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alysereadsbooks's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Really enjoyed this one! Got to see this author at a local event and they described their book as a queer version of the holiday, which it was, but better. Still feel good, but dealt with real emotional issues that felt realisitc. Excited to check out more of this author's books
Content Warnings
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Toxic relationship, and Homophobia
Minor: Death of parent
givemaribooks's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I had high hopes for this book as a big fan of this author and The Holiday, but it didn’t hit the mark for me. Part of me wishes the book had been just about Truman and Ash.
While I liked Greta and part of her journey, I did not like Carys. She game mani pixie vibes at times, with the mini horse, the unusual way to make money, her being a bit all over the place while also acting like the super one who is more emotionally matured. She judges Greta for her relationship with her family pretty harshly from the start, not that I’m excusing the family, especially that one homophobic sister, but she placed the blame solely on Greta and wouldn’t give her time to come to terms with the changes she needed to make. Greta was in New Orleans precisely to do that. I also didn’t like how the two fights were handled. I understand Carys point of view, what I don’t like is that she didn’t explicitly tell Greta why she was mad after the ice cream. Those two “favors” were things people say no to all the time thinking they are being polite, how was Carys supposed to know. She didn’t cross some huge boundary, or didn’t listen about something big, she did two things she thought were nice to do because Carys did not communicate with her properly. I honestly wished Greta had ended up single in the end and living her new life.
As for Ash and Truman, I loved these two. I particularly liked Truman. I do think there were a lot of holes in their stories/backgrounds, the whole book actually, like did Truman confront his ex or just disappear on him. We don’t get to know about Ash background as much, we don’t even know the details of how he ended up in the island or why a florist shop, or why he doesn’t live with his mom. I’m still confused why she chose random strangers to care for his mom instead of him.
Overall it was an enjoyable book. I listened to the audiobook while doing something else so I was able to ignore the holes in the story or unlikeable characters.
While I liked Greta and part of her journey, I did not like Carys. She game mani pixie vibes at times, with the mini horse, the unusual way to make money, her being a bit all over the place while also acting like the super one who is more emotionally matured. She judges Greta for her relationship with her family pretty harshly from the start, not that I’m excusing the family, especially that one homophobic sister, but she placed the blame solely on Greta and wouldn’t give her time to come to terms with the changes she needed to make. Greta was in New Orleans precisely to do that. I also didn’t like how the two fights were handled. I understand Carys point of view, what I don’t like is that she didn’t explicitly tell Greta why she was mad after the ice cream. Those two “favors” were things people say no to all the time thinking they are being polite, how was Carys supposed to know. She didn’t cross some huge boundary, or didn’t listen about something big, she did two things she thought were nice to do because Carys did not communicate with her properly. I honestly wished Greta had ended up single in the end and living her new life.
As for Ash and Truman, I loved these two. I particularly liked Truman. I do think there were a lot of holes in their stories/backgrounds, the whole book actually, like did Truman confront his ex or just disappear on him. We don’t get to know about Ash background as much, we don’t even know the details of how he ended up in the island or why a florist shop, or why he doesn’t live with his mom. I’m still confused why she chose random strangers to care for his mom instead of him.
Overall it was an enjoyable book. I listened to the audiobook while doing something else so I was able to ignore the holes in the story or unlikeable characters.
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, and Gaslighting
bookcheshirecat's review
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
“You don't hurt people by choosing yourself over them. They hurt themselves with what they think about it. It's not your job to fold yourself up so small that your edges never bump into anyone else. What kind of life is that?”
➽ This is a fun take on The Holiday, following two queer characters! Greta and Truman don't really know each other, but decide to switch lives for Christmas as they each have something difficult to deal with. Greta's struggling with her overbearing, controlling family who cannot respect her and keeps setting her up with a guy despite knowing that she's a lesbian. Escaping to Truman's place in New Orleans seems like the perfect time away from her family to figure out what she truly wants. Truman just found out that he's the other guy, as his boyfriend is married and has been keeping him a dirty secret. Humiliated and betrayed, he's all too happy to go to the little island Greta calls home.
