ceraphimfalls's Reviews (319)

I'll start by saying that I am not the audience for this book- I'm not a fan of Christmas or Hallmark movies or 5 day romances. But I can see the value of a story when well written, when the heart of a book is sincere. This was neither.

Knowing that the author wrote screenplays really explains the repetitive, stunted writing. Every character reads the same, every cliche is lit with a spotlight, every turn screams "look at me! I'm important!" This isn't subtle or nuanced or felt like any care was put into its writing. It felt smushed together to meet a publishing deadline for a paycheck, like it was a rejected Hallmark script that had the chance to be turned around quickly. The heart of this book is simply the word "Christmas" and the expectation that the reader will insert magic and joy appropriately on their own.

Just to give you a taste of this book, the head of the kitchen is always referred to as Chef Jake, who is the prince's best friend who he met while at Harvard. I finished this book because I don't quit books partway, but it was a slog to say the least, mainly because of characterization and writing like this.

I can't be too hard on self-published (or those that I presume to be self-published) titles. Had this been picked up, professionally edited, and still published as is, this would be a one star. The DIY layout and design, and the clearly smushed together typeface (which makes it genuinely difficult to fluidly read) to meet a cheaper page printing number weirdly give this book some grace because, well, you feel bad that something done with such passion hasn't been treated well.

The writer has a voice and a style and the chutzpah to complete a book. All fantastic. But this reads like a first draft. There's an overabundance of world-building that leads to disorganized text and repetition and unnecessary description. Such as "She shrugged her shoulders, which were large like her personality. She was six feet tall." For what is supposed to be a cozy mystery, there's too much cozy, too little mystery, and far far too much author insert.

I'm going to try the next book in the series because I can see a glimmer of gold in this writer and in these characters. I want more of St. George the cat, I want to see how Beth's kids are doing, I want to know more about our old man English professor. I just hope there's improvement. I hope the author has friends and beta readers strong enough to stand up and say "hun... you've got to make some cuts."

I'm not one for thrillers usually, but this was an excellent thriller! The pace was great and for a bigger book, it was a quick read. While the mystery wasn't there, the ending seemed rushed, and I wish a couple of characters were more developed, it still kept me hooked in. If you like thrillers and crime novels, I would highly recommend this.

I read this while down with the flu, which makes me especially susceptible to mushy things. This just didn't have it. It felt forced, it felt manipulative, it felt... just gross. Not for me.

So cute! The middle school girl in me who wrote Harry Potter fanfiction good enough to have a small audience, I connected with this in such a deep way. The loneliness of college and being the odd duck in the family. It made my heart feel so full. An absolute joy to read.

Ooof. My heart. Everything is complicated. Everything sucks. Everything is broken apart. But life goes on. God damn this series, and this installment specifically, is grand.

Easily, one of the WORST books I have ever read. Is there any mother/daughter story out there that does not include breast cancer and little spoiled brat having to grow up too fast (who doesn't until it's too late)? This is just so blatant in its forced drama. The characters are totally bland. You know what stood for characterization in this? The mother used "darling" profusely, and the daughter used gratuitous amounts on punctuation. I know how much heart and soul gets put into a book, so as badly as I feel about saying this- this book should never have been published.

This edition was visceral. You could feel the heat of the engines, smell the woodiness and flowers that made up Yuma, hear the yelling and screaming of battle... it was an experience. Yes I read this in the middle of the night and, yes, I was dizzy on Good Hope Vanilla rooibos, but don't you judge me. I FELT this deeply. And once again, a fabulous shout out to my favorite freelancer, The Brand. I wish I could pull off their David Bowie-esque cool androgeny.

This is probably the least cohesive of the series thus far, but even that doesn't mean that the quality is anything less than marvelous.

Some things to gush about without spoilers:
1. Ghüs and Friendo! The best bois!
2. Sophie gets glasses! So cute!
3. This character design continues to be literally out of this world and absolutely bonkers gorgeous!
4. Prince Robot IV's plotline gets intense!
5. The Brand and Sweet Boy are here!

Heart. Broken.

Good lord, this volume does not stop. It is rare that I have to stop reading to catch my breath, but damn. Intense.