Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - The Holiday Trap

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

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givemaribooks's review against another edition

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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.

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amberlfaris's review against another edition

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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

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bookcheshirecat's review

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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!

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beth_s98's review

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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.

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hmatt's review against another edition

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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.

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