➽ I liked the dual POV and the romances, though I preferred Truman's story! While both of them deal with their respective issues, I felt like Truman's romance was a bit more fleshed out. For Greta it's a huge case of insta love with a girl she meets in New Orleans. Carys was very aloof as a character, plus I never felt the spark between them or got a feeling as to why they liked each other. Truman and Ash had way better chemistry and I enjoyed their pining! Greta and Carys' got together so quickly and then their romance just stagnated. Nevertheless, this was a fun, fast-paced Romance perfect for the holidays!
➽ This is a fun take on The Holiday, following two queer characters! Greta and Truman don't really know each other, but decide to switch lives for Christmas as they each have something difficult to deal with. Greta's struggling with her overbearing, controlling family who cannot respect her and keeps setting her up with a guy despite knowing that she's a lesbian. Escaping to Truman's place in New Orleans seems like the perfect time away from her family to figure out what she truly wants. Truman just found out that he's the other guy, as his boyfriend is married and has been keeping him a dirty secret. Humiliated and betrayed, he's all too happy to go to the little island Greta calls home.
➽ I liked the dual POV and the romances, though I preferred Truman's story! While both of them deal with their respective issues, I felt like Truman's romance was a bit more fleshed out. For Greta it's a huge case of insta love with a girl she meets in New Orleans. Carys was very aloof as a character, plus I never felt the spark between them or got a feeling as to why they liked each other. Truman and Ash had way better chemistry and I enjoyed their pining! Greta and Carys' got together so quickly and then their romance just stagnated. Nevertheless, this was a fun, fast-paced Romance perfect for the holidays!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Dementia
Minor: Infidelity
jashanac's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Well this was a delight!
There were just a couple of moments where I was particularly annoyed with Truman... just some "omg HOW are you misunderstanding this situation and WHY are you overreacting like this?!?!" moments. Nothing wild or drastically annoying and they were resolved fairly quickly, which I always appreciate. (I hate a long ass, drawn out, ridiculous 'third act breakup' type of situation.)
I love the movie The Holiday and could see the similarities with this story and I adored all of those little nods (going to the local grocery store/market on the first night to get wine & cheese & then completely hammered alone? haha love that scene -- and finding an older person to befriend and breathe new life into and gain immense wisdom and inspiration from? ADORE!)
All of the conversations of personal reflection, acknowledging how your maybe-kinda-toxic family/upbringing affected you, and working to grow from it... that was all really nice to see and I felt like it was executed well. Some of it frustrated me for the simple fact that it was so realistic and in real life it frustrates me to see people letting their dysfunctional families or other loved ones basically control them -- can't stand it! But again, it was realistic and I thought the exploration and growth from that was done well.
I also appreciated that budding love and romance was definitely a huge motivator for our two main characters... but that they wanted it to be very clear that they weren't making decisions solely because of that -- and I believed it. There's nothing wrong with a budding romance being PART of your reason for choosing a certain life path, as long as it isn't the ONLY reason and certainly as long as you aren't making a choice BECAUSE the other person is telling you to. I felt like both of our main characters made choices that they would have made regardless of potential romance, and I really liked that.
There were just a couple of moments where I was particularly annoyed with Truman... just some "omg HOW are you misunderstanding this situation and WHY are you overreacting like this?!?!" moments. Nothing wild or drastically annoying and they were resolved fairly quickly, which I always appreciate. (I hate a long ass, drawn out, ridiculous 'third act breakup' type of situation.)
I love the movie The Holiday and could see the similarities with this story and I adored all of those little nods (going to the local grocery store/market on the first night to get wine & cheese & then completely hammered alone? haha love that scene -- and finding an older person to befriend and breathe new life into and gain immense wisdom and inspiration from? ADORE!)
All of the conversations of personal reflection, acknowledging how your maybe-kinda-toxic family/upbringing affected you, and working to grow from it... that was all really nice to see and I felt like it was executed well. Some of it frustrated me for the simple fact that it was so realistic and in real life it frustrates me to see people letting their dysfunctional families or other loved ones basically control them -- can't stand it! But again, it was realistic and I thought the exploration and growth from that was done well.
