Don’t get me wrong, The Vacationers is a good book, but it’s an underwhelming book. I chose to read this novel after finding it listed as a top read for the summer. I don’t know about you, but there’s something about summer that leaves me wanting a solid romance story mixed in with some sand. While there was sand and forms of romance, there was also so much adultery and poor use of my beloved comma.
For those of you that are intrigued, The Vacationers follows the Post family as they travel to Mallorca for a two-week long trip. Franny and Jim, along with their two children, Bobby and Sylvia, meet up with family friends, Charles and Lawrence. The first week of vacation is pretty similar to what most family beach vacations look like – reading books, swimming, eating, and lounging. Not much really happens until the secret affair/affairs slowly unravel and are no longer just speculation. As all of this unfolds, the kids are not as phased as you would expect, so instead of focusing on the broken family, more drama unfolds. Bobby’s girlfriend shares his biggest secrets, and Sylvia is unfortunately so consumed with the idea of losing her virginity before the end of summer.
As the second week begins, I did feel a little more invested in the storyline because I wanted to see how the author, Emma Straub, would handle the affair among the characters. However, I still never felt fully invested. Details and character development were lacking in places I really felt could have altered the story.
As I said…overall it’s underwhelming.