Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies

"Fun, quick read. I enjoyed the plot twists and the narration."

"I appreciate the effort in this narrative, but it wasn't quite to my taste for a few reasons. I found the extensive footnotes distracting, and the mix of self-deprecation and self-appreciation lodged in them didn't help. The narrator also came across as a bit immature for my liking. I wish the mystery aspect had been better executed—it feels like the author should have trusted the audience more."

"I liked the concept of the story but it started to go downhill for me around act 2<br/><br/>Connor annoyed me from the get go and wasn't as charismatic as I hoped he'd be. I like a good Con artist but he just fell short for me.<br/><br/>But what really took me out was the footnotes and the fourth wall breaking chapters (only two thankfully) really brought me out of the story. I think it would have been better without them.<br/><br/>I liked the conclusion and the humor was good! There was decision Eleanor made at the end that had me saying 'Why?' but c'est la vie."

"I did not enjoy this book. I skipped several chapters at a time and still was able to keep up. I did not resonate with the main character and her inner monologue. She had too low self-esteem for me. The story was pretty good, it just could have happened a lot quicker. The quips and relevance/timeliness of the events to current reality gave it the extra star. "

"What an awesome title but too bad I could care less about any of the characters in this book.<br/><br/>1. It's not funny when you're trying so hard to make it funny with ridiculous hijinks that would never actually happen<br/>2. What is up with all of the incredibly boring footnotes - omg, just why?!<br/>3. It just kept repeating itself about how Connor is a jerk - yah, we get it. Do something about it instead of just whining.<br/>4. I was sick of being in Rome - it wasn't fun the way this book writes the setting<br/>5. And have you ever stepped foot in LA - it's nothing like it was described as in the book"

"CW: blackmail, implied/referenced spice, alcohol, death, some others<br/><br/>Read via NetGalley. “Every Time…” is available now!<br/><br/>You’re going to love it or you’re going to hate it; I don’t think there’s a lot of in-between with this one.<br/><br/>Ten years ago, Eleanor Dash wrote a book. She’s spent the last 10 years being blackmailed by her ex (who happens to appear in the book). But El’s had enough, and she’s planning to kill him off. In the book, of course. All she has is one last book tour and then she can start over. But strange things start happening on the tour, and El finds herself in the middle of a real life mystery.<br/><br/>First things first— the characters in this book? All terrible people. Absolutely all of them (with possibly one exception). They’re just not really likeable, and that includes our narrator/MC Eleanor. Despite this, or maybe because of it, I couldn’t stop reading. It made for a pretty decent suspect list because all of them are so utterly undesirable that you’d really be ok with any of them being responsible. I would like to note, though, that one of the characters is a TIkTok author/influencer and bless her she really comes out looking pretty damn bad. I don’t know if it was just for the story, or if the real author has some beef with the TikTok authors, or if there’s one real human the character was based on, but it was unflattering to say the least. But, again, pretty much all of them are awful, so maybe she just got the shortest end of a short stick.<br/><br/>The book’s narration style is a large part of why readers are probably going to have strong feelings about the book. It’s told in first person present (using El as our narrator), but then there’s the footnotes. So many footnotes. These are also first person present, but still as El since she’s (presumably) writing this book in the aftermath. I actually really enjoyed these little asides, and I felt like they added some extra humor and almost ‘stream of consciousness’ feel to the narration. I could see where they could get really distracting for some readers, though, and I don’t know how well they format on an ereader (I read digitally, but it was a galley copy that hadn’t had all the bells and whistles put in yet, so I don’t have any real reference point here). <br/><br/>I don’t usually try to puzzle out the answers to my mysteries as I’m reading; I much prefer to be completely surprised at the end. If you’re one of those readers who likes to play along, though, I feel safe in saying you probably won’t guess the answer. Or at least, not all of the answer. The author (the real one) did well with making sure there’s an abundance of information, to the point that it becomes overwhelming and there’s too many possibilities. It’s intentional, and El’s footnotes even point it out. The whole thing gives a very tongue in cheek feel to the typical mystery, and it made the story that much better.<br/><br/>The whole book is fun. It’s snarky, it’s a little unhinged (I’m telling you, those footnotes are ridiculous), and it’s an easy read. I stayed up way too late to finish the book because I was having a really good time reading about really obnoxious people. Outside of the unique writing style, the only thing I noticed was that the charicatures of different people could be a little…touchy. I mentioned the TikTok lady, but there’s also the stalker super fan (fair), the ‘weird’ social media fans (felt a little unflattering), and a whole lot of commentary on reviews and reviewing sites (probably also fair, but I’m obviously on the other end of that dynamic). I couldn’t tell if these were meant to be snide or if it’s just how it came across to me personally, so you’ll have to read and make your own judgement about it all. Either way, the book was still a good read. I’d say it falls somewhere between ‘fluffy beach read’ and ‘hardcore intense mystery’ (closer to the beach read vibe). Bonus points for all the pasta footnotes."