I also appreciated that budding love and romance was definitely a huge motivator for our two main characters... but that they wanted it to be very clear that they weren't making decisions solely because of that -- and I believed it. There's nothing wrong with a budding romance being PART of your reason for choosing a certain life path, as long as it isn't the ONLY reason and certainly as long as you aren't making a choice BECAUSE the other person is telling you to. I felt like both of our main characters made choices that they would have made regardless of potential romance, and I really liked that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Infidelity, Emotional abuse, and Dementia
Minor: Homophobia
I wanted to point out that the infidelity content warning is not something that is perpetrated by either main character. It's perpetrated by someone else in the story and is quickly over.evelynyle_88's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
OMG!! This is wholesome!!
Listening to this audiobook is so soothing. Knowing the story between Greta, Truman, Veronica and Ramona really what a new thing for me. Perfect for Christmas story. What a heartwarming story and really my new favourite!!
The Holiday Trap is one of a kind for me. The level of funny killing me. And to know there's astrology, Mardi Gras, King Cakes... once again... make me learn Mardi Gras culture; once again.
Listening to this audiobook is so soothing. Knowing the story between Greta, Truman, Veronica and Ramona really what a new thing for me. Perfect for Christmas story. What a heartwarming story and really my new favourite!!
The Holiday Trap is one of a kind for me. The level of funny killing me. And to know there's astrology, Mardi Gras, King Cakes... once again... make me learn Mardi Gras culture; once again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Infidelity, Dementia, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Homophobia, Child abuse, and Death
emily_mh's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book was not a great execution of what it set out to do, which was to be a Christmas/holiday romance. In terms of holidayness, the holidays of Christmas and Channukah barely feature in the story to the point where I think this would have been better off as a regular romance. However, the romance was also lacking. With Greta’s story, her relationship with Carys felt more like a formative one you have in your 20s that doesn’t have an HEA because you’re there to change each other not be each other’s forevers. I didn’t like this, and I didn’t like that Carys seemed not that into Greta. And I’m not talking about Carys’ direct communication, which I liked, but about the fact that she seemed so dispassionate about the whole relationship. Truman’s romance was definitely my favourite of the two as it conversely felt a lot more equal in terms of love, and even just life experience. However I think Ash, like Carys, didn’t really feel like a real person, like the character wasn’t fully realised.
The strongest part about this book and what saves its overall rating was the character development of Greta and Truman. It was so cathartic seeing them learn about boundaries, and self-love, and living a life you’re in love with, and changing their lives accordingly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Dementia, Drug use, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Child abuse, Classism, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Transphobia, Vomit, Antisemitism, Death, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Abortion, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Violence, Blood, and Cannibalism
Major: toxic family Moderate: sick parent, family estrangement Minor: adoptionallingoodtime's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Recently I read a book that I said had elements of the movie The Holiday in the beginning. This book is a flat-out last-minute house swap situation with so much romance, it hits all the same notes as The Holiday, not just a few. I loved it!
With a story such as this, where there are essentially two main characters having two separate storylines in two different places, it can be easy to favor one branch of the story over the other. I found, with this book, that I was equally invested in both Greta and Truman. When a Greta section ended and it hopped back to Truman, I would be disappointed for a millisecond before getting fully engrossed in Truman’s story. And vice versa.
The romance between Truman and Ash is so sweet and hesitant and just gave me a yummy warm feeling. Greta’s romance is a bit more chaotic. She grew up on a small island and never really lived anywhere else other than in college. Even then, she didn’t live in such a diverse and metropolitan area as New Orleans. As much as I was 100% on board for the romance between Greta and Carys, I found the other relationships Greta cultivated to be what kept me so engaged in her storyline. Greta really had a lot of digging deep to do in order to understand herself and her family and, in the end, be okay with the decisions she makes for herself.
While the small town of Owl Island always seemed to hold Greta down and cast a pall over her life, Truman thrived in the environment. His creativity flourished and he learned to listen to his inner self to find what he wanted and needed in life. Truman learns how to make himself happy without relying on making others happy to do so. He finds his own adventure on Owl Island, not just with Ash but with the books that he loves and so much more.
I swear, Roan Parrish never disappoints. This story is a bit different than the other books I’ve read by her so far, yet it is just as engaging and entertaining.
**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**
**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**
Content Warnings
Moderate: Dementia
Minor: Homophobia
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