Charlotte and Perry’s second home is in the beautiful village of Pine Ridge, Dorset. Their neighbours are of the same ilk, having their main homes in cities, all of their residencies are lavish with money being no object. Many of the village’s residents were born and bred there and don’t take kindly to DFL’s (Down from London) buying up the vacant properties, undertaking costly renovations. The owners of these properties only visit a few times each year and, in some cases, only visit during each August. The locals are disgruntled and the vigilante group NJFA (Not Just for August) lead by Robbie Jevons regularly express their anger with forms of minor vandalism. Robbie proclaims himself to be the ‘South Coast’s rockstar of Zoomer activism’.

The book starts towards the end of the story with Robbie witnessing and as he describes it, one of the DFL’s houses falling off the cliff. This takes place at the end of August, during a music festival held on the beach. The book then reverts back to the beginning of the story. Charlotte and Perry’s friends Amy and Linus have recently bought a property nearby and both families are looking forward to a well-deserved rest with their children of varying ages.

Soon the secrets start to tumble out and the cracks appear within the families. The animosity between the two families soon emerges, and even more so with the resentful locals. The drama creates severe tensions between each of the parties which brings the story to an exceptional conclusion, and cleverly works it way back round to the horrific incident of the tumbling property. The story is cleverly interspersed with extracts from Robbie’s point of view at the end of August.

I found there were many characters introduced initially and struggled a little to work out who they were and which family they belonged to. The conflicts arising in this book were made to feel relatable and were compelling from every viewpoint. There is a wide mix of characters and personalities who often collide and the relationships are interestingly explored.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it as a ‘must read’ for 2024. The plot is a brilliant drama and would definitely make an excellent tv adaption.

I didn't really get on with this one. There are a lot of characters and not a lot happens in the first 25% of the book. The book is told from different viewpoints, which added to the confusion for me. I do get the local residents versus second home owners argument but this book was too long for me and I didn't really care about any of the characters. The holiday makers are too shallow, overkeen on impressing each other and the others too into their own agendas. With so many characters there are too many subplots but it was far too slow moving.
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC, this one was not for me

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the e-ARC. I loved this atmospheric and moody book with interesting characters and social commentary.

Our Holiday has at its centre the very topical issue of the entitled middle classes and their swallowing up of holiday homes in beauty spots, leaving the locals with no opportunity to buy a home of their own. The trouble with the novel was, to me, that there were few characters one could care about, even the disadvantaged. Some , like the kleptomaniac daughter, were thoroughly dislikeable. But, despite this, the plot was great and full of twists and turns and I gobbled it up.

Another fabulous read from Louise Candlish! The plot is full of twists and turns and kept me hooked throughout. The characters are relatable and I enjoyed their journeys. A brilliant read!

I've read and enjoyed a few Louise Candlish books, and was looking forward to this one. Unfortunately I found it difficult to engage with and I'm having trouble deciding why, I thought the premise and writing were good and the topic of second homes is certainly very current, along with other asides which gave it a contemporary feel. I think there were too many characters and relationships for me to properly invest in finding out more about the individuals and I lost interest part way through.
Looking forward to her next book though
Thank you to netgalley and HQ books for an advance copy of this book.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a real page turner, and lots of twists and turns.
I did find it confusing at the beginning with lots of different characters being introduced, but soon got used to who was who and their relationships with each other.
I enjoyed that the book told part of the story from a different characters perspective, as it allowed me to think differently about how the story was progressing, and how it was perceived by different people.

Set in an idyllic location on the South Coast, 2 families visit their holiday homes in August. But they are not made welcome - the NJFA (Not Just for August) activist group are there to welcome them, as they are against wealthy Londoners buying up all the local property and forcing locals to live in caravans.

This story then follows the 2 families, including teenagers, throughout August & their interactions with the locals, ultimately leading to a murder.

Took a little while for the characters and events to bed in, but once we got into the deeper story an intense thriller.

Wow! What a page turner this was.. I just couldn’t put it down. This was so suspenseful with everything going on between the twists and turns and the secrets. The characters were great, the story itself and the setting was amazing and so beautiful, and the style of writing was perfect.
I loved everything about this book and would highly recommend this it and the author to anyone that enjoys reading psychological thrillers.
This author is actually one of my favourites and I have most of her books already, I’m really looking forward to the next one to come out .
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

A fabulously written gripping story that was a pleasure to read. I would absolutely recommend this book, it was brilliant

Our Holiday by Louse Candlish
Published by HQ, HarperCollins UK
Publication Date 6/6/24
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved this book, it kept me engaged and eager to read more from the outset. I liked that it was told from several perspectives and dealt with some serious issues in a very realistic way. My allegiances kept shifting and there were some great twists.
Many thanks to the author, publisher and to netgalley for providing me with this advance digital copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I absolutely loved this book! I was unsure at first when I started to read the 'Zoomer speak' and the political correctness. However this soon became more amusing and indeed an education than anything else. There are lots of characters but they are all well written and solid enough to hold their own in the narrative. The plot, or should I say plots are full of twists and turns and never boring. I found Our Holiday a thoroughly captivating and enjoyable, if very different read, that I would recommend to anyone who would like to try something a little different.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

Two families from London stay in their holiday homes during the summer. This is not met well by the locals who are protesting against those with second homes. Soon they realise that this summer could change everything.

