A very long road trip apparently traumatizes this family.
Meant to be some sort of horror mixed with humor story, this was very underwhelming. I did chuckle a few times at a clever turn of phrase, but there was not any kind of horror inside. Paranormal, yes, ghosts, yes, and tons of misery as the family winds its way to Florida. Most of the bad stuff involved things like bad fast food, vomit, flat tires, horrible motels, etc.
Not a fan of paranormal, don’t believe in ghosts, and definitely don’t buy into people interacting with the phenomenon. That whole part of the story was far fetched and not even very exciting once we find out why it’s all supposedly happening to the family. The kids were horrible — doesn’t anyone know how to act on a car road trip anymore or is that a thing relegated to the past? All I heard the kids do was whine and go through the parents’ money and patience while in their comfy van on the way to their theme park vacation in Orlando. I don’t like reading about bratty kids and honestly, they were not grateful at all for the opportunity to visit the place they had begged to go to. (I’ve made a very similar road trip with kids in a van as well, probably even longer on some of the same roads.) By the time I finished, I wasn’t even sure what the point of the book was meant to be. Family bonding? It got all stupid sappy at the end. Very unrealistic characters and that whole part about the Vickerys was way out there. No suspense. No real mystery or tension. No bad stuff. Like someone said, a paranormal cozy. I felt sorry for the dad.
So, this was not the book for me. I give it 3 stars because I kept reading it waiting to find out where it was going. I listened to the audiobook while also following along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher. The narrator was OK though her voices for the kids didn’t work well. This would definitely have benefited from having a larger cast.
This is a standalone and is not part of any series.
Genre - light paranormal cozy something
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