I found this to be a quickish book to read and the pages did turn quite fast.

However I also found I didn't really care for any of the characters and was reading on to see if any would redeem themselves and between that and the ending that really didn't give me any real closure I'm just confused.,

It felt like there should be big reveals in the book but they felt more like damp squibs.

I was really excited though to read this as I love books set on cruises, but other than the ship descriptions that I liked, I found all the ports well a bit dry. It was clear the author had researched the history of the places but there was no real sense of being anywhere.

Although some of that may be due to the specific excursions that were picked for the family, the ones steeped in all the "you can't visit this port unless you see this monument, historical building, museum" sights for each port - according all pretty much every American poster on Cruise Critic.

With the exception of Marseilles, I have been on a cruise that takes in all these ports and I didn't really find many memories returning as I couldn't match what I know of the ports to what I was reading.

There are big mental health themes and Charlotte I just really didn't get on with at all and her attitudes to the family she is trying to rebond with were just awful.

I had so many high expectations from this book, it's blurb and premise, was convinced it would speak to me and instead has just left me feeling rather flat I'm afraid.

This is a very easy-to-read, well-paced story, with the four main characters, a mother and her three grown-up children, given their own chapters within each destination on the 'trip of a lifetime' cruise. Flashbacks of memories within their narratives try to explain how and why they've become the dysfunctional adults they are now.

I have to admit, I have never seen the appeal of a cruise holiday but there was a comment that struck me about the different and often thrilling aspect of approaching a town or city from the water that did make me think again - although the descriptions of the many, many, many people all stuck together in a floating 'fun palace', the touristy excursions lacking in reality and the sad, shabbiness of the night-time entertainment rooms when seen in the cold light of day did little to persuade me more.

I agree with others about this novel, the characters are hard to like and the epilogue is a wasted opportunity for some sort of closure or satisfaction for the reader. I'm all for not going down the well-worn, everything works out in the end path, however, in this case, a few more crumbs of comforting happiness would have been appreciated.

That said, I did admire the author for her depiction of Charlotte, the matriarch, and the effect her behaviour had had on her offspring. It was heart-breakingly real at times, so frustrating you wanted to shake her, but she remained true to her unemotional and fake, picture-perfect upbringing until almost the very end. And that is why a decent epilogue would have been a great opportunity to reveal her in her 'second wind', letting loose and enjoying what time she had left. Yes, she tasted the last doughnut but it wasn't really enough after all we'd been through with her!

A very Americanised story. I didn't like any of the characters in the story and it was very slow moving. Not my kind of humour, very irritating at times.

Plans Go Awry....
A family cruise, a trip of a lifetime, a change to reconcile, reconnect and right wrongs. Plans that ultimately go awry in ‘The Jetsetters’.. Some deeper themes are explored alongside family relationships although characters are flat and one dimensional. With a promising premise that didn’t sadly didn’t deliver.

Okay, I came to conclusion that I just can't connect with older characters.
I know, I know- it shouldn't be the reason not to like the book. There are so many great books with unlikable characters, or the ones with so much different lives, and they are still masterpieces.
However, I had really hard time connecting with the story with Charlotte as our main character.
As for the other side characters, I didn't like them either.
To be honest, I don't even know of the problem is in me. Maybe it is, because I feel frustrated because I hadn't have as much time to read as I wanted to, and it took me 3 weeks to finish the book, when in reality, before I became mum, I would finish it in 3-4 days.
I loved, loved, loved summer setting and the vibe this book provides and if you ask me, it is perfect summer novel to escape with.
Lots of family drama, highs and lows... objectivity, very good book and I understand why it was picked up to be in Hello Sunshine book club few months back.
I would still recommend it even though I had hard time to surrender myself to the story completely.

The Jetsetters is a drama about a dysfunctional family reuniting on a luxury Mediterranean cruise. It was a flimsy read and the characters were written with very little depth. I enjoyed the Mediterranean setting though. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin and Amanda Eyre Ward for this e-copy in return for my honest review. While you can never go wrong with a Reese Witherspoon bookclub pick, this book certainly wasn't what I expecting. I was expecting a beach read and this was much deeper than I had anticipated. Definitely one to recommend.

