I so enjoyed this, like all of Louise Candlishs' books, there is that wonderful mix of brilliantly drawn characters and tension that means you don't want to put it down. I adored it - a brilliant summer read. When they say gripping and twisty, they mean it, a great read - one to pack for your holiday!

I wanted to preface by saying that I love Louise Candlish and this is a rare occasion that I'm marking one of her books so low. Whilst I thought Our Holiday had a great premise, for me this was too long a read, wasn't well paced and had an average ending - sorry!
2 stars.

Louise Candlish is the mistress of contemporary London domestic noir – and this, her latest release, cements this reputation, even if the plot in this novel unfolds not in the capital city to the rocky Cornish coastline. It is here that two professional couples – Charlotte and Perry, as well as Amy and Linus – are among the privileged few who have managed to buy holiday homes in a wealthy enclave of second home owners. With local residents struggling to get onto the property ladder and becoming increasingly dissatisfied at the summer influx into their picturesque village, it is only a matter of time until tensions erupt. As usual, I was drawn into the multiple threads of this novel very quickly, and keen to see how developments for these two couples, their children, and the local pressure group led by charismatic villager Robbie plays out. At times I did think that Candlish had packaged up too many contemporary clichés for us here – the ‘woke’ but innocent university student, the shoplifting teenager, the blasé French exchange student, the middle-aged cyclist and many more jostle for position here – but overall, this was a compelling yarn, well executed, that showcases modern concerns well. I wish to thank the publishers and NetGalley for the free ARC gifted to me in exchange for this unbiased review.

Took me a while to get into this book and was definitely slow for me unfortunately.

Overall I did enjoy it, not all the characters though unfortunately.

Thank you to Netgalley and HQ Digital for this ARC which I did enjoy mostly.

I really enjoyed this book.

Affluent people buy second/holiday homes in Pine Ridge, whereas those born and raised there can’t afford to and so they protest when the rich arrive for summer.

This was such a good read, from a few viewpoints and there wasn’t a moment to be bored.

Maybe a slower burn than people enjoy but it felt really engrossing.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an honest review.

Louise Candlish books have generally been a miss for me, and unfortunately, this one was too. For some reason, I find her writing tedious and crammed full of useless information and people. It's hard to connect with the plot and the characters, when there are too many to follow and you don't really know what was going on. The premise of the book did draw me in, but it was too slow of a 'burn' for me. I needed a lot more to keep me engaged.

This is a slow burn thriller with lots of characters to keep things interesting. A very nuanced central debate surrounding second-home ownership and a thread of menace woven through but the action really started to kick in at about the half way point.

Great for anyone looking for a different kind of thriller but was just a tad too slow for me.

I'm a huge fan of this author and Those People is one of my favourite thrillers of the past few years. Unfortunately I found it much harder to connect to the characters in this one. Not because they're all unlikeable – Candlish's stock trade is producing characters you won't want to root for! – but because they lacked the nuance and richness of her previous ones. Too many of them felt one-dimensional and cliched. The plot itself held my attention and once again Candlish has identified an issue readers can wholly relate to – trying to find somewhere affordable to live. This time she focuses on out-of-towners, specifically Londoners, buying up holiday homes on the coast, who then find themselves targeted by locals forced out of the houses they've lived in for years. The plot is satisfyingly twisty and gripping but, ultimately, the novel left me feeling a little flat. The lack of rounded characters was too distracting and for that reason I'm giving it 3.5 stars.

Another brilliant read from Louise! Having enjoyed some of her previous books 8 was delighted to be approved to read Our Holiday.

Two couples who vaguely know each other in London have holiday homes in Cornwall on the same estate, Amy and Linus arrive for the summer with their two children whilst Perry and Charlotte are there with their son. Amy is determined to make her home as incredible as Charlotte’s and to get to know them better over the summer.

Some local people are not as delighted to see the second homers arrive and are members of pressure groups to show the incomers just how unwelcome they are.

