How to Slay on Holiday by Sarah Bonner is described as a deliciously dark thriller. I would list it more as a dark comedy with suspense. I enjoyed the multiple POV and the plot twists. How to Slay on Holiday is a great choice for fans of The White Lotus.

I struggled to like any of the characters, although that may have been on purpose, but the book was very well written and full of twists that I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline, just not the characters.

𝐕𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐬:
➤ Murder Mystery
➤ Family Vacation
➤ First Degree Murder
➤ Multi POV

𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐨𝐫:
Anyone who is looking for a murder mystery with multiple potential culprits, dark humor and short, quick chapters.

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
Thank you Netgalley and Boldwood Books for a ARC of How to Slay in Holiday. The premise of this story was set up well. Beginning with a dedication that read “To everyone who’s looked at their spouse and wondered if perhaps they could get away with it… this one’s for you.” Hilarious. I also enjoyed that this story alternated between the POVs of three women who are somehow mysteriously connected to this planned murder. However, as this story went on there were too many coincidences and too many twists that weren’t predictable, because they simply weren’t possible to predict.

I think this could be enjoyable as a thriller not meant to be taken too seriously.

Thank you NetGalley! This is my second book by this author and it did not disappoint. I loved the plot and throughly enjoyed the back and forth between the characters that aided with all the twists. It was also fun to read this while on holiday with my own family lol

Chloe has planned a luxurious family holiday on the Greek island of Mykonos for her husband Scott, her in-laws, and her own family. But Chloe is planning more than just a family holiday, she has spent months planning the murder of her husband Scott and by playing the loved-up wife on holiday she is hoping to avoid being a suspect in her husbands death. Almost immediately, both families' petty behaviour threatens to ruin her plans, and someone might just know all about Chloes' plan.

Before all else, it was the cover and title that drew me to this book, but it was also a thoroughly entertaining read. A dark-humoured, domestic thriller that would make the perfect summer read. Highly recommend adding this book to your TBR this summer. 😎

Thanks to @netgalley @sarahbonner101 and @theboldbookclub for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was fantastic!! It was funny, I loved the twists and I found it very entertaining. The storyline was interesting and the authors writing was great. I was very impressed. It definitely exceeded my expectations. I will be checking out more of this authors writing.

This book was a fast-paced thriller with some dark comedy elements, and I could not put it down! I wasn’t expecting this book to turn into a whodunit mystery, and I think that aspect really added extra tension to the story. The ending took me by surprise, and that made the story even better. All of the characters are very flawed, and you don’t know who to trust. It was so chaotic, and I loved the female characters. You don’t necessarily like all of the characters, but you’re rooting for some of them anyway. I enjoyed reading in multiple POVs and getting to know some of the characters more that way. I think seeing things and thinking from their point of view helped me understand not only their character but also their motivations. Overall, I loved this book, and I think anyone who wants a fun, summer-y thriller/mystery would enjoy it as well.

This is the first book I read by Sarah Bonner. I thoroughly enjoyed her writing style and the characters she creates.

In How To Slay On Holiday, we read the story of Chloe, who has planned the perfect vacation for her family and her in-laws at a luxury villa in Greece. However, what the family doesn't know is that this vacation was planned to showcase her perfect marriage and to avoid any suspicion when her husband, Scott, is murdered the following week.

Throughout the book, we read the POV of Chloe, Tori (Scott's sister) and Grace (the concierge at the luxury villa) and see that Chloe is not the only person in the family who is hiding secrets. The beginning of the book felt a bit slow, but as soon as we pass the 50% mark, the turns and twists in the story are incredible. The best twist is revealed in the epilogue, which turns this into an incredible 4-star read. Will definitely be reading more from Sarah Bonner.

Thank you Boldwood Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to @rachelsrandomresources for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Holiday of a lifetime and a chance to convince everyone what a perfect couple you are before his untimely death, what a storyline! Chloe has planned this holiday down to the last hour with both families to give her the perfect alibi, what could possibly go wrong? Well, if you knew the families, anything and everything!

This is a great book with some brilliantly written characters within. Some with two sides, some with more and some who are just annoying (Scott and Rob being two in this category). As the book progressed, my feelings about a couple of them changed. And I didn’t work out whodunnit either! That changed with each revelation and twist that popped up.

I have read both of Sarah’s How To Slay books now and am eagerly awaiting more, they’re just so good and easy to get sucked into.

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒑...𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚...𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏, 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏, 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝑰 𝒈𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒂 𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆.

Chloe is fed up with her husband Scott. But why divorce him when she could kill him and get a big payday? She hires a company to do it, which only provides her a window when the deed will be done so that her reaction will be genuine. She has everything all worked out--she plans a big family holiday with both extended families so that everyone can see how happy she and Scott are. However, nothing works out quite the way Chloe envisioned, which leads to a darkly comedic series of events that get more and more outrageous.

This was my second read from this author, and she's firmly cemented her place in my must-read list. Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this hilarious early read. This book is expected to publish February 27, 2025.

My Rating 2⭐️⭐️ started out pretty well and then just went a bit bananas but not in a good way!!!

I wont recap the blurb GR has a decent one, this is a dark comedic thriller about a wife who is trying to sure up her chances at not getting blamed for her husbands murder that she has organised… and in amongst it are a cast of super super unlikable characters!!

So I actually really liked How to Slay at Work by Sarah Bonner I gave it a rounded up 4 stars, it kind of fell apart at the end but I enjoyed it all the way through. To be clear these books are not trying to be serious, in fact they are trying to be funny which they are at times… this one however started to really fall apart and then it just never recovered…

I found myself speed reading through the reveals and the ending to get through it. All the people in this book are awful horrible people…so hopefully that doesn’t immediately put you off… and to be honest one of my favourite MCs was Tori, she was despicable but I liked how she was basically a super sleuth cause no one thought she had a brain.

