I really enjoyed this holiday read! Set in a snowy, small town in Vermont, Ben West is the local Scrooge. As a councilman, he voted to end funding for the town’s animal shelter. But, then, in comes Aly Gilmore. She moved in with her grandparents to support the shelter and will do everything in her power to keep it open! Will her and Ben butt heads or lock lips under the mistletoe this Christmas?

While this romance was super predictable, it was super enjoyable! Plus, it highlighted shelter dogs and I LOVE my shelter dog.

I haven’t seen this book in my bookstagram or Goodreads feed that much (but I’ve seen a LOT of other holiday books) and I’m honestly not sure why! If you’re looking for a feel good holiday read that includes adorable puppies, you need to read this one!

I finished Leave The World Behind last night, close to midnight. I went to sleep fearing I would have a nightmare where my teeth randomly fall out (if you know, you know). Woke up (all teeth intact and no nightmare that I can remember) and made myself a big cup of coffee so the caffeine could help me process what I read yesterday.

This book was....
⏺ weird
⏺ beautifully written
⏺ a slow burn
⏺ overall not my favorite

I ended up giving this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Rumaan Alam is a skilled writer. He can make the ordinary errand (example: grocery shopping on vacation) come alive and sound appealing! He explored racial tension between the characters in such a realistic way. Even though this book wasn’t for me, I’m putting Alan’s other books on my #TBRList because of his writing.

Alam also explored cell phone addiction throughout the story. When the characters in the book lose cellular service and cable access, how do they get information? Can they actually do anything without first consulting Siri or Google? I loved how Alam leaned into this modern day struggle of loving technology while also becoming more and more reliant on it.

Like many other bookstagrammers, I feel like this book ended abruptly. Nothing was solved. I have SO many questions!!! This was the point (I think?), but it’s just not the ending I wanted for this story.

Overall, I appreciate the book and loved Alam’s writing style, but was disappointed by the ending.