Leah
First up, it’s an awesome concept. Like awesome. Why the hell hasn’t anyone written about a fake holiday before? It’s genius. That pretty much sums up Manby. She’s a plot genius. All of her novels seem to have something about them that no other author has ever thought of before, even if it seems like the most obvious thing in the world. Like why wouldn’t you stay in your house for a fortnight instead of going to Majorca after being dumped by your supposedly lovely boyfriend? I know, right? Concept wise it’s just ridiculously good. However. Yes, there’s a however. HOWEVER. The novel never seems to get itself out of first gear. It never really seems to jump on the fact that, HELLO!, Sophie is at home. There’s a bit on the back cover about her re-creating the ultimate fake break. But it’s not that ultimate. In fact it’s not ultimate at all. And that was my problem. I wanted it to be the funniest fake break ever but the trouble is Sophie never really gets on board with her sister Clare’s idea of creating an awesome fake break. She’s always questioning it. Which is fine. But it’s not what you really want is it?
Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy What I Did on My Holidays. It had it’s brilliant moments, but the fake holiday just wasn’t what I expected it to be. It wasn’t a genuinely funny book like Manby is known for. So I did feel a little disappointed. Which is a shame. I love Manby’s books. Love them. But What I Did On My Holidays didn’t do it for me as well as Kate’s Wedding did. It’s a nice read, and there were times I could barely put it down (the beach scene, in particular is brilliant). Rest assured, I WILL be eagerly awaiting Manby’s next one I just thought What I Did On My Holidays wasn’t everything it could be, and that was a shame.