By the bank holiday weekend, lives on both sides will have changed forever……

Where to begin...
I have a mixed relationship with this authors work some I have been up all night reading others have taken a lifetime to get though.
From the books I've read I found some amazing that stay with you for ages and others that left me the instant I have finished.
My ratings of from what I have read previously are as follows:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- These People
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- The Swimming Pool
⭐️⭐️- The Heights
⭐️⭐️⭐️- Our House
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️-The Skylight
⭐️⭐️⭐️- The Only Suspect
⭐️⭐️- The Other Passenger

What keeps requesting and reading her works despite this mixed bag is the fact even in the not so good novels the author manages to always give multi layered twists and turns while examining and highlighting the issues in a modern day society. She expertly presents the class divide using extremely complex characters you both dislike but root for. She always takes a news worthy topical issue and intertwines within the novels with style and flair.

I was delighted to be given this DRC to review...spoiler alert I've already pre ordered a print copy...THIS IS 5⭐️ probably the writers best!!!!

FROM THE COVER📖

Charlotte and Perry have owned their clifftop holiday home in Pine Ridge for years. They’ve worked hard for it – why shouldn’t they enjoy it? Even if the locals can’t afford to live in the village these days…
Now city friends Amy and Linus have bought a second home nearby and when the two families descend, they plan lazy days at the beach and evenings sipping rosé and watching the sun set from Charlotte’s summerhouse veranda.
But this summer is different. A group of locals – headed by the charismatic Robbie – will stop at nothing to make the second home owners pay for their holiday. By the end of their break, marriages will be torn apart, friendships shattered and crimes exposed.
And one of them will have lost their life.

REVIEW⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

From the first chapter I was hooked... told in the first person POV we met "Rockstar Activist" Robbie who is witnessing a house fall of a cliff.

From here we hear from a mixture of characters in the present and past in the 3rd person POV flitting back and forth leading up the opening chapters events,
set over two dual timelines and we learn of a death but are then taken back and drip fed until the story plays out perfectly.

The wonderfully written cast of characters are deeply unlikable however one of the true highlights in the narrative lies in these richly developed characters, each with their own compelling stories.

The characters are a mixed bunch in terms of ages, class and gender all are horrendously awful at first glance but provide a nuanced understanding of the diverse perspectives at play. It for made for a very satisfying read when their misdemeanors caught up on them. There’s a satirical element especially in the acute observations of those at the upper end of the income bracket yet it still manages to pack the necessary punch and make the point very clear . There is some excellent dialogue that keeps reinforcing this at times the characters seems extreme versions of the people the author is portraying but this for added a real dark humour, I found this has been the case in all her works, she writes people like people we all know and does so with a true eye for self awareness. The strong thread of dark humour throughout which I would describe it as a satire on the class system in the UK. This is expertly shown in her characters. As the narrative unfolds through multiple points of view, we can see the divides clearly in the way the characters react so differently from each other when faced with the same situation. The divide is clear not only in terms of class but in as intergenerational ones and in various other relationships. These become strained and there are intriguing dynamics throughout the main plot and sub plots. The sub plot regarding Bettie and her clothes was one of my favourites and highlighted the points and themes of the main plot beautifully.


The very much topical news worthy setting of second home owners out pricing the locals in the many of our seaside towns is bang on trend for so many issues and makes for interesting thoughtful reading.

I found the plot fantastic and so smartly written.

It adopts a deliberate, slow-burning pace, gradually unravelling the intricacies of the characters and their lives, there is a sense of anxiety and trepidation overhanging all and an on edge sensation. Situations escalate, there are double lives being lived, examples of hypocrisy and the tensions evident from the start, begin to escalate with altercations which spiral out of control. It becomes deliciously devious and dangerous, keeping you reading long into the night. The ending was a perfect match for the themes within the novel.


Taking aside all the deeper meaning points and themes the setting of English summer time is captured perfectly making it not only a pieces of brilliantly written satire with thrilling elements but also perfect for escaping.

Our holiday is the perfect holiday read

Without doubt the authors best to date.

Our Holiday is a slow burner that revolves around two couples who own holiday homes in Dorset and the group of locals, who resent them, having been pushed out of the housing market…. Sadly, something I can relate to living in a seaside resort! Their idyllic August holiday very quickly turns into a nightmare. A good read but not one that would make my top10 of the year.

I love Louise Candlish and I think she is criminally underrated. I know it is all about opinions but there are so many more 'acclaimed' authors who seem to get more publicity and kudos and I can't understand why.

In Our Holiday, we meet two couples, Amy and Linus, and Charlotte and Perry. The book is set over the month of August when the two couples are living in their second homes much to anger of local residents who dislike the impact of second homes on their local community housing.