I am a big fan of Louise Candlish and enjoy her writing style and complex, twisty thrillers. In this story she creates a cast of well written, but hugely unlikeable, characters whose actions are sometimes shocking and at the same time entertaining. I found that even though there was a large cast of characters I was never confused.

I enjoyed the addition of the issues faced by local communities and the wealth divide; finding the topics explored in a well mannered way with a lot of depth. A long with the serious issues explored, there are moments of humour which I found very compelling. Although this was a slow burn, which I usually find difficult to get through, it worked well in this instance and helped the reader get to know the characters and connect with the story. I would sum this up as another multi layered, twisty novel by this author and a perfect summer read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

Whilst I did enjoy this book, I wouldn't necessarily categorise it as a thriller as there wasn't much of a mystery or any tension build up. The NJFA vs second home owners issue was interesting and the cast of characters varied and flawed

Our Holiday is definitely a slow burn of a book but the author still managed to keep me hooked throughout. There are quite a few different storylines within the plot (which may be what helps with this) but these are handled expertly and are interwoven well so it doesn't ever feel messy or too complicated. Likewise, we experience many POVs which may be frustrating for some people. I personally didn't mind this myself and enjoyed the chance to dive more deeply into the different characters but I do wonder if there was a lack of depth as a result to these characters and I do think there was an excess of characters generally - I mean what was the point of Julien!?

The second homes saga was one I hadn't read about before in a book and made a really interesting addition to the plot, especially the NJFA activist group and leader Robbie who was particularly interesting as a character. I also really liked the setting of Pine Ridge and found it easy to visualise thanks to the author.

Admittedly I felt a bit disappointed in the end reveal of the books main 'incident' - this all felt a bit random to the overall plot and the 'who' was kind of brushed over. Without giving any spoilers, I personally feel it would have been more interesting if another character had been the instigator.

Overall, Our Holiday was an enjoyable read with a lot of layers (and characters!).

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Great read examining current issues

I enjoyed this read about the haves and the have nots. Highlighted a lot of social issues. At times it felt like satire and then you realise that this issues are actually going on.

I think I was firmly on the side of the NJFA group, didn't help that the summer habitants of Pine Ridge were all unlikeable - even Amy who was trying to integrate herself with the locals came across as false and trying to hard.

Set against the backdrop of a coastal English village this is a story of secrets, a whodunnit, and a house sliding into the abyss of the ocean!

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book. This is my honest opinion.

I've read and enjoyed all of Louise Candlish's previous novels but I think this one might be my new favourite! I found this thriller so gripping and so hard to put down. It's a novel about people who go to their holiday homes every summer but have no real awareness of the impact owning a second home has on locals born and raised in that area. This is one of those novels were most of the characters are unlikeable and I love that! There are a group of locals protesting against the second homers and the tension that slowly builds over the summer was palpable, it was making me on edge. We also know from the start of the novel that something happens to one of the homes but we don't quite know what or how until later and that is always playing in the back of your mind. I love the slow reveal of secrets and the way this novel builds to its conclusion. I loved this novel and I highly recommend it!

The book opens with a devastating scene where a house seems to fall off a cliff into the sea in the middle of a festival on a beach.
Holiday homes are being targeted by seaside resort residents who are not happy that they are left empty for most of the year. Protests have started in August and Charlotte, Perry, Amy and Linus soon arrive to destruction. Instead of enjoying their summer holidays they are caught up in secrets and lies and disaster. I liked that the book flicked between then and now to build a picture up of what caused the tragedy. A good mix of characters and good plot line made me keep turning the pages. I will be recommending to others

I really wanted to like this book as I've loved previous by Louise Candlish, but I just couldn't get on with this one, sadly.

The premise is there for a great story and I did feel it was thrilling in parts and made me want to keep trying. However, I felt there were too many characters that I couldn't remember who was who and I couldn't keep my attention focused.

However, I will also state that maybe it was just the wrong book at the wrong time for me, and I will try again after it's published.