Tomorrow I start in a new direction: THE VACATION.

The Vacation by T.M. Logan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


A quick read marred by some very unlikable characters

Four friends gather together for a week in the south of France with their husbands and children. They have known one another since the first day of university in Bristol and are now celebrating their 40th birthdays. But one, Kate, is worried about her husband, Sean, who is acting secretive and odd. At the villa, she spies on his phone and realizes he's having an affair. Even worse, it's with one of her three friends on the trip: Rowan, Jennifer, or Izzy. Devastated, Kate sets out to determine which one of her friends is betraying her. But as she does, things being to unravel, with far more devastating consequences than Kate could have ever predicted.


"If I'd known what was coming, what we were driving toward, I would have made Sean stop the car and take us straight back to the airport."


Overall, this is repetitive drama billed as a high stakes thriller. Most of this book would not need to happen if Kate simply confronted Sean at the beginning of our story, instead of theatrically swanning about and playing "detective" while on vacation. I hate these sort of stories where instead of communicating, everything goes awry because the characters refuse to speak to one another.

While overall this is a quick read, the beginning feels slow. It features much of Kate's angst, over and over, as she speculates about which of her three friends is the culprit. Walks down memory lane about how good things once were. (Again, never does she really try to speak to her husband--or even honestly with any of her friends.) She is insistent, after reading a few Facebook Messenger bits, about everyone's guilt.

Of course, I cannot truly blame her, because none of these characters are very likeable. Her friends are pretty despicable and their husbands, too. All the characters treat their children rather terribly, either berating them or neglecting them for the trip. The poor kids have issues that are completely overlooked. At least Logan varies narrators throughout the story so we do get to see things from more than just Kate's panicked point of view. But it only serves to show how short-sighted these adults can be.

The story picks up later on, but, by then, it's hard to really care for anyone. I won't deny that this is a fast read and it does keep you interested with some (often predictable) twists. But it's tough to be fully invested when it's a bunch of whiny, clueless supposed grownups who think their problems are more important than all. 3 stars.

I received a copy of this book from St. Martin's Press and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review.

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