Like much of Candlish's work, it is set over two dual timelines and we learn of a death but are then taken back and drip fed until the story plays out perfectly.

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ for an ARC in exchange for an honest

Oh what can I say ? I’m a huge fan of this authour and have loved them all ….i didn’t though find this that great not even good really
I did enjoy the unlikable characters of course she’s great at writing these and the dynamics but I just found it boring and rushed the end as wanted to read something else
Nothing really happens though the first chapter is good and u can imagine the catrosphere well
It’s a good concept and touches on relevant themes but I just found it a bit boring and the the themes quite stereotyped
Louise has done a lot better and it’s still an ok read just not her usual standard of deep rich dynamics and page turning moments
So sorry to give just two stars ,I have changed to three as maybe unfair just her other books are sooo much better and I was bored and I never have been before by this authour
Ty though for the advanced read netgalley and publishers

Our Holiday is another completely engrossing novel from Louise Candlish who has to be one of my favourite authors. Pine Ridge is a popular location for wealthy Londoners to purchase a second home. Charlotte and Perry have a beautiful house there, overlooking the sea and with an amazing summer house they affectionately call ‘the nook’. Their friends Amy and Linus have recently bought a more modest home nearby that needs renovating. Their summer idle is less than perfect due to a local group calling themselves NJFA (not just for August) who hold regular protests against second home owners as they have been pushed out of the housing market. When tragedy strikes during a beach music festival at the end of the summer everyone is shocked leading secrets and rivalries to be revealed.
I gobbled up this book and was torn between wanting to discover who the perpetrator was and knowing whatever I read next will not be a patch on this novel.

Set against the picturesque backdrop of the stunning Devon coast, Our Holiday delves into the intriguing world of second-home ownership, exploring the dual facets of this phenomenon.
One of the highlights of the narrative lies in its richly developed characters, each with their own compelling stories. While this aspect added depth to the overall plot, the abundance of characters did pose a challenge, leaving me at times a tad bewildered. The narrative unfolds through multiple points of view, which, although initially confusing, provided a nuanced understanding of the diverse perspectives at play.
The novel adopts a deliberate, slow-burning pace, gradually unravelling the intricacies of the characters' lives. While some readers might find this approach testing, I believe it significantly contributes to the overall tension of the story. The unhurried unveiling of events allows the narrative to build a palpable sense of anticipation.

An excellent book but I think perhaps a little mis-sold as a thriller.
Following the dispute between the locals and the second home owners, with plenty of shady dealings and behaviour on both sides the story beings with a tragedy and then winds back in time to explain the lead up to that fateful moment.
Told from a number of perspectives the story very cleverly gets across the view points of each side of the story and builds empathy for the characters, particularly the locals. I found the second homers far harder to get on board with, they came across as the posh and spoilt people the locals can see, even when the story moves to one of their perspectives.
Thoroughly enjoyed the scenery, the characters and the story and wasn't expecting the perpetrator to be the person it turned out to be!

This book it’s set on the beautiful coast of Devon and is about second home owners and the two sides of this which I find an interesting subject.
I enjoyed the characters and learning about their individual stories. Although there was quite a lot of characters and i found it a bit confusing especially as it was told down multiple points of view.
It was quite a slow burning book but I think this added to the overall tension.
Thanks to Netgalley. Louise Candlish and HQ Stories for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

I do love a Louise Candlish: this one was a bit of a mixed bag.
The story of Pine Ridge, a beautiful cliff top row of houses in Dorsey, colonised by rich DFLs (Down from London), and a local protest group ‘Not Just For August.’
It’s an amusingly told erstwhile thriller and the pace really ramps up in the last third, but there are a lot of characters and I didn’t find them greatly distinguishable which made reading it a bit more of a slog than it should have been.
On the flip side, Candlish really gets the tension between the haves and the have-nots and the story is compelling.
In a nutshell: not as well-characterised as some of her novels but a good plot and well-done satire keeps you hooked.

I have devoured every book I have read by Louise Candlish and this one was no different, so many twisty moments as you try to find out which one of them could be capable of murder.

Not for me. Too slow staring, couldn't connect with the characters, found there were too many to get my head around early on. Shame, as usually a fan of this author. I will still read her future books. Thanks for the ARC