I loved this so much. So many different interlocking stories told with such empathy. The only thing I didn’t enjoy was the ending which left me with a lot of questions still - what did the telegram to Matt say? Did Charlotte and Cord talk about Gio. Didn’t take away my enjoyment, but they could have been addressed in the epilogue which felt a little bit pointless.

Charlotte wins a competition for an all expenses paid cruise around the Mediterranean and takes her adult children with her. Charlotte the widowed mum in her 70s with lust in her heart, Lee the eldest daughter a failing actress, Cord, 36 year old alcoholic who won't tell his family he is gay and Regan, a mother of two,who's marriage is falling apart but won't admit it.

The story is split by the four dysfunctional family members, seeing each of their thoughts, highs and lows as they travel from port to port.

Whilst this was a quick read and there are a few funny moments, overall i felt meh about the whole story. By the end of the book the four characters lives remained largely unresolved but I did enjoy a couple of little twists that I hadn't seen coming. And the constant use of brackets drove me crazy!

I received this book from netgalley in return for a honest review.

I was expecting this to be a light, fluffy read, however, this is definitely not that. The book has dark undercurrents running throughout and I was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable I found it, despite it not being what i expected.

An enjoyable read about family love won and lost ... winning a competition Charlotte takes her family on a cruise of a lifetime - we discover wonderful descriptions of the places visited as well as family truths unraveled with sibling rivalry in full force .. secrets are uncovered along the way to make a great story

I don't know why, but I expected The Jetsetters to be a completely different book. It was an easy enough read, but it wasn't a light, fluffy, holiday read - at all. From the start, I disliked all of the characters. Now I know this is a character driven storyline, but I need to jel with atleast one of the characters and I just didn't. They were complicated, intense and incredibly selfish. I didn't feel like there was a resolution to their story lines and this book just left me wanting more, wanting different. It just wasn't for me. And I know families and family dynamics can be difficult, triggering and complicated (trust me, I have firsthand experience!) but it's just not what I expected going in, to a book which I thought was going to be a fun, summer read. If you enjoy character driven storyline then this may be for you, but not for me.

This story has the perfect mix of family drama and exciting holiday destinations. Charlotte is determined to reunite her family after losing her closest friend. Entering a writing competition, to win a cruise, seems the right thing to do. The story gives insight into past relationships and secrets the family members are keeping. The cruise ship setting works well. There's nowhere to run, and this intensifies family tensions.

Brittle and flawed characters gradually share their past and present issues, making them easy to empathise. The family dynamic is complex but relatable. The intense emotion relieved by humorous moments.

The vividly described holiday locations add contrast to the story too. The vibrant imagery makes this story a sensory delight. The perfect balance to the literary dialogue as the family drama unfolds.

Always love a Reese Witherspoon pick. This book was cute and light and what I needed to read during this difficult time in the world. I was looking for escapism and I found it.

Really enjoyed this book. Steady paced, great characters, I was absorbed throughout. Will be reading more books by the author in the future!

Loved this book, I was expecting the usual fluffy chick read but there was so much more to this book with each character having a secret from the rest of the family, the Perkins family have a lot to hide!!
Such a beautifully detailed book that has made me yearn for sunny warm Mediterranean evenings.

This was a perfect weekend read that hooked me in straight away. I loved all the characters in the book and the dynamic between this family. It had me laughing and crying and left me wanting more.

Another absolutely fantastic read

I have really enjoyed reading this one and found it impossible to put down.

Hmm, a tricky one here... I expected it to be a light and fluffy summer read, but there are dark undercurrents and character flaws in all the characters. So, although I quite like books with dark undercurrents and character flaws, the fact that I had "expected" and was in a mood for a different sort of book made it less enjoyable than it could have been.

Another issue for me is that the character flaws remained largely unresolved by the end of the book - apart from a bit of token redemption by one or two members of the cast.

Overall, I kind of enjoyed it. There was a twist towards the end that I hadn't anticipated, which lifted it a bit.

Anyway, my thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. Opinions my own.

I absolutely loved this book. Begins as what I assumed was a light beach read, but had allot more substance. I'm hoping for a sequel as I'd love to get to know the characters more.