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omgitsyelhsa's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
This is NOT a light-hearted Christmas book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
sidekicksam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Josie and Max meet coincidentally, and though neither of them had planned it, they spend a few days together while Max sits out his wait for a rescheduled flight. The days are unexpectedly wonderful, and though Josie knows Max will be leaving on Boxing Day, she is still surprised he leaves without leaving a phone number. But they will meet again…
It takes a lot for me to enjoy a romance book, and my buddy reading buddies usually love the romances we read a whole lot more than I do. We picked this as our holiday-read, as it looked to be about something Christmas-y, but it wasn’t so much a holiday read as it was a book set in December.
I must say that I flew through this book because I was home sick one day with a cat on my lap, so I could not move to get the remote and had to spend the day reading. Though it has its flaws (miscommunication trope alert), I thought the story between Josie and Max was cute and this read like a movie. I cried.
If you’re in for a quick read that you don’t need your full attention for, add this to your winter TBR!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent
sglance9's review against another edition
I had a bad feeling this was going to end awful and after reading other reviews it was confirmed. I was looking for a happy Christmas book and this is not that. I thought about pushing through since I was reading it for a buddy read but decided I didn't need that anxiety
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
sarahallez's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer and Terminal illness
morganperks's review against another edition
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
emily, bestie I’m gonna need you to be so for real right now. I can’t even give this a rating. This is a joke, right? I feel like I have been absolutely violated by books with Christmasy covers claiming to be ‘romance’, ‘heartwarming’ or ‘good’, and every time I get closer and closer to my 13th reason maybe I’m naive and like to live in happily ever after land but I don’t think it’s necessary to kill off the parents and or love interest to have a good story. I love a good sad story as long as I know what I’m getting into but I do prefer my characters in romance novels to be alive
Update: upon further review, some of the blame may be on me for not reading the back cover where it says, "in the style of Me Before You" so there was a heads-up, but I stand by what I said. I was a victim of clever marketing. Heed my warning, if you're looking for a cute Christmas romance...this ain't it.
Update: upon further review, some of the blame may be on me for not reading the back cover where it says, "in the style of Me Before You" so there was a heads-up, but I stand by what I said. I was a victim of clever marketing. Heed my warning, if you're looking for a cute Christmas romance...this ain't it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Grief, and Abandonment
Moderate: Infidelity, Medical content, Car accident, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content
carly_the_librarian's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Death
meggenlee's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
I picked this book up as a light holiday read, and it definitely did not not fit that description. Despite that, I wasn’t mad about it. The book was compelling, and I wanted to see how the story would end. Clearly, the author was working out some of her own issues surrounding death. I wish her well on that journey.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
zetty91's review against another edition
dark
sad
fast-paced
2.5
This story had potential but I found it poorly written. There was not a single point of conflict that couldn’t have been overcome with a brief conversation. The writing (especially in the first third) was very repetitive, which is common in a romance but this was overly so. The ending was also unnecessarily cruel. It seemed to be thrown in for the sake of shock factor and added absolutely no sense of realistic resolution to the story. I really hate that kind of twist and ending, which ultimately made me seriously dislike the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
karyan1's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Medical content, and Car accident
Minor: Pregnancy
emmehooks's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
As a queer person who avoids Hallmark-style straight people romance, I had LOW expectations for this book.
Was I in love with the girl meets boy and they fall in love after 3 days storyline? Nah. Was I sold by all the coincidental meetings and their love/hate/forbidden love dynamics? No. Did it conform to my stereotyped expectations? Mostly.
That being said, I did get teary eyed at the end of the book. It was written well and the emotional aspects are relatable in a lot of ways. If you like straight romances and Hallmark-sequence tragedy with a silver lining, you’ll probably like it.
Was I in love with the girl meets boy and they fall in love after 3 days storyline? Nah. Was I sold by all the coincidental meetings and their love/hate/forbidden love dynamics? No. Did it conform to my stereotyped expectations? Mostly.
That being said, I did get teary eyed at the end of the book. It was written well and the emotional aspects are relatable in a lot of ways. If you like straight romances and Hallmark-sequence tragedy with a silver lining, you’ll probably like it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Medical content
Minor: Infidelity