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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
amberlfaris's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship
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
beth_s98's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book was a mixed bag. While the concept was super fun, I struggled with one of the story lines, and felt like I kept waiting to switch back to the one I connected with more. It was a fine read, but I’m not sure I’m going to be jumping to reread it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Drug use, and Sexual content
Moderate: Chronic illness, Dementia, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity
hmatt's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Very sweet queer holiday romance, and how novel that it's not even my favourite queer holiday romance that I've read this year. 🤯
The characters are fun and complex but the secondary characters are definitely a bit heavy-handed, and there's sort of a feeling of forced diversity sometimes. As tropey as you'd expect. Kind of hilarious how explicit the sapphic scenes are compared to the fade-to-black of the m/m scenes.
The characters are fun and complex but the secondary characters are definitely a bit heavy-handed, and there's sort of a feeling of forced diversity sometimes. As tropey as you'd expect. Kind of hilarious how explicit the sapphic scenes are compared to the fade-to-black of the m/m scenes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Cursing, Alcohol, and Drug use
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
markedwithanm's review
slow-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
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Gaslighting
theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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? Yes
4.0
A super cute and sexy LGBTQ+ love story very similar to the film The Holiday; staring Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz. Hanukah and Christmas are discussed throughout so it was a perfect seasonal read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content