Book Review | The Vacationers by Emma Staub

                                                    


First off, how peaceful looking is the cover art? I love it, it looks and feels so relaxing.

The plot: The Post family is going on a two week vacation to the Balearic Island of Mallorca (which is in Spain). Franny and Jim are "celebrating" their 35th wedding anniversary; daughter Sylvia has graduated from high school and is going off to Brown in the fall. Their son Bobby and longtime girlfriend Carmen are joining them from Florida, along with close friends Charles and Lawrence. Franny and Jim are attempting to salvage a marital issue; Sylvia is on a mission to lose  her virginity before college; Bobby & Carmen have a myriad of relationship issues and Charles & Lawrence are in the process of adopting a child, and the waiting is driving them crazy. As you can expect, when you run away to Spain hoping to escape your problems they usually end up escalating...especially when you are stuck in a house on an island with your family and friends. I won't go into detail on the situations, spoilers and all. BUT they aren't anything shocking or amazing, and you'll probably be able to figure it all out fairly quickly.

My thoughts: This was an easy, breezy read. Some would coin it a "beach read" but considering I read it on my couch in negative temperatures, I will not use that term. The characters were alright, none were super likeable but I also didn't wish them pain. I think this family has issues and dysfunctions like all of our families probably do. I would recommend this book to a friend, who is looking for something quick and entertaining but not wanting to push the brain.

I gave this book 3 stars Goodreads.