But what really lost me was that this had way too much happening… there were crime bosses, husbands getting murdered, more crime bosses, random killers, misdirection, hidden cameras, sleazy brothers and more and more and more… it just got a little bit wild and a little bit stupid (I expected some stupidity of course) but yeah… a bit of a let down.

It is told in multi-POV from Chloe (dead guys wife), Tori (dead guys sister) and Grace (hit man company helper), this was fine. Each POV speaks directly to you as the reader so if you hate that kind of writing then don’t pick up this book or the other one… but I didn’t actually find that offensive at all the writing was good. Just the story took a weird stupid turn.

Overall, I think people will like this and I think I kind of liked it up until about 65% but it just let me down. If I am recommending any book like this read her other one How to Slay at Work… its still pretty good. Unfortunately though I wont really recommend this to any of my GR buddies.

Thank you to NetGalley, Boldwood Books and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Once you settle into the rhythm of the characters and adjust to the shifting POV's, this read becomes a thrilling rollercoaster! It's a fast-paced, darkly humorous thriller I devoured.

Chloe has concocted a plan to murder her husband, Scott. She’s planned a vacation with both their families, where she can play the role of a devoted wife, only to become the perfect grieving widow when things go south later on.

However, when everyone gathers on the Greek island of Mykonos, things don’t go as Chloe planned, and she becomes paranoid that someone is onto her.

The story is wildly over the top with plenty of "as if" moments, but it is what makes it work. The characters are all shady in their own way, not particularly likable, yet I found myself invested in everything they did.

The ending felt a bit rushed with a cascade of twists all at once, but it made for an exciting conclusion. The epilogue was completely unexpected and it wrapped the book up perfectly.

My second book by Sarah Bonner and I loved it! It was a fun, murderous mystery read with laughable scenes and relatable characters. Who doesn’t want to murder someone they love at some point in their lifetime?
The different point of views added the icing on the cake.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Sarah Bonner book. Really enjoyed this, although I wasn’t drawn in until about 45% through. I didn’t find any of the characters likeable- but I think that was the point.
Seems like a fun holiday read.
Left me wondering the whole time, I was unable to guess the plot.
Love how the chapters flipped between character POVs.
Deffo reading more by Sarah!

A great holiday read! What better setting is there to murder your husband than a big family holiday, with everyone witnessing how loved up you both are? Now THAT'S an alibi!

Chloe has the perfect plan for carrying out the murder of her husband, Scott. As they head to Mykonos with their siblings, their partners and both sets of parents, tensions rise and cracks start to appear in Chloe's plan. There were some great characters in these two morally dubious families of Chloe and Scott, some laugh-out-loud moments and some clever twists. The story is narrated by Chloe, her sister-in-law, Toni, and Grace, the holiday villa concierge who notices everything!

A really enjoyable read and I love Sarah Bonner's writing style,

4 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Sarah Bonner and Boldwood for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This was a darkly funny, twisted thriller with deliciously degenerate characters. There're no 'good guys' in the entire story. It's all unpleasant people doing unpleasant things to each other, which makes it easy for the reader to enjoy the delicious twists and turns and anticipate the next reveal without becoming emotionally invested in ensuring truth and justice. I loved how organic and perfectly timed the twists and reveals were. Recommend!

Chloe has been planning her husband Scotts murder by contract killers for months. To solidify her "perfect" marriage picture to others to detract suspicion around his impeding death, Chloe invites both her and Scott's family to a luxury resort in Mykonos. But the perfect trip is littered with family disagreements and Scott's sister Tori making comments that has Chloe questioning if she knows what is planned. Then, there is the resort concierge, Grace, who seems a bit off. Will the holiday go as Chloe plans, or will disaster strike?

The beginning of this book was average for me. But once the plot really started to get going, these were many unexpected twists and turns. I literally could not set the book down at the end. And the resolution as nothing that I expected. I also enjoyed the switching POVs and quick chapters that helped to keep the story moving at a fast pace. I would definitely be interested in reading more by this author.

Thank you Boldwood Books, NetGalley, and Sarah Bonner for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This family gives new definition to the word dysfunctional. Every character has an agenda starting with but not limited to Chloe and every character changes masks with the situation. The family dynamic is so fraught with one up-man-ship and jealousy and just plan meanness that it feels like you are reading a soap opera. You may not be able to connect with anyone in this mobbed up family but they are just so much fun to read about. After the murder of Scott, Chloe's jerk husband, buckle up because you will be hit with a ton of twists and the big reveal at the very ending will leaving you flabbergasted. This book would make an awesome movie.
This is my second book by Sarah Bonner but it won't be the last. I hope she continues the How to Slay series.
Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

How to Slay on Holiday is a twisted thriller about a murder for hire that goes wrong at every turn. This book was so much fun to read and the twists were fun and interesting. While the writing style was not always my favorite, this book kept me engaged and up past bedtime trying to figure out who did it and how. The book kept me guessing until the very end.

I could NOT get into this one at all... I thought it would be a light and fluffy dark comedy, but it felt much more serious (and less entertaining) than expected - and from the opening pages, no less. I hadn't read the author before and suspect her writing style and my reading style are just not a good fit. There are a lot of characters, POV shifts, and moving parts - and they all center around a group of people that are pretty universally unlikeable. It made it tough to connect with anyone enough to care about who lived or died, frankly. This one wasn't for me...