wordsofclover's Reviews (2.16k)

 When twins Fern and Rowan return home for Christmas, they are preparing themselves for whatever battles they will face walking through the doors. Extroverted "Scottish twink" Rowan brings his non-binary friend Syd home to meet his Tory father, and Fern comes with her boyfriend Thom, who ends up knowing one member of the family a little bit too well. And then there's youngest daughter Willow whose eating disorder struggles have consumed and broken the entire family for year, and everyone is at boiling point. Will they all survive until Christmas Day?

In true Juno Dawson style, this was fun, glittery and all kinds of dramatic in the best kind of ways. Juno is so good at writing relatable yet horrible characters who show all the flaws of being human and selfish in the best ways - it definitely took me a while to warm up to Rowan, and figure out why he was so casually cruel to everyone, and uptight Fern, and tragic Willow. I felt for their parents a lot who seemed to be treated badly for no reason in particular. But I soon found myself welcomed by the kind of crazy family, and enjoying my time with them.

The 'love triangle' part of this book was actually really good, and I did enjoy where it went - it was sweet and complicated all at the same time, and I felt for everyone involved in what seemed like a possible situation. There's not many times you can say a love triangle really worked well and this time, it did!

I really loved Syd, and part of me would have liked so much time with them other than them apparently being there to be everyone's agony aunt. I do like how they do seem to become part of the family, by retuning the next year but I don't know, I feel like there was a lot of potential with Syd's character that never truly happened. They were just there in the background.

I can't speak from experience but I think that Willow's chapters and her struggles with her ED and intrusive thoughts were done really well. But at the same time, they could be very triggering for people suffering from intrusive thoughts when it comes to food. Juno Dawson never shies away from some of the horrible things in life, such as the things people will say or do when they feel desperate, alone and struggling. I appreciate this with her writing though it does mean you don't always like her characters.

I do think this dragged a little bit at the end - and the whimsical sections of the Christmas being told by the house were a little weird for me as it just jarred with everything else in the book - and while I still liked this, it's probably my least favourite of Juno's books I've read