’ And with this, the hostess began to take away my empties.

I could have given you more egregious examples, but I chose these because they all occur before page 35. (And the text of the book doesn’t start until page 8!) Now you too have a sense of the density of Jack’s dickishness.

Though I've got to mention one more: at the end of the book, it’s revealed that Jack’s dead girlfriend who disappeared forever, possibly murdered, cheated on him shortly before her death. When Jack finds out this information, he explicitly decides not to go to the police with it, because, hey, it helped him get over her. Your hero, ladies and gentlemen!
I felt better about not being with her but I also wish I hadn’t wasted so much time thinking about her. I still didn’t know how Kay died but I suspect Naz may have had something to do with it. With forearms like Naz, it wouldn’t have been difficult to squeeze the life out of her. But I didn’t actually know what had happened to her. And for the first time, I wasn’t particularly bothered either. Should I go to the police? And tell them what exactly? I decided, rightly or wrongly, to move on.

Ughhhhh, this book, y’all. This book. I got it for free and that was still too much money.

* The daughter never gets a name, appears on screen, or is even mentioned beyond one more passing notice that she exists. I’m definitely convinced Jack is a worthwhile father.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2118506128

Jack is a traveller inspiration. His goal to join the Traveler’s Century Club becomes one of my life goals as well though I know it needs financial support. However, I did not much enjoy this book. Jack is not very attractive character. What I mean is that, he did not fully capture my heart to read this book. I thought this book would be awesome and exciting but it turns out boring. Maybe what's exciting in this book is the description of the island where Jack goes and the possible activities there. I made me check the island on the internet and I would like to go there too. Although there are some funny parts, I still couldn't give my whole heart in it. The title, cover and the synopsis really caught my attention that I requested it immediately a turns out dismay.

Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I was really interested in the idea behind this book (Jack is about to visit his 98th, 99th and 100th countries so that he can join the Travellers Century Club) but in fact struggled to finish it at several points. Yes, the travel guide descriptions are amusing, mixed in with enough real facts that the line between reality and imagination becomes blurred, but I didn't empathise much with Jack, who seemed never to be happy, whether he was travelling at the cheap 'experience' end or the more deluxe, all inclusive resort. I know his background story is sad (no spoilers here) but he didn't appear to be learning anything about himself or his place in the world through his travels or his contact with people along the way, which I found frustrating.

Jack Kavanagh is basically plodding through his check list of countries to visit. Darkly humored and sarcastic all-the-way, I still found it interesting to read about his adventures and need to finish the "quest".

Our intrepid traveller visits three places so he can cross off having visited 100 countries. We do not find out any more about this exclusive travellers club at all. He also seems to be running from a tragedy in his past that is only mentioned briefly in passing and seems to be a Story in it's own right. We never really find out who this man is and just meander along this holiday of us Hearing all about his bites, sunburns and various adventures and people along the way. It is a shame because it has all the ingredients for a great story, but just forgets to tell it.

I enjoyed reading the book and imagining some of the scenes, but I could't help feeling it was keeping me from reading something more compelling. I also felt it quite incomplete. At times I couldn't work out if is partner was dead or had left him The ridiculous concept of having to fit in 100 countries for travel and the various compulsions that went with that were darkly funny. Not really my cup of tea.

I had high hopes for this. I love travelogues and was looking forward to this as the blurb said it was funny. There were places where I did smile but then it wove off into the realms of trying to tell a story. Either travelogue or novel. To both

This is book full of many comical situations. It was not what I expected from the pre blurb though. However anyone who has travelled abroad can relate to many of the situations being described, which did make the book very readable. Despite many of the characters being well described I did not feel they real. The scenic descriptions could have been anywhere which did add to the amusing scenarios that our heroic traveller found himself in. The author failed to capture my enjoyment and if I had not been reading this for Netgalley and to give a review I would not have continued as I found it banal. I gave three stars as I considered that the comedy value warranted it.

Like other readers on here I was drawn to this book by the title and the description. However, the book ultimately fell short. I really like the idea of a satirical travel novel, but this one is overburdened with it. The combination of the unlikable narrator and the tedious descriptions of the places was too much. There are parts that are genuinely funny, and I would probably assign excerpts to my students when I teach my travel literature class, but the whole work is just too much.

For a book like The Excursionist you tend to find that for every ten glittering five star reviews, you have one negative review. This is that one. The review that is seemingly out of place, usually dismissed or just drastically undermined by the rating systems.

Personally, I feel this book is so unique and rare in its style that it will inevitably be disliked. This will be for one of two reasons: either due to it being misunderstood or due to it being so heavily unusual. For me it was both.

I didn't make my way to the end of this book, I just couldn't get past a quarter of the way through. So, I will not be posting this review on Amazon or Goodreads because it is unfair to judge a book on its first chapters. It's just that in my experience, if I don't like the first quarter of the book, I don't like the rest.

This book had looked promising, from the cover and the quick book description. The main disappointment was the central character, Jack. He seemed to be a big complainer, and not the funny kind. He was venturing out to travel to all these counties before his forty fifth birthday and he seemed to have no enthusiasm for it. This book did have comic potential, the main character's neurotic thoughts (for instance about tipping the hotel helpers or his driver) could have been more hilarious. I don't know. The book just wasn't for me.

But, I thank you for this opportunity.

I enjoyed this book but wasn't sure where it was going and not sure I know now.
I didn't warm to the main character but liked his adventures and travel.s.

Received this free from Netgalley (thanks) and was looking forward to enjoying someone else's fictional travels but unfortunately the story didn't really grab me. The male protagonist is a fussy Brit trying to visit 100 countries before he reaches the age of 45. There is some dark humour and satire that lightens the book slightly but I really struggled to finish it unfortunately.

Loved the idea behind this book, but I thought from the blurb that more would actually happen than it did. The main character's journey to tick off 100 countries so he can join the Travellers Club was a brilliant premise, and it allowed us, as the reader, to join him on his personal and psychological journey as he did so. His commentaries on other tourists - particularly those who preen by the pool - was hilarious, but these moments of humour were counteracted by previous, sometimes dull, pages of description and the history of each place. The book definitely improved - the start was fairly slow, but as the protagonist neared his 100th country, things started happening and the pace and the plot definitely picked up so worth finishing!

love lravelling with all its trials, haphazard , aimless and random hit or miss destinations but this beats them all . I have never met anyone who joined this club . The end story will be a heart ripper .

I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
Jack Kaganagh has only three countries left before he can join an elite club of people who have visited 100 countries. This is his journey to visit these three countries before his next birthday. This darkly satirical travel novel is at times very insightful on the trend for travelling to places only to experience what you left at home or just to tick off locations from a ‘Places to visit before you die’ list. The disposable nature of travel when it is not done meaningfully is very much its focus. However, the cynicism can become a little wearing. The satire is at times very amusing but sometimes its darkness is quite depressing. I am glad I have read it but it would not be for everybody.

I'm sorry, but I didn't connect with this novel at all. I thought it'd be interesting and engaging based on the description and cover art, but it was neither. I found the content way too depressing, morose, grumbly, and defeatist. If you're privileged enough to travel, especially to 100 countries, do not act like the protagonist. Yikes.

Thanks to NetGalley for the copy.