Well, this is NOT it!

Recently finished ‘The Vacationers’ by Emma Straub.  I would give it a score of 2 on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest.  And I am being generous with the 2!  As a matter of fact, the only reason it’s getting a score above a 0 is that the book was easy to read and the author wasn’t an idiot (although her writing style was that of a junior high schooler’s).

That being said, the book was vapid, derivative (story’s been told before) and predictable.  I didn’t care about what happened to a single character.  And whenever I read a good book I dog ear the pages with significance, that I want to go back and reread, that I learned something on.  Nada one in this book!

People magazine said that this was “delicious”.  Not even close.  I’m sorry, but if you tell me that a book is delicious I am either expecting hot sex scenes, a juicy plot that keeps you on your toes, or amazing food descriptions with recipe tips!  Nothing in it was delicious.

This book was deemed a New York Times Bestseller.  What does that even mean anymore?  The NYT Bestseller list seems to have become a bit watered down.  Apparently your book makes it on their list if it sells “the most” books in a certain category in a certain week.  As clear as mud.  Perhaps ‘The Vacationers’ sold the most books in the “beach reads” category, during the summer?  Because let’s face it, if I were looking for a good beach read, a book with a title that promises people on vacation sounds like a sure bet.

Don’t waste your time!