This was an absolute joy to listen to and get into the holiday spirit! These characters are so fun and compelling, making me laugh and tear up many times. 

Our MC, Coal, is very complicated. At the book's beginning, he struggles to express himself and instead makes himself a bit of a laughingstock prankster even though he is the heir to the Christmas kingdom. He is earnest inside his head but outwardly is struggling to express his emotions. He's also really struggling with how his father has been treating him, reacting to it negatively and then creating a cycle of distrust and reaction. 

While the parent-child relationship in this book can be somewhat hard to read in this book, it is realistic to a controlling, somewhat grieving parent attempting to do what he thinks is right and instead hurting his community and his children.

Some reviews of this book complain that it focuses too much on the politics of the holiday world, and perhaps they are right, but that was the best part of this book for me! I thought Raasch's worldbuilding was SO good and a very strong way to start off this universe; I need that second one ASAP! Holiday capitalism vs holiday communism is an important part of this book, and I found that compelling.

The romance was still the main feature of this book, though, and the romance between Coal and Hex, the Halloween Prince, is fleshed out, sweet, and sexy; I had to pause parts of this book when listening at work. These two care about each other so much very quickly but have a lot of things and obligations standing in their way. Yet, they pursue each other and find moments of joy, even in heartbreak and stress. I felt their tension throughout the book, and I think the audiobook narrator slayed with this! 

Raasch did an amazing job with this book and this universe, and I think it's a perfect book for the holiday season if you're looking for something with romance and political intrigue!