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aus10england's review against another edition
emotional
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
Moderate: Misogyny and Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual content and Vomit
kelly_e's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Title: All I Want for Christmas
Author: Maggie Know
Genre: Holiday Romance
Rating: 1.5
Pub Date: October 4, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Lackluster • Cheesy • Unrealistic
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Sadie and Max are both contestants on the famed reality singing show STARMAKER. For Sadie, it's the big break she's been dreaming of. As for Max, he sees it as an opportunity to finally step out of the shadow of his father.
When they are paired up for duet week, fans of the show go wild for #Saxie. Their chemistry together is undeniable, and the show executives demand they remain a duo - on and offstage - or exit the competition. With their dreams on the line, each agrees to the preposition, the only probably being they don't enjoy each other company.
💭 T H O U G H T S
When I first read the synopsis, I was looking forward to reading this 2022 holiday release from the author duo known as Maggie Knox. The country music aspect, and the Nashville setting were what initially interested me, as did the holiday vibes. All I Want for Christmas started out solidly, but unfortunately ended up going off the rails rather quickly and being a complete miss for me.
I will start out with the good since the list is short - the concept, Max's dog Patsy, the fact that Max knit, and the backdrop of winter in Banff for a portion of the book. That's it.
And now for the bad. The plotline should have worked very well with dual POVs, yet the flow was significantly off and the pacing felt very odd. I never really got the enemies-to-lovers vibes, and the romance was extremely unbelievable. To make matters even worse, there's a real lack of character growth from start to finish, which left me rolling my eyes a few too many times.
Even with all of that said, my main issue was how the plot was based primarily on a lack of communication. It felt frustrating. Ultimately, there was so much potential for dialogue on the topic of death and grief, and the author duo failed to express that, instead choosing the route of grief as a taboo. No thank you!
To make matters worse, the audio version had several huge mispronunciations of 'Canadian' words, that it ended up feeling very amateurish. Given that the two authors are Canadian, I'd have expected those errors to have been caught.
In sum, I'd eaten way too much cheese by the time I got to the end, and it honestly felt like it wrapped up too nicely to be realistic. It also wasn't all that festive, which I'll admit was a let down. The idea had so much potential, but execution was poor. It may be time I give up on this duo, and focus on their individual works. And I'd highly suggest you do the same. In fact, Karma Karma Brown wrote one of my favourite reads of 2022.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of the fake dating trope
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Life doesn't always play out the way you imagine it will but that doesn't mean that what you do instead isn't worth anything."
Author: Maggie Know
Genre: Holiday Romance
Rating: 1.5
Pub Date: October 4, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Lackluster • Cheesy • Unrealistic
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Sadie and Max are both contestants on the famed reality singing show STARMAKER. For Sadie, it's the big break she's been dreaming of. As for Max, he sees it as an opportunity to finally step out of the shadow of his father.
When they are paired up for duet week, fans of the show go wild for #Saxie. Their chemistry together is undeniable, and the show executives demand they remain a duo - on and offstage - or exit the competition. With their dreams on the line, each agrees to the preposition, the only probably being they don't enjoy each other company.
💭 T H O U G H T S
When I first read the synopsis, I was looking forward to reading this 2022 holiday release from the author duo known as Maggie Knox. The country music aspect, and the Nashville setting were what initially interested me, as did the holiday vibes. All I Want for Christmas started out solidly, but unfortunately ended up going off the rails rather quickly and being a complete miss for me.
I will start out with the good since the list is short - the concept, Max's dog Patsy, the fact that Max knit, and the backdrop of winter in Banff for a portion of the book. That's it.
And now for the bad. The plotline should have worked very well with dual POVs, yet the flow was significantly off and the pacing felt very odd. I never really got the enemies-to-lovers vibes, and the romance was extremely unbelievable. To make matters even worse, there's a real lack of character growth from start to finish, which left me rolling my eyes a few too many times.
Even with all of that said, my main issue was how the plot was based primarily on a lack of communication. It felt frustrating. Ultimately, there was so much potential for dialogue on the topic of death and grief, and the author duo failed to express that, instead choosing the route of grief as a taboo. No thank you!
To make matters worse, the audio version had several huge mispronunciations of 'Canadian' words, that it ended up feeling very amateurish. Given that the two authors are Canadian, I'd have expected those errors to have been caught.
In sum, I'd eaten way too much cheese by the time I got to the end, and it honestly felt like it wrapped up too nicely to be realistic. It also wasn't all that festive, which I'll admit was a let down. The idea had so much potential, but execution was poor. It may be time I give up on this duo, and focus on their individual works. And I'd highly suggest you do the same. In fact, Karma Karma Brown wrote one of my favourite reads of 2022.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of the fake dating trope
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Life doesn't always play out the way you imagine it will but that doesn't mean that what you do instead isn't worth anything."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Gaslighting
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Grief, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, and Misogyny
Minor: Cancer
⚠️ CW: death, death of parent, grief, sexual harassment, toxic relationship, misogyny, gaslighting, alcohol, cancermeredith_williams_'s review
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, and Sexism
Minor: Alcoholism, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
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