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Realizations on Vacation

        Most vacations are full of beach days. lots of booze, harrowing adventures, and pampered

afternoons. This family's vacation is anything but. Both mother and father are going through

actions of adultery (husband had relations with a younger woman), their son is dating an older

woman they can't find themselves to approve of, not to mention their son isn't achieving what

they would consider his "full potential". Their daughter came on vacation the summer before

she goes away to college, in all hope of attempting to lose her virginity during this two-week

vacation with someone attractive and foreign--maybe the tutor her mother set up for her during

their stay? Let's not mention the mother's married couple of friends. Both men have a decent

age gap and are also looking to finally adopt a baby, if they can ever receive a decent email back.

All of these various instances occurring while they all simultaneously made a decision to go on

this "much needed" vacation.

        The Vacationers, by Emma Straub, focuses on the underlying belly of what vacation really

means among family members. Most vacations are in short a way for R&R to commence,

however, some vacations are meant to rekindle what was once lost. A last ditch effort for

family members to patch and mold over what occurred before said vacation. Although, that

isn't always the case or what works best for family members. The details provided for the back

stories of each character unfolded evenly throughout the novel. I was very fond of the amount of

detail provided throughout the novel as well. I felt as if I was on vacation with this family based

on the amount of attention paid to describing the house in which they stayed, the areas in which

they visited, even the food they consumed. Straub did a phenomenal job with describing what

exactly was peralious between each relationship/for each character individually. I really

appreciated how much Straub displayed the ending as being not exactly "happy" for everyone

in the picture. The married men received hope for a baby, while mother and father began an

attempt at restoring their marriage after infidelity. On the other hand, the son loses his girlfriend

which benefits both her and him in ways for them to grow individually. The daughter achieves

her goal, with misunderstandings in relationships statuses as well, however, she's ready to

tackle college based on what she believed would get her ready.

        All in all, I'd recommend this book. I'm curious as to her other books and would give them

a try when they come across my TBR pile. :)

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